FFP Helps Put Aleena on "The Greatness Track"

HELPING ALEENA CREATE HER OWN TRACK TO SUCCESS

With barely 1500 accepted out of nearly 38,000 applications for a place in the 2021-22 freshman class(just shy of 4%), Princeton University in New Jersey remains one of the most exclusive academic institutions anywhere in the world. That 4% will undoubtedly have diverse backgrounds. A still smaller group of the accepted pool ( about 1 in 8) will be from overseas; some will be humble, if not challenging socio-economic circumstances, with tales of hoops jumped through to make the application and the hope - against the odds - of receiving a full, or near-full scholarship (the University, from material posted on its website, does not consider either academic or athletic achievement in the award of financial aid). And then there is Aleena Brown. Aleena is, in fct, among that rarified group accepted by Princeton, and will head to New Jersey as early as June to participate in the Summer programme before beginning as an undergrad, with some 96% of her costs covered through scholarship. She also gained acceptance to Florida State University and Nova Southeastern (with prior wait-lists at Emory University and similarly stringent Columbia University).

All those institutions were undoubtedly wowed by Aleena's exam results, and even on a cursory glance, it's hard to not react similarly: a total of 18 subjects sat between CSEC and CAPE; passes in all, with Distinctions in 16 of them. Add to that an admirable list of extra-curricular activities - Drama group, Interact Club - and you have a truly staggering picture of excellence in the young, slim, unassuming yet beaming "package" that is Aleena Brown. But go a little deeper - into how such achievement came to be. Yes, there was sacrifice, on her part (for starters, enduring a 2-hour plus commute to and from school each day that began unfailingly at 5:00 a.m. and ended typically after 10 each night); on the part of her mother Colette Davis, sewing uniforms, working multiple jobs and yes, straight up begging for assistance; on the part of the community of Bog Walk- chipping in and looking out, in various ways, for their scholastic star. As she herself knowingly admits "My success really owes so much to many people, without whose help and whose generosity, I would be where I am today," she says, adding "regardless of my circumstances, I knew that I wanted to be better and to have a life of impact, and the support and assistance has been a major factor in placing on this path to greatness." Greatness indeed. And among the contributors to the Alena Brown "Greatness Train" is Food for the Poor, whose relationship with the family began with the provision of a house years ago - a small wooden house by the railroad track in Bog Walk (they can still recall the bone-rattling passage of the rail cars). Through the largesse of an absentee owner, they were able to secure another lodging in another part of the community, and there Food for the Poor continued to support with book grants (some $40,000 per year) as Aleena made the time-consuming commute to Campion College, where she topped many of her classes. Food for the Poor Development and Marketing Manager Marsha Burrell Rose, pointed to Aleena's academic success as an instance of the importance of contributing to the needs of others " With the contributions form our donors overseas and locally, we are able sow into people's lives and make a tremendous difference, as we see here with Aleena." Her mother is very plain about the role of faith in powering the proverbial train. " I absolutely want to thank God and to highlight how important prayer is in this whole process," she says. "He has always seen us through and made a way." She also expressed her gratitude to a multitude of persons, including Aleena's stepfather for material and moral support, to her local church, and to the Food for the Poor family, for sticking with them and providing a vital platform of stability to help them navigate the very delicate balancing act necessary for Aleena to deliver the kind of performance that would move the Admissions directors at the famed Ivy League university to comment "Your accomplishments inside and outside of the classroom stood out in a highly competitive pool" That's high praise considering the "pool" consists of almost 38,000 other applicants. And yet, it's not her first exposure to the hallowed halls of U.S. academia. In 2019, she got a similar scholarship, but on a much shorter term, to attend a special Biological and Biomedical session at Yale, another renowned Ivy League school (so named, ironically, after a sportswriting alumnus referred to them as "Ivy-colored schools"). There, she attended lectures, conducted experiments with a variety of applications and - perhaps most importantly - laid the foundation of the social and cultural savvy that will be necessary in dealing with the world's academic elite on a full-time basis. AT Princeton, Aleena plans to pursue Biological science studies, with a view to becoming a pathologist and an expert in infectious diseases along the lines of the presently famous Dr. Fauci. But, even with the science track firmly in place, she is keeping her options open. "I chose Princeton," she explains, "mainly because in addition to the outstanding science programme, they have a broad-based approach that will afford me exposure to areas outside of my direct major, and that will help me to become much more diverse as I gain knowledge." With the kind of application, we can expect to see the talented teemn in any number of spheres, from the biomedical to the world of stage and entertainment, and, who knows where else the "Greatness Train" may take Aleena Brown in the future, but it definitely bears watching - and continued support. See supplemental story in the Jamaica Star