Ezra

As a seventh-grader, Ezra was one of 80 chosen from a pool of 4,500 to attend a summer math program. The founder of that program, Daniel Zaharopol, who has continued to work with Ezra, recalls an “exceptional” student who “clearly had a thirst for learning and loved the challenge of abstract mathematics". Ezra envisioned a future as a professor of mathematics. Now, exploring more subjects in depth as they did at the rigorous Bard High School Early College (BHSEC) Queens, is something about college that deeply excites Ezra. “I find that there is so much knowledge to be gained, and I consider myself ready for the breadth of my future experience.”

Ezra writes of developing “a love for the environment, for the way that it educates through immersion.” That interest has led them to become part of an online community that records observations of flora and fauna in the city’s parks. And to the award of a prize from the American Museum of Natural History for a year-long project on thermal physiology, focusing on the effect of climate change on the habitat of a South American lizard genus.

At BHSEC, Ezra has an outstanding academic record and a list of activities that includes participation in the school’s coed wrestling team. Bilingual in English and Spanish – the family emigrated from the Dominican Republic – Ezra is now learning Italian. Bard’s college counselor describes Ezra as “highly intelligent, enviably focused, well-spoken and impressively mature.”

Ezra’s breadth of interests was reflected at the end of their essay. “The colleges that I’m most excited by,” they wrote, “are the ones with a nature preserve as our outdoor laboratory. This is an interest that I want to learn more of with the scientific community.”

Many thanks to Leila and Mike Thorne for supporting Ezra through their college journey.