校友感激圣. 约翰和皇后体验店

“In 皇后区 you experience different cultures, religions, foods, and languages,” she recently said. “我们大约有2个.这里有400万人口，使用120多种不同的语言. This really is ‘The World’s Borough,’ and I don’t see myself anywhere else.”

Ms. 伊森 spent several years in the office of 皇后区 Borough President 小多诺万理查兹., when he was a member of the New York City Council and at Borough Hall, and recently accepted a position as Director of Community Engagement for Speaker of the New York City Council 艾德丽安E. 亚当斯.

Ms. 伊森想在离家近的地方上大学. 她回忆说，约翰是自然的选择. Most importantly, she appreciated the faculty-to-student ratio.

“I know that I learn better in a smaller environment,” she said. “I wanted to have relationships with my fellow students and professors.”

尤其是一位老师， 巴西利奥克. 蒙泰罗,Ph值.D.，副教授 大众传播主任，理学硕士学位课程 国际交流 in 莱斯利H. 威廉·L. 柯林斯专业研究学院，对她来说意义重大. 伊森. “他是这个校园的礼物,她强调道。, 添加, “他是一位老师和顾问——还有更多.”

在圣. 约翰的,女士. 伊森工作, 完成全部课程, 积极参与全球最大的体育游戏平台吗, 还做过两次实习. “I’ve worked since I was 14, 和re were moments when I struggled,” she admitted. “Balancing it all can be difficult, 和re were moments when I told Dr. Monteiro I wouldn’t be able to submit an assignment on time, and he always understood.”

Ms. 伊森相信. Monteiro’s compassion helped her graduate and inspired her to further her studies by earning a master’s degree in 国际交流. “我和他的关系仍然很好，”她说. “He really cares about the relationship that he has with his students. He opened my eyes to being able to travel and broaden my horizons. He introduced this concept to me that I could travel the world, have an impact, and serve others.”

在圣. 约翰的,女士. 陈奕迅参加了 出国留学 在罗马和巴黎学习.

她曾在 布鲁克斯兄弟 和 海地美国党团会议，这是一个非营利组织，其使命是提供 Haitian American communities with access to information and resources that foster self-development and success. Both internships taught her important lessons and informed her future career aspirations.

“Dr. 蒙泰罗教会了我非营利组织, 非政府组织, and even corporate businesses and government can all work together for the greater good. 这些都为我现在所扮演的角色奠定了基础. 在上这门课和圣. 约翰的，我没想过在政府工作.”

Ms. 陈奕迅还曾担任公共关系主席 St. 约翰大学分会 全国有色人种协进会. “That experience was incredible because I experienced this campus as a Black student with other Black students who had experiences similar to mine. 这是一种文化和社区，对我来说意义重大. 我们玩得很开心, 我们讨论了各自的经历, and we tried to solve problems on campus that other students of color were experiencing.”

Ms. 陈奕迅也是一名导师 R.I.S.E. 网络, a scholar’s empowerment network that provides Black and Latinx first-year students with skill-based development, 支持, and opportunities to enhance their overall academic career 在圣. 约翰的. “我不仅帮助一年级和二年级的学生, but it created a relationship between me 和se students by holding me responsible and accountable for them.“她仍然与她的学员保持密切联系.

毕业后，她马上就去了. 陈奕迅开始在市政府工作. One of her first jobs was in the office of then-City Council Member 小多诺万理查兹., 谁是皇后区31区的代表, 覆盖春田花园, 珀丽, 以及法洛克威的部分地区. She started as a Community Liaison and quickly transitioned to Director of External Affairs.

在2019冠状病毒病(COVID-19)大流行最严重的时候. 伊森 was promoted to Director of Communication and Legislation—an experience she considers a baptism by fire. “It was a very intense time for anyone in government because when something like that happens everyone just wants answers 和y want to know they’ll be safe. 没有路线图.”

She added that there were crises within the larger crisis she had to navigate. “我们服务的社区遭受了不成比例的痛苦.” Ms. 伊森 had to mobilize all the resources available to her and work collaboratively with every organization and city agency she had relationships with to navigate an unstable situation.

最终,先生. 理查兹当选为皇后区区长. 伊森 transitioned with him to Borough Hall in 皇后区 as Event Coordinator and Emergency Response Liaison. 她非常关心的一个问题是粮食不安全, and she has made it her mission to put resources in place for struggling families to have access to healthy food. She ran a “Mask and Meal” program so families in need could receive healthy meals during the pandemic.

一个原因是. 伊森 is so passionate about issues related to healthy food is that her father, Dale E. 罗宾逊被她称为“世界上最值得骄傲的圣徒”. 约翰的 dad,” was diagnosed with acute kidney failure last year. She was tested for her suitability as a donor and donated a kidney to him last October.

“I want to create access for anyone with whom I come into contact to help them gain access to nutritional food,她解释道. “如果我身体不能, then at least I can educate them through conversation or connect them to where they can get what they need.”

Ms. 伊森为她与皇后的终生联系感到自豪. She is drawn to 皇后区 “because there are so many opportunities to be what you want in any industry. You can come from anywhere in the world and find a home and community here. 这都是一种归属感，我属于这里. St. 约翰学校欢迎来自世界各地的学生, 相反, encourages its students to travel the world and experience the homes of so many of the cultures found in 皇后区.”

今年秋天，. 伊森回到圣. 约翰是兼职教授. “能回馈圣何塞真的是一种荣幸. 感谢约翰为我所做的一切.”