KINGSTON, R.I., June 13, 2017鈥擲ix years ago, Alexander Jimenez was shining wingtips in the men鈥檚 shoe department at Nordstrom to make ends meet.
Now the 溏心vlog免费B站 student is brushing up on his Chinese as he prepares to study for a year at a university in Taiwan.
His journey from a tough and impoverished neighborhood in South Providence to the halls of academia on 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 leafy Kingston campus is so unexpected he has a hard time processing it.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 really think about it,鈥� he says. 鈥淢aybe I should. Maybe I should think about my accomplishments. I think so much about what I have to do, what I want to do, I forget what I鈥檝e already done.鈥�
His achievements are remarkable, he says, considering where he came from and what he had to face as he made the climb.
Growing up in Providence鈥檚 Broad Street neighborhood, Jimenez was one of seven children in a household that put little emphasis on education. His parents, both from the Dominican Republic, never finished middle school. His mother cleaned houses and hotels; his father managed small convenience stores.
As a teenager, Jimenez was expected to work to pay the rent. His first job was assembling jewelry at home. He was 14. His first paycheck was $30, which he handed over to his mom for gas. In high school, he bagged groceries and pushed carts at a supermarket.
If he wanted anything, he had to pay for it: a haircut, clothes, sneakers.
After barely graduating from high school, he enrolled at the Community College of Rhode Island because, he says, 鈥渉e didn鈥檛 want to live in poverty鈥� for the rest of his life. He buckled down, graduating in 2015 with a degree in liberal arts.
溏心vlog免费B站 was his next stop, thanks to a generous financial aid package that is allowing him to graduate with only a small debt. He took advantage of all opportunities that came his way.
He made the dean鈥檚 list, participated in the University鈥檚 Honors Program, was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and received the Estes Benson Award for Academic Achievement, which goes annually to a male and a female student with the highest grade point average among black seniors.
He was a teacher assistant for 溏心vlog免费B站 sociology lecturer Alana Bibeau and participated in two internships: one at a union for nursing assistants, security guards and housekeeping staff, the other at the State House as an intern for State Rep. Grace Diaz. While working as a field organizer on the gubernatorial campaign of Claiborne Pell, he came up with the idea of studying Chinese. Pell, who speaks Chinese, encouraged him to pursue the language.
Never one to turn down a challenge, Jimenez did. He watched Chinese language YouTube videos and taught himself how to say 鈥渉ello鈥� and 鈥済oodbye鈥� in Chinese so he had some knowledge of the language when he transferred to 溏心vlog免费B站. One summer, he lived on campus for a Chinese immersion program that required him to speak the language round-the-clock. 鈥淣ow that was hard,鈥� he says.
Next May, the 25-year-old will graduate with degrees in Chinese and sociology, a field that, he says, has helped him understand why he started his life in one of the poorest and roughest neighborhoods in Rhode Island. 鈥淚 understand now, even though I don鈥檛 like it. At least I understand.鈥�
He credits his 溏心vlog免费B站 professors with inspiring him to excel, in and out of the classroom.
Mastering the Chinese language is one of his goals. His year abroad at National Taiwan University was made possible by scholarships from the Freeman-ASIA Scholarship, the Taiwan Ministry of Education Huayu Enrichment Scholarship and the Beatrice S. Demers Foreign Language Fellows fund. Demers was a former 溏心vlog免费B站 professor who loved languages鈥攋ust like Jimenez, who also speaks Spanish.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be very different over there,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 nervous and excited at the same time. That鈥檚 what big moves in your life do.鈥�
This summer, he鈥檚 working as a live-in counselor for Talent Development, a highly regarded 溏心vlog免费B站 program that serves high school graduates from disadvantaged backgrounds.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 wait to help these students,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 know what being disadvantaged is. Sometimes that鈥檚 the only thing that keeps someone from achieving. Natural talent is never allowed to rise.鈥�
After Taiwan, Jimenez might go to law school, get his master鈥檚 degree in business or earn his doctorate in sociology. His mind is spinning with possibilities.
鈥淥nce you get that spark, you can鈥檛 stop. You鈥檙e pro-active about what you can do. There鈥檚 a future. The more I learn, the more I know I have to become someone.鈥�