ABOUT ME

My name is Vanessa Brhamadat and I am currently attending LaGuardia Community College. Right now I am a Business Administration major but I plan to switch to accounting when I receive my Associates Degree and transfer to a four-year college (possibly Baruch depending if I keep my 3.5 average) for my Bachelors Degree.

One reason I've decided to attend college was because of my mother. I was born in Brooklyn, New York in December and then moved to the Bronx a few days after (my parents had migrated to the U.S. from Guyana a month before). In the Bronx we were very poor, my dad worked in construction and was paid every few months, so my parents had to borrow money to pay the rent. My parents at the time only had a high school diploma. My mother worked at a store but the income from both of their jobs wasn't enough. My father decided to go back to Guyana to see if he could make money there and send the money he made to the U.S. The business in Guyana wasn't working out and so my mother decided to go to college. She received financial aid and graduated with a 4.0 average. After that my mom was finally able to get a good job, one where she wasn't always on her feet and make much more money. My dad came back and continued with his construction. Eventually he worked his way up to another boss where he was paid a regular salary. My parents saved and saved and thanks to the college education the job my mother had was really helping out. We were able to actually order take out food or go to the movies; life changed for the better. When I was twelve years old we were able to buy a house in Richmond Hill, Queens. We moved again to a better house in South Ozone Park, Queens. Looking at the way my parents worked their way up from almost nothing to buying a house, and two cars I knew college was the best option for me.

The main reason I decided to come to LaGuardia Community College was because of how culturally diverse it is. Growing up in the Bronx I've had to deal with a lot of racism; people didn't even know what Guyana was. I just didn't fit in. When I reached eleventh grade I had to decide on a college so I asked my sister (who attended LaGuardia at the time). At first I was going to pick Queens Boro Community College but my sister said to pick LaGuardia instead. She told me more about the school so I decided to visit it myself. The first thing I saw, when I walked into the building, were all the flags on the ceiling; I thought it was really beautiful. The second thing I noticed was the different types of people; it made me happy because I knew I could fit into a school like this. I looked into it more and found out the tuition was affordable and the schedules were also flexible. I didn't see anything wrong with this school so that's how I decided that I wanted to attend this college.

This is my second year here at LaGuardia, and so far I think I've done well. If I had to give myself a grade I would say an A-. I have worked hard in all of my classes and tried to attend everyday. I'm usually active and answer the professor's questions; except for in HUC 108 (communication in a professional setting). That was a difficult class for me because I'm a shy person. When I first arrived in that class all the students were asked to talk about themselves. Since my last name started with the letter B I was chosen to be one of the first ones to speak up. When I was talking about myself I stuttered a lot and I felt really dumb. When I was done with that class I still felt I was a poor public speaker until I had to make a presentation in my Principles of Management class. I applied the skills I'd learned from my oral communication class and I did really well on my presentation! I was very surprised and happy at the same time when it was over.

After LaGuardia I hope to go to Baruch College to receive a Bachelor's degree in Accounting and then get an accounting career at maybe an insurance company. I plan to stay at Baruch until I have almost enough credits for a masters degree and if I have enough money saved up I plan to transfer to New York University for my Masters degree, if not then I will keep stay at Baruch and receive my Masters Degree there. After that I would like to take the CPA exam to become a Certified Public Accountant.

I have learned much about myself here at LaGuardia. I've learned not to be the shy person I was two years ago and that it is fine to open up to people. If I had to do something differently I would change the way I participated in my Oral Communication Class (HUC 108). I think if I had spoken in front of class more often I would have received a higher grade and maybe it would have been more enjoyable.

My favorite part of this e-portfolio program was making the banner. Making web site banners is a hobby of mine so this was really fun for me. To become a successful student at LaGuardia Community College I think I need to find a better way to study. Unfortunately every time I go on vacation I forget some of the things I've learned in the classes prior to vacation. Right now I'm still trying to find a solution to that problem.

My dream career would be working as a Certified Public Accountant in a large corporation in Manhattan. I plan to start off as an accountant and then work my way up to a controller after getting my CPA license. I plan to achieve this by graduating from LaGuardia, transferring to Baruch, transfer to New York University in my final year and then take the CPA exam. In order to do all of this I have to study, work hard, and keep track of my goals.

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