By MEGHAN GROTHUES
STAFF WRITER
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While it’s perceived as a tough town, Carolyn Roberts, a 21-year-old Rutgers University student, says her hometown of Irvington, N.J. had a great impact on her for the better.
“Irvington showed me the best of both worlds,” Roberts said.
“I met some great people there, and it |
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gave me an eye to see things from a different perspective. It didn’t sugarcoat life for me and it taught me how to be strong.”
Irvington has shaped her “inquisitive mind,” she said. She claims she’s seen many different kinds of people and she wants to be able to find the best in people.
“I love getting to know people's dreams, what they want to do with their life,” she said.
To Roberts, education is extremely important. While in Irvington, Roberts was chosen to join The Career Vision Ambassadors program.
The Irvington-based program chose girls in the top 10 to 20 percent of their class, and she had to go through a six-week orientation process before acceptance.
The Career Vision Ambassadors program gave an opportunity for Irvington girls to be mentored on community service trips, and many other hands on career focused tasks.
“It was a dream my mentor had of instilling her wisdom into the mind of young girls in a city near where she grew up,” Roberts says. “ I won friendships and bonded with positivity and encouragement.”
When it was time to leave Irvington to further her education, Roberts was given a scholarship to attend Rutgers University.
Because Roberts was the youngest of three, with two older brothers who’s age gaps ranges from 12 to 15 years, Roberts felt as though she was an only child and this affected her a lot, especially coming from the town she did.
She became open minded and independent and found writing comforting.
“When I came back to Rutgers, I decided journalism was the way to go, but my mom didn’t like it and was concerned for my safety” Roberts says.
She said her hometown didn’t have any impact on this. “Growing up in Irvington didn't affect my mom's view about me going into journalism,” she said. “The whole idea of reporting on pressing issues like war, natural disasters and how competitive the field of journalism caused her apprehensions, but she's supportive of whatever path I take.”
With growing up in a town such as Irvington and including Roberts past experiences, she found the personal drive to inspire. She claims “it's important to able to love life in the long term." She has big plans to succeed and surpass expectations of others who came from her hometown.
“I've seen business professionals and people struggling to get a job, some with doctorates, and others with barely a high school diploma,” she said. “All in all, I feel my experience in seeing that shows me that life isn't fair, but if you have a plan, you shouldn't stray too far from where you want to be in life.”
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