Javier Cabrera-Perez '03

I am currently a junior pursuing the Cellular and Tissue Engineering major within the Biomedical Engineering Department at Columbia University; I am also pursuing a Creative Writing concentration. I have been actively involved with research since my freshman year, starting with research in neonatal brain stroke at the Columbia Medical School, clinical research in cardiology with the Minneapolis Heart Institute and more recently Bone Marrow Transplantation and Cancer research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. In fact, I am currently an undergraduate research fellow (paid!) at Sloan, as well as a co-author in a paper which was recently submitted to Nature. I've also taken philosophy, writing, economics and art history classes thanks to the wonderful core curriculum formation of Columbia. I've enjoyed every second of my education here. I've been involved with the Creative Writing Society, the Columbia Review, Adhoc and I am the Science Magazine NextWave Campus Representative for the Minority Scientists Network (www.miscinet.org). Columbia has been perfect for me, as an academic challenge as well as a community of great people that I've interacted with here: I have found my niche in life!

How did Breck's education help me with all of this? Well, one reason was Michael Moos' incredible encouragement and support of my poetry. Because of him, I won a national prize (from the NFAA) and have been writing ever since I stepped into his pedagogical lair my sophomore year of high school.  Another very important figure in my education was Brad Kohl. Mr Kohl truly believed in me, and was a great mentor during High School. His encouragement was pivotal for my academic path.