CSF Alumnus Hansel Lopez was one of the first CSF Scholars in New York City, using his scholarship to attend Mount Carmel-Holy Rosary School in East Harlem beginning in seventh grade. He went on to graduate from Rice High School, Cornell University, and Florida International University, launching a career in marketing and advertising. He now runs his own marketing firm in Miami, and recently he spoke at a CSF event in Palm Beach, Florida. These are his remarks:
My brothers and I went to public school, mainly because it was the closest school to our house. We didn’t have a lot of resources, and my mother didn’t really know what options existed. Then CSF introduced the notion of a choice in our lives. I remember to this day I was actually in Sunday school when I was handed a flyer for a CSF scholarship. Not knowing what it was, I handed it to my mother. We applied, kind of very nonchalantly, and we got in.
At least as a kid, I didn’t understand the impact that that would have on me. That’s how I ended up in Mount Carmel-Holy Rosary School. That was kind of the nexus point for me, where a lot of compounding things started to happen. Through the ability to attend Mount Carmel-Holy Rosary, I was able to challenge myself. When I was at public school, it worked well for others, but I just didn’t feel challenged. I quickly grew bored in the classroom and so did my brothers. So [at Mount Carmel-Holy Rosary] all of a sudden, I’m in a space where I’m being challenged, with a curriculum that is tougher, and all of a sudden, I’m more engaged in my studies.
One thing that sets CSF apart, in retrospect, is the fact that they do ask for parental involvement. There’s a financial stake from the parent, and I think that’s important because sometimes, if you want something really badly for your kids, but your child doesn’t want it as badly as you want it, it doesn’t succeed. It’s almost like a social contract between parent and child. That’s what me and my mom had. I wanted to be challenged and she wanted me to succeed, and that was the winning formula for us to really see this through.
“That was kind of the nexus point for me, where a lot of compounding things started to happen….All of a sudden, I’m in a space where I’m being challenged, with a curriculum that is tougher, and all of a sudden, I’m more engaged in my studies.”
That led me to Rice High School, an all-boys, Catholic high school in New York, sadly no longer in existence. In that space I was able to be part of a program called iLead, which was a Bank Street College of Education college prep program. That then became the next nexus point, where I started to be able to not only take advantage of the choices that were opening up to me, but the ability to give back. Through a program with the International YMCA, I was able to travel through Minnesota and Nevada, and take part in a leadership program, but also then give back to Native American communities and understand what they have gone through and help with some social programs with young kids. So that was a very impactful learning experience.
And then I ended up going to Cornell, where I was part of an inaugural business certificate program where we were able to create a micro-economy for schools in South Africa by helping them install solar panels in remote villages, so they could offer charging stations for the citizens in that area, and then those funds were used to fund the classrooms that they were working on. Again, that giving back aspect of it really started to kind of nurture and take hold.
Little by little, I ended up making my way down to Florida and from Cornell, ended up working in media and advertising. Now I have a marketing strategy firm, where I focus not only on advertising strategy but AI and technology, and in the root of that comes the ability to provide people with options, and – whenever I can with CSF – give back.
To bring this back full circle, what I really want to say is, we don’t always know the impact that we have when we take certain actions, when we get involved with certain programs, but I’m literal proof that with CSF, that impact is generational.
So, to all of you who are involved with CSF in one way or another, thank you, and let’s keep up the great work. For those who are learning about CSF for the first time, please get involved, learn about the organization. You may not know the impact that you may have. I’m just one of 200,000 and hopefully many more. Thank you.
