Throughout my childhood, my parents made sure to impart to me the importance of education. This was not always easy being born and raised in the South Bronx where opportunities are sometimes limited if not altogether absent. My parents enrolled me in a Catholic school, Saints Peter and Paul for first through eighth grade. I went on to attend the Highschool of Economics and Finance, a public high school in lower Manhattan. From there I furthered my education by attending Hunter College and ultimately graduate school at The City University of New York.