This young woman just graduated from Georgetown Univer sity with her Master’s Degree in Systems Medicine. Now she is doing perinatal research with Covid-19 patients and their children at New York University.
When Integra Feliciano was four years-old she attended preschool at the Lawrence Neighborhood Center on Eggerts Crossing Road in Lawrenceville, NJ. The youngest of 11 children in her family, Integra was lucky to have a wonderful preschool teacher, her grandmother, Audrey Feliciano. However, Audrey was just one of many wonderful teachers and mentors who would help shape Integra’s future. She remembers her Principal at Lawrence Elementary School Ms. McLaughlin. She also remembers her volunteer counselor, Courtney Leonard a student at Lawrence High School, who worked with Integra in the after-school program at Every Child Valued. She remembers many of her elementary school teachers because they not only taught classes during the school day, but they also tutored her and her friends after school at Every Child Valued and the Lawrence Neighborhood Center. Teachers like Mrs. Monteleone and Mrs. Bostock-Fuller went from their classrooms at LES to the after-school program at ECV to help students excel.
As a result of Integra’s dedication to her work as well as her teachers, ECV volunteers and parents support, Integra was more than prepared for 4ht grade at Lawrence Intermediate School. Within weeks of entering the new school she was invited to join the top students in her class taking advanced math, science and language arts.
By the time she reached the Lawrence Middle School, Integra was excelling not only in her academic program but also participating in Library Club and Yearbook Club. Soon she was showing leadership skills in student government, basketball, track and field hockey.
At Lawrence High School, Integra’s schedule was full of honors level classes including Honors World Civilization, Honors Biology, advanced placement Chinese and Honors Math classes. After high school, Integra chose the college that was perfect for her.
Montclair State was a perfect match. She loved the atmosphere, the beauty of the campus and the programs offered. Entering Montclair with no declared major, she later selected Biology as her major field of study and Mandarin Chinese as her secondary field of study. She also continued to hone her leadership skills by rechartering the Montclair Chapter of the NAACP and serving as its Vice President. In addition, she joined the Black Student Union and the Haitian Student Union and served as treasurer and Social Action Chair of her sorority Zeta Phi Beta. Her success at Montclair lead to equal success in graduate school.
Years earlier, Integra telegraphed her future aspirations toward a career in medicine in a high school interview, as captured in an ECV video, below. In her graduate school application, Integra wrote...
"'Every Child Valued' creates the acronym ECV, which also stands for Eggerts Crossing Village. It is both the community where I was raised and still live today. It was the summer camp and after-school program that kept me enriched and entertained throughout my childhood. It was also the non-profit housing organization that allowed my parents to raise 11 children. ECV was the place where I became a head camp counselor and STEM tutor. It was the place where I got my first volunteer experience handing out meals on Thanksgiving. As the youngest of eleven children, community service always gave me a sense of purpose and would remain a significant part of my life as I continued my education."