When Edgar Romero left his native Venezuela in 2001 at 21 years old, with the intention of studying literature, he first stepped on Spanish soil. Once in Spain, he realized that entering the university system was problematic because of credit and immigration requirements.
But he didn’t give up. Romero decided to move to Miami and tried again to study in the public system there.
However, he found that the southern city’s public educational system offered another obstacle – they asked him to have a savings account with funds of at least $25,000 to secure the tuition. Romero didn’t have that kind of money, but with few other options he still stayed in the city for a while and began to take English courses.
Destiny brought him to New York City in 2006 when a Venezuelan friend of his had an art exhibition. According to Romero, his first impression of the world capital was a breathtaking “Wow!”
“I decided right there to come to New York,” said Romero, who moved to the city in February 2007.
Romero got into LaGuardia Community College (LAGCC) without any problems in August of the same year and decided to study business administration with a long-term goal of working with a professional soccer club someday.
However, life took another interesting turn. Romero explained that, after watching a documentary about widows of American soldiers that died in Afghanistan, he became interested in helping single women of that country, moved by the shared experience of loss all of these women shared.
“It impacted me so much that I started to look for Afghani women organizations and found one group in Queens,” he said. “I decided to organize an event in LAGCC.”
Romero ended up organizing the event with LAGCC chapter of the National Association Phi Theta Kappa, comprised of the college’s top honor students.
After two years in LAGCC, where Romero excelled not only as an honor student but also a leader, he got elected International President of Phi Theta Kappa, charged with representing all 1,250 chapters in the United States.
“When I lived in Miami I was an inactive person and lived a nocturnal life. I felt empty,” said Romero, who is now 28 years old and has decided to study social sciences and humanities.
“Life in New York has been constant and non-stop growth, and I’m still going up. It’s like climbing Mount Everest.”
