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Yanique Matthews

Biography

For Yanique Matthews, "education was a way out of my family's financial troubles. It was my entry to a world of opportunity." She received support from family, friends and teachers, in Trinidad and at Smith. "Everyone believed in me and I knew it." She also realized that this is not true for many students. She discovered "that this type of support seems uncommon" for the youth of the Harlem Children's Zone, where she is an academic student advocate.

"The minority youth that I serve often feel that they are on their own in a world filled with wars, crime, drugs and a breakdown in the family unit." For them, school "can be the last element of hope." She wants to work as a school psychologist, first in US schools and then back in Trinidad, with children "who are at the greatest risk of being left behind and quitting school."

At Smith, she was an exceptional student and an experienced student leader. She also accumulated great know-how in lab work and became that rare undergraduate who presented a paper at a professional symposium. She expects to build on this rich mix of experiences with a doctorate that will equip her to serve at-risk students "in innovative and clinically sound ways."

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