Race to 100 Alumni

Victoria Flores-Almazan

KCC Class of 2021
Major: Chemistry
Current Title/Profession: Neuropathology Research Associate at the Mount Sinai Neuropathology Brain Bank
Founder of Take Charge with Victoria (Bilingual Student Platform)

Nominated by: Aba Agolli

Originally from Mexico, Victoria was inspired by her own initial health challenges from being born prematurely, to pursue a career in medicine. Her goal is to become a pediatrician with a sub-specialty in neonatology. Her work as a volunteer interpreter at a local clinic sparked her dream of establishing a low-cost medical clinic for the underserved in which she can continue to provide the same care, attention, and kindness she has received from doctors throughout her life.

Victoria attended Highschool in Illinois but moved to New York before embarking on her journey to higher education. She was an international student in new, unfamiliar surroundings, and she found herself struggling to obtain the federal funding needed to achieve her goal of attending college. Through Kingsborough, and specifically the ASAP Program, she was given the guidance and support necessary to not only attend college, but to excel at her coursework.  

During her time at KCC, she participated in the Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society, CRSP (CUNY Research Scholars Program), and has kept close connections to the Science Department where she completed the bulk of her coursework for her major in Chemistry. Victoria praises Kingsborough for the small class sizes and the personal connection that students are encouraged to establish with their professors. She recognizes Professors Barcena and Del Campo as having been particularly impactful to her journey, and that these connections, along with her participation in the Honors Program, helped her to soar. She further explains, “The KCC Honors Program presented me with so many opportunities, and I took advantage of all of them. It provided me with the wings, and it was up to me to take those wings and fly.”

After graduating from Kingsborough in 2021, Victoria continued her educational journey at Smith College where she received her Bachelors in Biochemistry. In her gap year before Med School, she was hired as an internship at Mount Sinai as a Neuropathy Research Associate. She assists with microscope slide preparation and additionally trains other incoming interns. In this role, Victoria can pursue her passion for helping students with similar backgrounds and stories, helping them along their paths using the experience and knowledge she has gained along the way.

To provide even more assistance to students that may need additional help in their pursuit of higher education, Victoria has established her own website: https://www.takechargewithvictoria.com/ which is a bilingual site with information breakdowns pertaining college, higher ed, financial assistance, etc., geared towards to immigrant, international, non-traditional, and/or undocumented students. She believes that Kingsborough is where she learned how to share her story, and that by sharing her story, she can have a positive influence on generations of students to come.

“To be part of the Honors Program, a semifinalist for Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, and now a Kaplan Scholar has allowed me the opportunity to lead — to give back to my fellow students and community,” said Victoria. “These programs have provided me with the unique perspective to have an impact on students’ lives, and that to me is an honor and a blessing.”

Victoria’s advice to incoming KCC students is to find their motivation and what keeps them going, to remember why they enrolled in the first place, and to continue on that path until they reach the desired result. She stresses the importance of students taking advantage of the opportunities presented to them and the need to become comfortable asking for help. Victoria often returns to Kingsborough to volunteer or give back to the campus in some way. When asked why she finds returning to KCC so important, she stated, “Kingsborough is a place where your support will shine the most... the students who attend often do not come from privilege, but you can see that they are hungry for the opportunity and have the grit to succeed in the future.” Victoria has always found Kingsborough to be a positive, intimate, and rewarding place, and wants to make sure that other students can experience this too.