Paterson student who wants to 'make a social impact' will speak at college graduation
PATERSON — Providing medical referrals at a city health clinic, laying holiday wreaths on veterans’ graves, helping at field days for youngsters — those are some of Angeline Gil’s volunteer activities.
Gil’s efforts at Berkeley College’s Volunteer Leadership Team were part of the reason school officials picked her to give the student speech at this Thursday’s commencement ceremony.
Gil said her goal in going to college was more than simply getting a good education.
“I wanted to make a social impact,” said the 20-year-old student.
Growing up in Paterson as the child of parents who came to the United States from the Dominican Republic, Gil said she saw firsthand the health care disparities and barriers that affect immigrants and minorities.
She recalled the look of anxiety that came over an elderly man’s face when he learned he needed to see a doctor during her internship at a health clinic at St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson.
“You could tell he had a bad experience with a doctor in the past,” Gil said.
Other patients at the clinic hadn’t seen a doctor in years, and in many cases didn’t have medical insurance, Gil said. “That really affects their health care outcomes,” she said.
Gil’s career goal is working as a public health administrator at a hospital, a job in which she hopes to address the imbalances she has seen in medical care. Gill received a bachelor’s degree from Berkeley last spring and now is working on her master’s studies.
She said she’s excited but “not too nervous” about her speech at the commencement at the Prudential Center in Newark in front of about 1,100 graduates, as well as their family members and friends.
“I first met Angeline when she was an honors student and have watched her grow into a leader on and off campus,” said Berkeley’s president, Diane Recinos. “Angeline’s resilience, passion for lifelong learning, and desire to use her education to advocate for vulnerable populations in her community make her the ideal candidate to represent the 2023 Berkeley College graduating class.
“I know her words will inspire her fellow graduates as they take their next steps toward successful careers,” the college president added.
Gil said this won’t be her first commencement speech. She said she was valedictorian at Paterson’s Alexander Hamilton Academy elementary school. After that, she attended and graduated from Passaic County Technical Institute in Wayne.
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In a city known for political corruption, high crime and Police Department controversies, Gil represents the many Paterson residents whose success stories sometimes go unnoticed.
“I never believed that I’ve been limited by the social circumstances,” she said when asked about growing up in Paterson.
Gil said her father was studying to become a doctor in the Dominican Republic but was injured in a motorcycle accident and had to put aside his medical education. After coming to New Jersey, her father became an accountant, and he has his own tax preparation business in Paterson, she said. Her mother does marketing for her father’s business.
“My parents never saw themselves at the bottom," she said. "They always strived for greatness.”
Gil’s older sister works as an ultrasound technician, and her younger sister is going to school to become a nurse practitioner, she said.
Gil described her parents with great pride.
“They are my guidepost,” she said, “the true example of what passion, determination, hard work and family values can result in.
“They came to this country as legal immigrants from the DR,” Gil added. “Although they came as immigrants, they have persevered to make a name for themselves and our family, and have done so successfully.”
Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press.
Email: editor@patersonpress.com
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson student to speak at Berkeley College graduation
