I am Gabriel Cohen. I am 17 and I work at Massachusetts Avenue Project, or MAP, a west side based organization focused on agriculture, food justice and advocacy. I enjoy working at MAP because I love all of the kind and amazing people I work with. I also enjoy all of the things I learn at MAP, including facilitating meetings, learning about food justice, farming and other issues that we at MAP try to address.
Two years ago when I moved from the Philippines and settled into Buffalo I started attending international Prep, a simple school located on the west side of Buffalo. Besides working at MAP I also do many other things. I skate, I play the guitar (not well, mind you), I am the current president of HYPE - a youth group based in Buffalo that is dedicated to issues teens face in school - and in general I just try to enjoy life, making memories with the people I love. I don't really have many complaints regarding my personal life, besides my hectic schedule, which requires me to balance my social hours, working house, family hours and personal hours.
I don't really have a unique goal, just to graduate high school with an impressive college application, graduate from college fully or close to debt free and live a happy life with a job and people I love. If I have to describe figures that have inspired me in my life, my honest and cliche answer would have to be my parents, for without them I wouldn't have my drive to succeed, my determined will, my academic focus, my loving heart, my willingness to try new things and my ability to see the best in any situation. I love them with all my heart (even if I don't show it that well). Without them I wouldn't be me. In essence, I'm a simple and overly emotional boy who has been moved around for most of his life, who just wants a simple and happy life for him and the people around him.
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