McConney Award Winner’s Dream is to Improve Emergency Care
ALBANY, N.Y. (Jan. 26, 2021) – A UAlbany senior human biology major with a passion for medicine has received the Norman R. McConney Jr. Award for Student Excellence.
Eliane Alexandre (pronounced Il-eee-ann) is a resident assistant on Indian Quad who is expected to graduate in May.
Alexandre is applying to medical schools and graduate programs.
“My dream job would be working in emergency medicine and also traveling to countries and providing necessary medical help for those who need it. I have seen what lack of proper medical care has done to my family and I want to prevent that for other families,” she said.
The SUNY-wide award, now in its second year, recognizes outstanding Educational Opportunities Program (EOP) students for their academic excellence and strength in overcoming significant personal obstacles throughout their lives. Alexandre was among 45 winners across SUNY.
The honor is named in memory of McConney (1946-2016), a UAlbany graduate and former assistant dean for special programs at SUNY. McConney and former Assembly Deputy Speaker Arthur O. Eve helped create the EOP as a statewide program that has served 75,000 New Yorkers to date from economically and educationally disadvantaged backgrounds.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Alexandre said her mother immigrated to the U.S. from Trinidad and her father is from Haiti.
In the summer before Alexandre started her sophomore year at UAlbany, an older sister, who was raising her own family in Trinidad, died there of a blood clot in the lungs. Alexandre said the poor emergency care that was then available to her sister created an environment that resulted in her sister's death at 32.
“To know that my sister just needed blood thinners to survive is still crazy to me,” she said.
Alexandre’s parents inspire her to succeed academically.
“Education has always been important to them,” she said. “My mom always told me that in this world I have two strikes against me, that I am Black and a woman, and that your education can never be taken away from you. This has always stuck with me. Although we struggled, I always made sure to try my best with what I had.”
“Now I am a first-generation college student and soon first-generation college graduate. If it weren’t for my parents pushing me and keeping me together when times got tough, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.”
The pandemic made succeeding in school harder, she said, but she found organizing her schedule, knowing the due date of assignments and setting alarms helped her deal with the switch to online learning.
“Overcoming a lot has helped me during the pandemic because I appreciate every day I have and the people around me. Although I have lost many in my past, there are millions of people losing their loved ones to COVID-19 and I understand how it feels to lose someone so abruptly. I am blessed to be here and hope for a better future,” Alexandre said.
Keith Nunez, her EOP counselor, was once her resident director on state quad. “He has seen me through my ups and downs and has always let me know that he knows I’m doing my very best to succeed,” Alexandre said. “I can’t explain how thankful I am for him and everything he has done for in my college journey.”
She added, “I would like everyone to know that EOP has done a lot for me. EOP is helping break barriers for students who didn’t think they would get a chance and provides support emotionally, financially and academically. It is not a program to many, but a growing family.”