Meet NYCHA-CUNY Scholar Carlos Suazo
Carlos Suazo remembers vividly the colorful Lunar New Year decorations in the neighborhood and building when he and his family moved into Smith Houses. That Smith Houses apartment provided the stability he and his three siblings needed to make it to the halls of City University of New York (CUNY) colleges to pursue their dreams. Recently, Mr. Suazo’s hard work at school earned him the support of a NYCHA-CUNY Scholarship, which will help him continue to turn his passion for art and film into memorable images that inspire people.
Mr. Suazo was recently named as one of the 91 recipients of the 2024 NYCHA-CUNY Scholarship awards. He is a senior film major at The City College of New York (CCNY) and was one of 15 recipients of the Levine Scholarship, given to students who attend CCNY. NYCHA-CUNY Scholarships provide NYCHA public housing residents and Section 8 participants who attend CUNY colleges with $1,000 for education-related expenses, such as tuition, books, and fees. Awardees must have 24 or more credits and at least a 3.0 GPA. This year’s scholarship awardees were celebrated during a ceremony on October 18.
“Winning the scholarship gave me a confidence boost,” Mr. Suazo said. “I’m sometimes over critical of myself, so when I won, it reassured me that I’m actually doing good work, and I can do good things. It propelled me.”
He is also thankful to his CUNY Edge advisor for encouraging him to apply for scholarships. Mr. Suazo is also a recipient of CCNY’s Kaye Scholars program, which provides stipends to selected students in humanities and arts majors based on their academic record, creative promise, and financial need.
Mr. Suazo is a first-generation Honduran American. His two older sisters are graduates of John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Lehman College, while his younger brother currently attends Lehman College. He got his start at CUNY at the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), where he earned an associate degree in Art Foundations: Studio Art. Although he was initially pursuing a degree focused on drawing, painting, and color design, he decided to change his major to film after taking a video technology course at BMCC.
He believes studio art helped ease his transition to a film major because “how you compose a scene and what’s in a shot stems from traditional art of just getting [your idea] down on a piece of paper. In film there’s mise-en-scene – it’s basically storyboarding and developing the rudimentary images you picture in your head. It’s a great way to become a visual learner. What excites me about film is its versatility. You can do horror, educational and informational, something experimental and abstract – there’s so much you can do with the medium.”
When thinking about his future, one of Mr. Suazo’s main inspirations from his childhood is nature documentaries, especially those presented by David Attenborough. “When he tells a story, he’s telling a story of these creature – and it’s inspiring for me as a kid because it’s all real, the animals, the colors, and sounds.”
His interests in nature and storytelling often unite. He has three fish tanks, an extensive pinned bug collection that he takes care to pose naturally, and has been working on a painting series of the birds of New York City. After he graduates in 2025, Mr. Suarez would like to become an editor for a series like National Geographic, “because editing is the storytelling part of filmmaking, and I can’t wait to sit down and structure the scenes together.”
To learn more about the NYCHA-CUNY Resident Scholarships, click here.
To read more about the 2024 NYCHA-CUNY Scholars, click here.