NYCHA-CUNY Scholar: Fargana Abden

Fargana Abden, 19, is a sophomore at City College of New York who envisions a bright future for herself. She aims to work in the medical field – caring for patients and mentoring girls to build their self-esteem to set themselves up for success – while also serving as a role model as a professional woman of color. 

But she wasn’t always confident in herself. As an adolescent, she struggled with body image, accepting her Bengali culture, and dealing with the expectations placed upon her as a young Muslim girl. Ms. Abden credits two things for helping shape who she is today: moving to Harlem and participating in an afterschool program with Girls Inc. 
 
Before she and her family moved to Metro North Plaza in East Harlem, they lived in a small one-bedroom basement apartment in a Queens neighborhood that lacked diversity. Ms. Abden’s parents are both from Bangladesh and the family is Muslim, and she didn’t see anyone who looked like her or her family in her neighborhood and felt out of place.  
 
When she was 10, her family moved to East Harlem and her environment changed for the better – she saw neighbors of different races, ethnicities, and socioeconomic statuses; she met and became friends with other Bengali families. 

But when she started wearing her hijab at school, classmates made fun of her and threw food at her. At her next school, the Girls Inc. afterschool program came along at the right moment. Girls Inc. serves girls ages 6 to 18 with mentoring and programs in a pro-girl environment to help them develop as whole individuals who are healthy, educated, and independent. 

“Girls Inc. helps young girls learn about the world and how we as girls can be strong, smart, and bold and shows us how we can succeed in life,” Ms. Abden said. She also said that in addition to helping her become proud of herself and her culture, Girls Inc. helped her realize that she could create her own path in life. 

“I grew up in a traditional Islamic Bengali household where there were different boundaries due to being a girl,” Ms. Abden said. “Girls Inc. showed me that I could be my own person and gave me such a boost. I’ve received so many opportunities because of them.” 

Through her participation in Girls Inc. she was chosen to represent the United States at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards, where in addition to being excited about meeting Oprah Winfrey, Ms. Abden was one of 10 girls from around the world who were acknowledged for their quest to attend school in the face of adversity. In 2019, she was named a Girls. Inc. National Scholar, winning a scholarship to attend college. 

Now that she is an alumna of Girls Inc., she maintains the connection by paying it forward, volunteering for the organization by helping with workshops, trips, and mentoring middle schoolers about homework and self-care.  

Ms. Abden continues to be recognized for achievements: She was recently named a 2020 NYCHA-CUNY Scholar. She received a Levine Family Scholarship, which provides $1,000 to NYCHA residents pursuing degrees at the City College of New York. 

“It felt very amazing knowing that I won the scholarship,” Ms. Abden said. “Especially during these hard times; I was starting to doubt myself with school because it’s stressful doing online school, but winning made me believe in myself even more.” 

Ms. Abden double majors in biology and psychology and minors in Spanish at City College and plans on becoming a physician assistant. She is currently combining her love of medicine and helping people by working on a project to bring a medical camp to people living in poverty abroad, and hopes to provide these services in Bangladesh in 2021. 

To learn more about the NYCHA-CUNY Resident Scholarship, click here. 

To see the full list of 2020 NYCHA-CUNY Scholars, click here.