Equislaure Gabriel Comes of Age
in Huntington
When Equislaure Gabriel moved to Huntington from Queens as a fourth grader she didn't know a word of English since she had only recently immigrated to the United States from Haiti. Now she's enrolled in several Advanced Placement and honors courses and will graduate as one of the top students in the Class of 2013.
Ms. Gabriel was placed in the Huntington School District's ESL program to help her learn English. "I was taken out of ESL in eighth grade," she said. Today she is enrolled in AP Microeconomics, AP Literature and Composition, AP Music Theory, French V Honors and chamber choir, in addition to several other classes.
"My favorite courses throughout my four years of high school, which I have enjoyed very much, are choir and my English classes," Ms. Gabriel said. "Singing in the choir has always brightened up my days. Since my freshman year, chorus was always the class that I looked forward to. Also, over the past years I have had really great English teachers. I have learned so much and I enjoyed my teachers' presence in all of my classes."
Ms. Gabriel has dabbled in the Blue Devil athletic program, playing soccer in ninth grade and participating in track and field as a freshman and sophomore. She was even in the drama club as a tenth grader. "Out of all the activities that I have been involved in, I can say that I most enjoy being able to participate in the music department's a cappella group," she said. "I truly love the idea of re-producing music with solely our voices."
One of Ms. Gabriel's most memorable high school experiences is participating in the Suffolk track and field championships. "It was a really great experience," she said. "Another experience that I have enjoyed is volunteering at the Huntington Hospital. Not only do I love helping the patients any which way that I can, but I have also made many friends there."
Ms. Gabriel's college plans are still taking shape. However, she intends to study clinical psychology as well as music theory and composition as an academic minor.
"My advice to incoming freshmen is to not take education for granted and to get as much of it as they can, because getting ahead today only means there is less work to be done tomorrow," Ms. Gabriel said.