Office of Alumni Relations
Alumni Stories
Alumnus and Army Veteran Adrian Alfred
Adrian Alfred, retired United States Army veteran and a recent KCC alumnus, studied criminal justice, obtaining his associate degree on June 16, 2022. A Guyana native, Adrian came to the United States at 20.
“I am a first-generation college student and am attending John Jay to acquire a bachelor’s in criminal justice,” said Adrian. “This will be my third degree.” Prior to coming to America, Adrian played professional soccer in Guyana from age 15 to 20. “I love soccer, it is my main hobby,” he added. “I also love reading, traveling and meeting people.”
After retiring from the military, he researched various colleges in the area and found Kingsborough to be one of the most military-friendly colleges in Brooklyn. “I chose KCC because I knew it would be a great fit for me as a veteran.” KCC recently earned the 2022-2023 Gold Military Friendly® School designation by service-disabled, veteran-owned small business Viqtory, for going above the standard.
“My journey at KCC has been a life-changing experience,” said Adrian. “I've had the chance to meet great people in the veterans office as well as the college president, Dr. Claudia Schrader. She’s a great person.”
During the pandemic, Adrian’s greatest challenge was being unable to interact with his professors directly. “My most triumphant moment was believing in myself and always finding ways to make learning fun, which allowed me to achieve a 3.9 GPA.”
Adrian joined the army to protect people. “I plan to become a lawyer and help the innocent, which for me is another way to protect people, which is something I love doing.”
“My advice to incoming students is to just look at the world today and know that education is the key to success,” he said. “Make learning fun. Do it not because you must, but because you love doing it.”
“As other students near graduation, my hope is that they can imagine themselves walking on stage in their beautiful gowns and making their families and others proud. But above all else, they make themselves proud of their own hard work and accomplishments.”