Featured Educator: Iris Torres, TYWLS Intern

Iris Torres is one of our June interns from the Young Women's Leadership School of East Harlem, a longtime CPET partner school.  


What do you hope to get out of this internship?

I want to gain experience because this is like my first real job. I say that this is a job because I take this internship seriously and conduct myself as I would in the workplace.

Although this is a little different from a job, I still have to be professional and be mindful that I’m working amongst adults and not my friends like I’m accustomed to. With my internship with CPET, I want to always be mindful of the importance of taking initiative and helping others, which are are so crucial since I eventually want to be an active leader and help others. I also want to have a better understanding of writing, editing, and publishing since I plan on majoring in Journalism in college.

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Tell us about your future plans (college, major, career, etc.).

I’m going to Rider University in the fall so I’m pretty stoked about that. I want to major in Journalism and minor in Public Relations, or Digital Media. I strive to become a Broadcast Journalist that does more than report a story to the public. I want to do something about the injustice that I see and ultimately make a difference in people’s lives for the better. As cliche and pretentious as it may sound, I hope to travel around the world and aid those in need. Whether it’s helping to build schools, or serving as a mentor to people who want to better their lives but are unsure about getting there. Helping others, writing, travelling, and making a difference are the main goals I strive for in my not-so-far-away future.

If you were to go back to your first day in freshman year given what you know today, what would you tell yourself?

First, I would tell myself to permanently abandon the heavy eyeliner because it was not a good look. Next, I would tell myself to take all my classes seriously. Although I passed every class and got good grades, I just coasted by and didn’t apply myself as much as I should have. I mean, the only class I genuinely put effort into was 11th grade Algebra II/Trigonometry, and my determination to do well on the final Regents exam diminished towards the end of the year. Needless to say, I did not care about the test, and my embarrassing 44% on my Regent reflects my negative attitude about Law of Sines. The bottom line is this: all my classes in High School were important including Gym, which is still the lowest grade on my entire transcript. I would just go all McFly and tell my 9th grade self:  “Iris, take all your classes seriously, participate in Gym, and apply yourself to every assignment you complete because everything will eventually matter.” 

If you could be a member of any TV-sitcom family, which family would you be part of?

I would definitely be a part of the How I Met Your Mother cast, even if they don’t exactly qualify as the typical TV-sitcom family. They seem like an outrageous group of vastly different people who stick together no matter what. They have a close-knit relationship and magically repair their conflicts all within some 22 minutes and live in swanky apartments. I’d have a Robin Scherbatsky persona, with the tendency to act corny like Ted and Marshall. 

If your life was a movie, who would you want to play you? What would it be like? What song would you feature?

I would definitely want Ellen Page or Kat Dennings to play me even though we look absolutely nothing alike. They’re my favorite actresses and star in most of my favorite films. Also my friends always nag me about how monotone my voice is, and both women would successfully capture my voice. My life-movie would probably be a mixture of Sixteen Candles, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, and The Breakfast Club.  It would be part Breakfast Club because I found myself friends with people that have practically little to nothing in common with me, and that’s totally okay! Part Nick and Norah’s because they went on some wild adventures and I wouldn’t mind spending an entire day in NYC trying to locate my favorite secret band with my unconventional friends. Lastly, part Sixteen Candles because I would really appreciate it if my version of a Jake Ryan propped himself against the hood of an expensive car and just waited for me to approach him.