A tribute to my mentor by Branden

A tribute to my mentor by Branden - October 2019 Scholarship Essay

It’s rare for some people to bump into someone that they can both look up to and connect well with. Someone that is inspiration ranging from professional to social success. A person that has admirable qualities, habits, and a renounced track record.
For me, this person is Luis Carbonell. He is a young adult from Cuba that is a stellar student and entrepreneur. From having published math works to being accepted to Stanford, MIT, Cambridge, and Oxford, he is without a doubt a brilliant person.
I met Luis during my freshman year at Florida International University in a place called StartUP FIU - at the time, he was beginning to work with his co-founder to create an artificial intelligence startup called Liquid Carrot -which is an open-source platform for building neural networks in JavaScript.
After my initial encounter with Luis, I was still trying to figure out where I fit best in college and what I wanted to continue improving on. Coming to the Summer of 2019, he reached out to a group chat I happened to be on looking for interns and I decided to say yes - one of the best decisions I could have made.
At the time I joined, the startup was (and still is currently) in a growth stage of finding investors, growing at ~306% month over month. With the capability to quite literally double our state’s (Florida) GDP if Liquid Carrot continues at the rate it is growing at in the upcoming years, as the power of AI is so grand, it was a phenomenal opportunity for me.
Working with someone like Luis truly inspired me. He knows exactly how to pinpoint “fluff” when talking to “investors” or potential clients, understands theoretical math at a fundamental level, and is extremely charismatic.
Coming forward, I was able to take an enormous amount of information thrown at me and have been able to put it to very good use. Working with Luis has taught me not only how to code and scale a business, but to truly understand critical thinking, negotiation, pitching, and “growth hacking” (better known as mass marketing). These skills and experiences opened up a plethora of doors for me.
Now in my Fall 2019 Sophomore year, I have successfully secured a Summer Analyst position with Citi Bank through the ridiculously competitive Sophomore Leadership Program - where I was able to obtain the position over multiple high achieving, often ivy league educated students. On top of this, I have been selected as a Forbes Under 30 Scholar - a solid accomplishment for a sophomore in college.
I was already ambitious prior to knowing Luis, but as I was able to work alongside him as my mentor, I saw his dedication and work ethic and it has driven me to thrive more than ever. Luis has been the example for me to see that despite being a lower-class immigrant from Cuba, he has been able to thrive.
Coming forward, I aim to continue to develop myself as a person and as a student. I hope to grow to the same extent as someone like Luis and to be able to pay it forward. Luis was able to see the potential in me while I was a freshman with little to no experience at the time. I hope that I can pay it forward in the coming years to others.
One of the main constraints for me, however, is the cost of attending university. With the average cost of higher education growing at a rate of 3x the rate of inflation, it goes to show why so many students are graduating with massive amounts of student debt - of which many are unable to repay. Not to mention the hinderances of being deemed ‘not creditworthy’ and having a financial burden before even commencing a career path. This is my motive for applying to scholarships like this one through Varsity Tutors.