Aiden Claros

Growing up in a small West New York apartment, Aiden was rarely alone. At any given time his mother, father, grandparents, younger brother, three cousins and a long line of uncles packed the rooms with laughter and noise. Even though he was technically the oldest sibling, Aiden often felt like a little brother, following his uncles—many of them barely teenagers themselves—as they played soccer in the park or crowded around the TV to watch college games. One uncle in particular became his first role model: he taught Aiden to read, pushed him to master multiplication tables, and set a high bar for what success could look like. When that uncle won a state sectional championship in track, Aiden was five. Standing in the bleachers, watching the gold medal ceremony, he remembers thinking, “That could be me.”

Sports were his first teacher. On the tennis court at Memorial High, Aiden learned to stay focused and break big challenges down point‑by‑point. Those habits carried over to the classroom—eventually. For years Aiden was “the kid who talks too much,” a bright student who could not stop chatting in class. His teachers moved his seat to reprimand him, his parents received phone calls about poor behavior, but every parent-student teacher conference ended the same way, with teachers saying: “He’s one of the smartest students we have…but he just won’t stop talking and distracting others.” It wasn’t until his uncle earned a full‑ride scholarship to college that Aiden realized his potential could be more than a family anecdote. “If I want to support my big family,” he thought, “I need to take school seriously.” He enrolled in AP and honors courses and promised himself that if he went to college, it would be on a full scholarship.

A turning point came when Michael Sanchez (Circle Match’s executive director who was then a senior at Memorial High School at the time) had just been accepted to Yale, returned to share his story with middle‑schoolers. Hearing someone from his own community talk about AP Biology and Ivy League applications expanded Aiden’s imagination. He went home, researched universities he’d never heard of, and decided to aim high—Yale, Cornell, other selective schools. Shortly after, he applied to Circle Match.

Circle Match became his bridge from aspiration to reality. His advisors—Annalie, Irenys, and Lexa—broke down essays, supplements, and financial-aid forms with the same patience his uncle and tennis coaches had shown him as a child. They carried him through writer’s block and moments of self-doubt until the day his head advisor read his personal statement and said, “It’s ready.”
When Cornell’s acceptance letter flashed across his screen, he and his family screamed, hugged, and cried together; his mother still replays the video on her phone. For Aiden, the confetti wasn’t just about getting into a top school—it was the moment he realized that every obstacle, sacrifice, and belief poured into him by others had finally come full circle.

At Cornell, Aiden has grown into the kind of leader he once looked up to. Today he is a sophomore majoring in Biological Sciences (Biochemistry); he is active in Voices of Equity, the Central American Club, and his fraternity, Pike. He tutors students as a Teaching Assistant and has traveled to East Asia—opportunities that once felt unimaginable in a crowded apartment in West New York. Most importantly, he has stepped into the same role his uncle and advisors once held for him. As a Circle Match near-peer advisor at Union High School, he mentors students who remind him of his younger self—students navigating big dreams in small apartments, learning to believe in what’s possible. For Aiden, this service isn’t repayment; it’s responsibility. “You don’t help people because they helped you first,” he says. “You help because you can.”

Aiden hopes to become an oncologist and plans to take the MCAT and attend medical school after Cornell. His advice to younger students is simple: “Don’t be scared to apply. You have nothing to lose except regret.” His journey—from a lively household in West New York to the Ivy League—shows how early guidance, disciplined effort, and a community rooted in care can open doors. Through Circle Match, Aiden discovered not just a path for himself, but a way to uplift others. He has become the kind of leader who once changed his life—one who returns, reinvests, and strengthens the broader community he comes from.