To Messina College student Ryan Pina, going to college isn’t something he wants to do just for himself. It’s something he wants to achieve for his entire family — something to make them proud.
“My mom is an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, so she came here for opportunity and to give her kids an opportunity. So I wanted to make the most out of that and I want to make her happy,” said 17-year-old Pina, who attended the Academy of the Pacific Rim Charter Public School in Boston.
Pina’s outlook is similar to many of the incoming class of students at the newly formed Messina College, a two-year associate degree program born out of Boston College. The college serves first-generation high-financial-need students at the former Pine Manor College campus in Brookline.
