Last fall, Highbridge resident Karen Bernabe celebrated a close friend’s academic achievement: Naadira Idriss, a fellow senior at Preston High School in Throgs Neck, had just been awarded the Rensselear Medal, a four-year, $15,000 scholarship given by the Rensselear Polytechnic Institute to students who demonstrate outstanding performance in math and science.

 “I’m very proud of her the way she won that award,” Bernabe told the Horizon at the time. “ I think she really deserved it.”

Now Bernabe has won a major award of her own, and it is Idriss’ turn to bask in her friend’s success: last month, Bernabe was one of 1000 high-school students nationally to be named a Gates Millennium Scholar by the the Bill and Melinda Gates Scholarship foundation.

“We’re a team,” Idriss said. “When I got my award, she was very supportive and very happy with me. And I was very supportive and extremely happy for her.”

The Gates Foundation will pay for Bernabe’s entire undergraduate and graduate education. Bernabe said winning the award was an emotional experience for her. “I was in shock. I couldn’t believe it,” Bernabe said. “They gave it in a folder- the folder was light. I thought maybe they’re just giving me a folder. Then I opened it up and said
‘Congratulations.’”

Bernabe said she and her mother started crying tears of joy.

Bernabe and Idriss will both study pre-medicine in college, beginning next fall; Bernabe at Boston University, and Idriss at SUNY Binghamton. Bernabe plans to pursue a career as a pediatrician, while Idriss wants to become a pediatric emergency-room doctor.  The two friends say their shared career goals, and the support they have provided one another during four years of high-school, has helped to fuel their success.

“I’ve always wanted to be a pediatrician,” Bernabe said, “ but it was nice to find someone else who had an interest in medicine. We were giving each other support like ‘We’re going to be doctors in the future.’”

Geography has been another important factor in their friendship: Bernabe lives on University Avenue, near 170th Street, while Idriss resides on 170th Street near Jerome Avenue. The two first bonded during their freshman year, during the long commute from Highbridge to Throgs Neck along the “3”, “40,” and “42” bus lines.
Bernabe and Idriss, and their teachers at Preston High School, say their success is at least partly the result of a conscious emphasis the school has placed, in the last few years, on encouraging women to pursue a career in the sciences. “It is an emphasis here, because of the low numbers of women [in science] and the decline of people in general entering science in the United States,” said Anna O’ Sullivan, an advancement associate at Preston High. “Women in science became a push here not only because of the growth in information technology but also in information-age careers.”

Bernabe said female engineers, as well as representatives from IBM, had held assemblies at Preston High School. She agreed that actively urging women to go into science was necessary because there is a significant shortage of women in the field. “We need women to be active, whether it be in engineering or medicine,” Idriss said.

While Bernabe may have received extra encouragement to pursue a career in medicine, her interest in the field is longstanding. She said she was first inspired to become a pediatrician after a visit to a particularly compassionate and attentive doctor in the Bronx at the age of 10.  In the years since then, she has put in plenty of hard work both inside and outside of the classroom in pursuit of her goal. Bill Spence , Bernabe’s Honors Biology teacher, said his student embraced challenging courses—such as physics—and diligently applied herself to lab work in order to not simply finish assignments, but grasp the material in-depth.

“She’s a fairly quiet, reserved student,” Spence said. “Very conscientious though. Gets involved in the academic aspect of it. The best part of it is she doesn’t do just the bare minimum.”

Spence added that, outside of class, Bernabe is a member of the school’s Science Club and also frequently attends lectures. Another element of Bernabe’s life outside of school that she said has prepared her well for life as a pediatrician is work at the New York Botanical Gardens, where she teaches children about the plant life that surrounds them and how different plants are used in the world around them.

“I was a very shy and timid person when I first volunteered as a freshman,” Bernabe said. “Not only was I able to conquer my fear of public speaking, but I was also able to interact with children. It really helped to define my passion for children and pediatrics.”

Looking forward, Bernabe is excited about moving to Boston— a city she has liked since first visiting several years ago—and beginning the next phase of her life.
And though she and Idriss will be in different states, they have vowed not to let the distance impact their friendship.