As 22-year-old Maryclare Chinedo celebrated her accomplishments as a recent Brown University graduate, she reflected on her experience.

“Coming from the South Bronx where everyone looks like me, where a majority of people of color, going to a school like Brown, where there's a wide range of people, it was definitely intimidating,” said Maryclare.

She won’t be the only one to graduate from an Ivy League school in her family – her younger sisters Emma, 20, and Chelsea, 17, both got into Cornell University. All three sisters attended the Bronx Lighthouse College Prep Academy.

The three sisters credit their accomplishments to their parents who immigrated to New York from Nigeria over 20 years ago, and the younger siblings credit Maryclare for being an inspiration.

Maryclare Chinedo has a degree in health and human biology and hopes to pursue a career in engineering.