Staying on track for the future: surrounded by trouble in a tough neighborhood, Neil Allicock is determined to succeed.

I Live with my parents and two of my sisters in a smart apartment in East New York, which is a tough neighborhood in Brooklyn.

If my family had a financial problem, my parents would never let me know because I'm not supposed to be worried about bills or whatever. I'm supposed to be enjoying myself.

I never feet unsafe in my community because I basically know everybody. It's not like the stereotype that people have of the city. There is crime, though it's not like you just walk outside and someone steals your purse.

But near my school, I don't feel as safe. I actually got robbed twice there. I try not to dwell on that because I don't want it to affect how I am with people. I have to trust people.

My family--that's my rock. My parents are realIy supportive. They're really proud that I'm into stuff like going to school, and working at the aquarium. My ramify has high hopes for me because they know I'm going to succeed.

GUYANESE IMMIGRANTS

My father and mother are both from Guyana, a country in South America. I was born here, but when I was younger, I lived in Guyana for a coupte of years. We came back to America because there are better opportunities here. My mom's a stay-at-home mom. My father does construction and maintenance work. I've tearned a lot from him.

I know that in the future I'm going to do great things. I'd like to be an electrical, engineer or an architect, or maybe work in forensic science. But right now, in the environment I tire in, it's real.ty difficult, I'm sometimes tempted to stray from what I know I should be doing.

Most of the people around me aren't motivated to succeed, so sometimes I think: "What's the point? I'm just going to relax. I'm going to do what you're doing. I'm going to stay at home and let the wind take me wherever."

But then I think of the stereotype of black youths, and I don't want to prove that stereotype right. I don't want to be that guy who could have done this right but faired for whatever reason.

Sometimes it's the mentality of the people around you that you really have to get away from. Some people are Iike: "All right, I'm here, I'm not doing good in school., I can't get away from this certain situation." You have to get away from people who think like that. Otherwise, pretty soon you're going to think like that.

I can honestly say that if I didn't have my parents and my family as an anchor, I would not be this type of person. My parents are constantly telling me, "Go read a book, go study this, go research this." I listen sometimes, and it pays off.

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Neil Allicock is a senior at Brooklyn Academy for Science and the Environment, in Brooklyn, N.Y.