Randall Duperval - Alumni Spotlight

Randall Duperval, “The Classic Man” defines himself as a husband (of his beautiful wife, Mary), father (of two highly energetic boys), a son, and most importantly, child of his God, Jesus. Randall was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY in August of 1989. His parents are of Haitian descent, which he identifies strongly with; so much so that when asked what is his nationality, he answers Haitian-American, as opposed to American.

Before graduating from Alfred University with his Master’s degree, he attended The City College of New York where he “finally” (as he puts it) graduated with his B.S. in Psychology with a 2.6 GPA. In turn, he made it his duty to do better, and that he did, graduating with a 3.9 GPA in 2017. Currently, although Randall is a College Access Counselor, in the evening and weekends, he and his wife are building a Wedding Event Planning business called Vonrai Events & Design.

Randall is passionate about youth development, loves to sing (although he cannot hold a note), and enjoys testing his palettes with new types of cuisine. His life motto is one word, “elevate”.

In his own words:

I decided to pursue a Master’s in School Counseling because I needed to be in school for another two years only for something I was passionate if I wanted to succeed. Therefore, I put my skills in being a natural counselor and my love to help develop young people together and landed in School Counseling. Also, I had two teachers in high school who meant a lot to me. However, although they weren’t my classroom teachers, they taught me the most about life through their conversations and character. To this day I still hear their advice resounding in my mind.

Alfred/CITE courses were definitely a challenge. Giving up your Saturdays after spending a full week at work and juggling the remainder of your life is not an easy task. However, having a cohort module made it that much simpler to navigate and succeed. Alfred/CITE courses pushed you to think beyond your daily capacity, but most importantly, the life-long friendships helped me reach my potential in class and also gave me the opportunity to continue to excel in my career. All the resources were there for the taking; If it wasn’t in the front of the room, with the thought-provoking professors, it was definitely around the room with the future counselors.

Currently, I am a College Access Counselor with Cypress Hills Learning Development Corporation. My team, the College Success Program houses a brand new Student Success Center in The Jefferson High School Campus, serving four different schools. Is it challenging? Definitely so. Our students’ future decisions are in our hands based off of trust, rapport and most importantly expertise. I take it very seriously because in High School I did not have as much support as I would have wanted, as I would have hoped for.

I find it necessary, as any business, you should have a niche that sets you apart from the rest of the entrepreneurs in your industry. In this case, my niche is College Access. I have no idea where it will lead me, but like I told my mother when I first decided to pursue my Masters in School Counseling, “if I’m really good at something, I will never have to chase after money, money will chase after me”.

I feel as if CITE/Alfred enhanced my skills for my career goals. I have come to the conclusion that my DNA was created to counsel. CITE/Alfred helped me recognize that and pulled out the natural resources that were already entangled within my character.

I am learning to live life as it comes. Naturally, I am a planner, but recently I have been finding God to take my written plans and erase them and create new things. However, the Bible does say, “write the vision and make it plain”. Therefore, plainly saying, I see myself helping to counsel youth and families to recognize their full potential and giving them the resources to achieve it.

I recommend people to CITE because although it is challenging, it is supportive, encouraging, and legitimate and most importantly it is affordable. You really cannot beat that in NYC.

CITE is the Center for Integrated Training and Education. For over 25 years, CITE has and continues to train TEACHERS (Early Childhood, Professional Certification, Special Ed,Grad Courses, Bilingual courses, DASA); COUNSELORS (School, Mental Health Masters, Advanced Certificate); and ADMINISTRATORS (SBL, SDL, Public Admin, Doctorate) in all five boroughs of NYC, Yonkers, Westchester, and Long Island.

CITE PD offers CTLE-approved in-school professional development tailored to your school’s needs and your vision. Info: citepd.com

We now also offer an undergraduate degree completion program in psychology.