Winston Perez-Ventura was a Dominican 17 year-old destined to study Architecture at Cornell University but his life was cut short when he drowned in Ithaca Falls.

Born in Dominican Republic, he grew up in Santo Domingo until the age of 9 years old where he then moved to the United States to meet with his mother again. He lived in the Bronx with his mother all throughout his life.

Winston is one of the first student alumni to have graduated from Democracy Prep Harlem High School, a new charter school dedicated to helping young kids in the area succeed through rigorous academics, authentic civic opportunities, and a variety of extracurricular activities.

He also attended Democracy prep Harlem Middle School.

On a night in December, 2016, he sat at a table with his laptop constantly refreshing a page, awaiting some news, along with several of his friends and family.

Winston awaited for the news regarding his acceptance into Cornell University, the University of his dreams.

On that night, his dream came true.

He checked messages and his acceptance letter arrived to the cheer of his friends and family in jubilation of his accomplishment.

On Saturday afternoon, August 5th, 2017, Winston went for a swim at a place called Fall Creek near Ithaca Falls, and he never resurfaced. Several hours later after a long search effort, his body was discovered in the evening. Winston died from drowning. ^[1]

Winston died two weeks before starting his first day as a freshman at his dream school, Cornell University.