Boubacar Diallo came to New York three years ago, speaking only french and Fulani. Today he appears on Newsday's Profile page.

Second-year student in LaGuardia Community College's computer science program; an officer in the college's Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, he has been on the dean's list every semester and tutors fellow students as part of the Academic Peer Instruction Program.

Diallo was awarded a scholarship for academic achievement from CUNY in June. After graduating from LaGuardia next year he plans to go on to Stony Brook or City College to study computer information systems. The handsome Guinean hopes to stay in this country, which makes us very fortunate indeed.

"My philosophy is that whatever goes around comes around. Whatever you do to help others will come back to you. So it's better to be good than bad to others. That's why I enjoy tutoring. When you see other students happy it makes me happy, too. I have seen people struggling through some difficult classes and because I know the class, have done the work, I know that I can help them."

[story alert thanks to Barry]