The guest of honor was an MIT grad, class of ’26, some 99 years after my father had graduated at age 19 from that “institute,” indeed not nearly as prestigious in the 1920s as it is today. (Pardon my East Coast prejudice as I wince whenever I read a modern list in which Cal Tech or Stanford is ranked higher.)

Leah, the newly minted graduate, had accomplished a lot: she had gained access ten years ago as a sixth grader to Boston Latin School, no small accomplishment for a child of hard-working immigrants when the only way to gain admission was the ISEE test and grade point average with no benefits allowed for any other consideration.

After graduating from that noble institution on Avenue Louis Pasteur, she was accepted into both Harvard and MIT, not exactly a Hobson’s choice. A bio-engineering major, she yearns to be a doctor; she did very well on the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) but wants to spend a gap year involved with research at New York City’s esteemed Langone Medical Center before entering medical school.

Leah’s parents constantly beamed with pride during the affair as did her academically astute brother who, as a civil engineer now working for the city, graduated from another Boston exam school a number of years ago. Leah herself looks forward to medical research while living in a 6th floor walkup with no elevator. (Movie buffs may recall “Barefoot in the Park,” in which Jane Fonda and Robert Redford also had to hoof up six flights.)

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Our neighborhood – a veritable United Nations of Boston homeowners – is very proud of Leah’s accomplishments: here she is, a child of immigrants from non-English speaking countries, reminiscent of another neighboring family on an adjacent street – a mere Johnny Damon throw from deep center field, in which the husband is a doctor who, having come to America, did not speak a lick of English but through hard work also gained admission to Latin and then went on to Harvard.

America: a chance for immigrants to succeed after mastering our difficult language and putting in serious hard work. May we continue to be a beacon to inspire success for newcomers.