Bronx boy done good: Paolo Singer, currently at Harvard University, has been selected as a Rhodes scholar. He’ll head to Oxford University next year.
His road to success is taking him from the Bronx to Oxford University.
Harvard University senior Paolo Singer, 22, who hails from the Boogie Down, is among 32 American students to win prestigious Rhodes scholarships to study at Oxford, officials said Sunday.
He heads to England next year.
“When they read my name, I was pretty stunned,” Singer told the Daily News. “It was all a blur.”
The brainiac grew up in Morningside Heights in Manhattan and Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.
Singer worked at the White House as an intern last year but got his start at Public School 9 and Middle School 34 on the upper West Side and at Stuyvesant High School in Tribeca.
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“I’m humbled and proud to represent the Bronx when I go to Oxford,” the whiz kid said Sunday. “I hope to use what I learn to help.”
The thoughtful phenom is studying economics because he wants to combat poverty — in his native New York and in the developing world.
Singer is concerned about booming populations in countries without access to water, electricity and toilets.
His Italian immigrant mother and little sister, who still live on Broadway in the Bronx, are beyond proud.
“We were super excited,” 16-year-old Sofia said Sunday. “He totally deserves it. He’s worked so hard.”
Singer has rowed for a Harvard crew team and has spent time abroad in India and South Africa to learn about poverty and development.
RELATED: CITY COLLEGE PHENOM HITS THE RHODES
During high school, his friends knew him as an accomplished pianist and competitive figure skater.
But it was working at the White House that truly opened his eyes.
President Barack Obama spoke to Singer and other awestruck interns there.
“The advice that stuck the most was when the going gets tough, remember what your purpose is and how much you have the chance to help others,” Singer recalled.
The 32 Rhodes scholars will have all expenses paid for two or three years of study at Oxford.
More than 800 students applied this year.
Isabel Beshar of Rye in Westchester County was the other New Yorker selected. She attends Yale University.
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