High honor for St. John's student

Matthew Trimboli has been selected for one of the most exclusive groups at St. John’s University, the President’s Society.

The college student from Valley Stream is one of less than 30 juniors to be chosen for the group, considered part of the president’s personal staff. More than 500 students applied for the university’s highest honor.

Trimboli and other members of the President’s Society serve as ambassadors for St. John’s, promoting all that the university has to offer. Society members plan and attend several events at the school including alumni weekend and graduation.

In January, Trimboli first applied for the President’s Society. He made the first cut and was one of 70 students to come in for an interview. Trimboli met with a 10-member selection committee, in which he was asked about his work with the St. Vincent de Paul Society and why he would be a good representative of the school.

Trimboli has dedicated much of his college career to the St. Vincent de Paul Society chapter at St. John’s Queens campus. He served as president this past year. Members of the society have visited St. Mary’s Children’s hospital to bring toys and host holiday parties for the kids. They have also held “senior proms” for residents at area nursing homes.

The St. Vincent de Paul Society also does a lot of work for the homeless, Trimboli said. Through sandwich drives, society members prepare bagged lunches and hand them out to the homeless of New York City. “I think the greatest thing is being able to help people, and through that, help them lift themselves up out of their present situations,” Trimboli said. “A lot of them have just fallen on hard times.”

Every year the St. Vincent de Paul Society participates in a Walk for the Homeless. This year, proceeds went to the help the victims of the Haiti earthquake, as many survivors lost their homes in the January tragedy.

In his freshman year, Trimboli was accepted into the freshman honor society, Phi Eta Sigma, by earning a grade point average of at least a 3.7. Through that, he participated in several service activities and also attended some political debates.

Trimboli, who graduated Chaminade High School in 2007, is majoring in secondary education. He would like to teach social studies and said he is particularly interested in American history. There is a lot to learn from events of the past, he said.

He is also an Eagle Scout. Trimboli, a Boy Scout with Troop 109 of Valley Stream, earned the honor in 2006. His Eagle project was to renovate a basement laundry room, hallway and bathroom at the Holy Name of Mary parish convent. Trimboli said his project benefitted the nine sisters who lived there. He raised about $1,500 to complete the work and had more than 30 fellow scouts, friends, family and troop leaders helping him.

As a member of the President’s Society at St. John’s, he will get to meet a high-profile individual next year. Past guests have included Ronald Reagan, Tony Blair and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Often, he said, society members get to meet the leader of a major humanitarian organization.

Trimboli said attending St. John’s University has been a great decision and he is looking forward to his next endeavor on the president’s staff. “I felt this would be a good way to give back to the university,” he said.