The first thing Jhystoni Rivera noticed when he opened the door to his freshman dorm room at the University of New Hampshire was how small it was. Then came another realization. The closet was huge — and it was his.

Rivera, 18, didn’t have much privacy or independence growing up in Manchester. Now, he would.

Rivera helped his mom raise his three younger brothers, Jericho, 12, Jerome, 10 and Jermanuel, 8. When she was working, he stayed with them after school. Dad wasn’t in the picture, so he was a father-figure of sorts: teaching them responsibility, coaching their football teams.

Rivera did all of this while also working as a licensed nursing assistant, leading his school wrestling team, and studying at Manchester's West High School.

He decided sophomore year of high school to go to c

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