Stories of Resilience

Gray Bees are resilient. It’s the singular quality kids already possess when they arrive at The Hive...only they don’t yet know it. Which is why St. Benedict’s continually places students in challenging circumstances where they can be successful. Kids begin to recognize their inner strength, develop resilience tools and conquer adversity. It's a quintessential five alumni shared when they gathered in Conlin Auditorium this summer to share their own Stories of Resilience.

Photos by Michael Scanlan H'97

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“When I first came to Benedict’s, I was all in. It was a big deal for me and for my family because everyone before me when to Malcolm X Shabazz High School.

I was the first in my family to go to private school. I bought into the Overnight and Summer Phase. But then I had to go home. You always have to go home..." said J.B. Hawkins, Esq. '87, immigration attorney and principal at BLACKHAWK Immigration Consulting. 

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“If you would have told me 45 years ago that I'd be responsible for sending 3,000 guys to work every day, I wouldn't have believed you. 

I was a construction laborer with Laborers’ Local 3 for 37 years. I’d started summers when I was 16 and went right into the business after graduating St. Benedict’s. Nine years ago, I was promoted to field representative," said Ralph Kevin Harris '78, who is playing an instrumental role on one of Newark's largest development projects in decades. 

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“Coming to St. Benedict’s was my mother’s plan, she made the decision. My mother liked everything the School stood for, the traditions and its reputation for producing young men who go out and take on the world.

Going to an all-boys school wasn’t my ideal, but from the moment I walked through the doors for the Freshman Overnight until graduating on the first Sunday in June, I felt it was one of the best decisions ever made for me," is how Maurice Boyd's (Class of 1995) story of resilience begins. In December, he was appointed Public Safety Director of East Orange, N.J., the first African American to hold the post.

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“I didn't get into medical school the first time I applied, but anything you want, you have to try harder. I applied again and now I'm a trauma surgeon. 

I grew up in Irvington with very blue-collar parents from Ghana who believed that education was the best way to get ahead in life. Coming from where I grew up and going to St. Benedict's, everything was different," is how Nii-Daako Darko, D.O., M.B.A. '96 remembers the start of his incredible journey into medicine. 

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“I As a 19-year-old, first generation, American woman of color, I often get underestimated.  

However, during my time at St. Benedict's, I learned not only how to think on my feet, but also how to have fun on the journey." That's the mindset and skills Kamily Flores '21 relied upon to launch her own business, Craft Protein Bar, in Cranford, N.J., while attending college full time. 

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