“Come to Benedict and the world will be yours”

I grew up Dillon, S.C. and graduated from the same high school as Ben Bernanke, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve.

I remember when we had college day at the school in the fall of 1985.

I told the recruiters I wanted to major in journalism. Many of the recruiters looked at me and just smiled.

But the one from Benedict didn’t.

I can’t remember his name, but I do remember what he said which was: “Come to Benedict and the world will be yours.”

Decision made.

Benedict is located in Columbia, S.C.

It’s not that far away from parts of the University of South Carolina.

And it’s within walking distance of the statehouse where at that time the Confederate Flag flew.

I started the fall of 1986.

My family did not have a lot of money.

But I was lucky to have older brothers who went to college before me and they told me to make sure to go to financial aid the first week of school and let them know my situation.

The people at the financial aid office turned out to be some of my best friends at the school. They constantly looked out for scholarships for me. In the end, I went to college with one student loan of $930.

The rest was financed through scholarships.

That’s the kind of place Benedict was to me. It was a family.

What you didn’t have, someone else did.

We looked out for each other all the time.

I started out in Goodson Hall the male freshman dorm.

I remember Friday night spade games.

And what we called the buffet rooms, which means several of us pooled our money and ordered pizza or other take-out and played cards or board games and went from room to room.

I loved going to the basketball games.

Our mascot was the Benedict Tiger.

And our team did pretty well, but it was the camaraderie of all the students coming together to cheer for our team is what I remember the most.

We’d pile into cars, even if we didn’t know people that well, and hit the road for away games. All you’d do is post a sign in the dorm saying you’re going to the game and need some cash for gas and boom: car full of people.

And as much as we had fun, we also took our studies very seriously.

My test scores qualified me to make it into the school’s first Honor’s Program.

I have to admit, that class was hard. It took up a lot of time but it also pushed me academically.

Susan Dugan was my favorite journalism instructor.

She introduced me to photography and she also helped me understand what journalism was all about.

I also worked with her on the school’s yearbook for two years in a row.

Little did I know then, that by accepting that role, it was my first life lesson in management of people.

We’d have all-school assemblies every few weeks at that time.

It was then we’d have important guest speakers who urged us to follow the school’s motto which was “be a power of good in society.”

The one who made the biggest impression on me was Montel Williams.

This was before he became the talk show host.

At that time he was still in the Navy and was touring schools and encouraging young African-American to stay in school.

Afterwards, I was one of the few invited to a private reception at the President’s House and I managed to have a one-on-one with him.

I was struggling in a class and Williams told me that classes are just representations of life.

You see a problem, you beat it. It’s just that simple. Don’t let the problems beat you.

I got an A in the class.

In 1987, I pledged Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. It’s the oldest black fraternity in the nation.

I grew up in a family with six brothers, but on that cool crisp fall night in 1987, I gained thousands of others across a nation.

And I owe that to Benedict.

Benedict showed me I was smart.

Benedict showed me I was strong.

Benedict gave me a family and it showed me I was tough.

I would need these skills especially in the years to come.

When I graduated in 1990, the country was in a recession, but I managed to land my first newspaper job at one of the top newspapers in the country.

It was a “foot in the door” job, but needless to say, I’m proud to have “The Cleveland Plain Dealer” on my resume.

Then in the early 2000’s the newspaper business took a dramatic downturn and it was time for me to go.

I jumped into broadcasting and won one of its highest awards in 2014 an Emmy.

I thank Benedict for that.

It laid the foundation.

As the recruiter said: “Come to Benedict and the world will be yours.”

Yes it is.