Just a few years ago, Dio Brown was homeless and addicted to drugs. "If you could picture the person you saw on the street and you would say to yourself 'they're never going to make it,' that was me. Downtown Syracuse used to be my living room."
Today, Brown is on the brink of completing an Onondaga Community College degree in Electromechanical Technology, close to a second degree in Computer Science, and is a national semifinalist for the Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. It provides deserving community college students a path to a tuition-free bachelor's degree. "I'm really excited about this. There's a thread that goes through the award where the idea is you have something you took through your years at school, and you want to continue. I want to start my own company in developmental robotics. It's an intersection of AI (artificial intelligence) and robotics."
Brown's journey from hopeless to hopeful is remarkable. They grew up in an abusive home and left at age 18. "I knew I was never going back, but I didn't have a plan." What followed was a seemingly endless cycle of drug use and homelessness. Ironically, the passing of Brown's best friend in 2022 provided the inspiration to make a change. "He was that last piece, that realization I was just like him... a lost kid hurting myself. When he passed away, something changed. I didn't have cravings. All I thought about was the future. I became a normal, happy individual."
Growing up, Brown loved science. When they realized the passion for science was still there, they enrolled at OCC. "The second I got here and got my hands on things, everything just started clicking and making sense like it was meant to be."
While taking classes in the Electromechanical Technology (ELM) degree program, Brown earned membership in the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society and struck up a relationship with Professor Mike Grieb. Brown would eventually help support the development of ELM while working for Professor Grieb as part of the Federal Work Study program. "He has a way of disarming you, and our personalities clicked. He helped me understand what it means to be an engineer. At first I was so anxious because I didn't know anything. He taught me that being an engineer means figuring things out by trying things and thinking outside the box."
It was Professor Grieb who nominated Brown for the Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. In his letter of recommendation, he applauded Brown's role as unofficial president of the spring cohort who worked to bring classmates closer together to succeed as a group, their efforts in promoting OCC to a wide array of potential students, and their role in the Federal Work Study program, writing:
"The ELM program needed significant support in getting new equipment and supplies prepared for the various classes. Dio was an invaluable asset to the program. They adapted to ever-changing priorities and worked diligently to get the equipment and materials set up for our new labs. The ELM program would not have been successful without their support."
This summer, Brown will do an internship at NY Creates which owns and operates the Albany NanoTech Complex. In the fall, if they are awarded the Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship, they plan to continue their education at SUNY Binghamton or the Rochester Institute of Technology. Wherever Brown goes, OCC will always be the place that helped change the course of their life. "I never thought I would belong in a place like this. Now I know a whole different way of life. I have an appreciation for it. I'm just happy to be around clean, nice furniture and cool machines."
