Having overcome a difficult childhood plagued by drug-selling friends and drug-using family members, senior Candido Brown was determined to be different.
"At the time [in elementary school] my mother was abusing drugs, my adopted brothers were selling them, and my foolish friends were buying.
"I innocently watched as these actions took place, hoping that one day the people that I loved would change. Even though they didn't, I did," Brown said.
Brown, a sociology major, was recently honored as both the JHU Student Employee of the Year and the Maryland Student Employee of the Year.
Recognized for his dedicated work in the Public Relations Department within the Office of Admissions, he was awarded a $1,000 savings bond and a Certificate of Appreciation from the City of Baltimore from Mayor Sheila Dixon.
Employers nominated student employees based on reliability, initiative, disposition, quality of work and contribution. Brown was one of these 42 students.
A panel of pre-selected judges reviewed nominations and ranked candidates according to a point system.
According to Ruth Scally, the assistant director of Student Employment Services, once Brown had been selected as the Hopkins Student Employee of the Year, his nomination was then forwarded to the regional Student Employment Association, where it later became one of the entries for the State of Maryland.
As nomination entries were submitted from a plethora of Maryland universities and colleges, Brown was selected to be the recipient of the state of Maryland's award.
"While I was not expecting to receive an award of this magnitude, I believe I was granted this honor because it is my professionalism, meticulousness and work ethic that sets me apart from them [other student employees]," Brown said.
"I also work 20 hours a week, most holidays and Saturday sessions - something many students won't do."
Although he was a former student in Baltimore City Public Schools, he initially enrolled in a small liberal arts school called Eugene Lang College in New York City.
However, he transferred to Hopkins realizing his desire for a more challenging education with a variety of organizations and academic assistance programs.
"As a young black male reared in inner-city Baltimore, I never expected to be where I am today. The possibilities of escaping this city are rare and people who do leave seem to always return. I am that person. Yes, I returned to the city that I once despised. I've seen friends and family fall victim to the injurious circumstances of poverty, crime and drugs, and luckily I've made my way out of a cave that others only imagined they'd escape," Brown said.
Living by the mantra his great grandmother instilled in him - "No matter what you have experienced, there is no way you must waste your future reward!" - he is glad he returned to Baltimore to "give back" in order to garner his reward.
In his Hopkins career, he has interacted as a member of the Diversity Leadership Council, treasurer of the Black Student Union and student teacher for Academy for College and Career Exploration, a local high school in Baltimore. Recently he organized a bus trip around Baltimore City for Hopkins undergraduates to see the sociological aspects of the city.
Sharon Dorrian, his supervisor and the person to initially nominate him, acknowledged Brown's change.
On the nomination form, she states, "Candido does all he does with a pure heart, and because he expects the best of himself.
His ethic is simple and consistent: Do your best, be helpful, be cheerful, be productive, make the workplace better when you leave than it was when you arrived."
At the award's ceremony, Mayor Dixon agreed and further praised Candido, "Your approach to work is a winning formula for life and a career."
Brown will continue his studies at Harvard's Graduate School of Education in the fall of 2008 to pursue a Master's degree in education policy and management.
