Paul Leonardo

Class of 2014

Life Before SBU

Born in the Bronx, raised in Harlem and the Dominican Republic, where his parents were born, and a victim of poverty, Leonardo’s “intellectual curiosity and basic goodness” helped him escape gang life and a path that was likely to lead him to prison or an early death, said Mark Phillips, an academic skills specialist with St. Bonaventure’s HEOP program.

“College was definitely not part of my mindset,” said Leonardo, until his high school counselor who recognized his potential steered him toward HEOP and St. Bonaventure. “He went the extra mile, you know? I spent a lot of troubled years in high school and needed space, needed to be away from the city to better myself.”

Life at SBU

Leonardo gradually found himself in leadership roles. “It’s ironic. In high school I cut school a lot and did not want to seek any responsibility,” he said. “At Bona’s, it wasn’t so much me putting myself out there, but one of those things where the people around me would tell me, ‘I see these qualities in you,’ ‘I know you can do it,’ and that reinforced me.”

Fluent in Spanish and a member of Sigma Delta Pi, the national collegiate Hispanic honor society, he started an organization to tutor Colombian students online in English.
He served as president of St. Bona-venture’s Latino American Student Organization; participated in Model United Nations and the Presidential Inauguration Academic Seminar at The Washington Center in Washington, D.C.; was a member of the Poetry and Philosophy clubs; and volunteered with The Warming House, the student-run soup kitchen; and the disaster-relief group BonaResponds.

He was also a tutor, a peer leader and advocate for HEOP, a member of the Student Government Association, and played rugby for three years. He earned bachelor’s degrees in political science and Spanish, a minor in law and society, completed a concentration in international relations and was named the Ideal Bonaventure Man for the Class of 2014.

Life After SBU

Leonardo is pursuing a master’s in global affairs at Rutgers University. He’s traveled to Colombia to attend and present workshops on globalization, and worked with Wall Street firms handling business loans. He presently works for a nonprofit assisting unaccompanied minors entering the U.S. and reuniting them with their families.

Reflecting on HEOP and SBU

“Bona’s has a way of making everyone mix together, and HEOP is part of that inclusive process. It was a great support system. We had weekly meetings and sometimes all I wanted to do was take a nap, and I’d get angry, but later on you get to appreciate it, because all they wanted to do was make sure you are attending class, that you are well, and that you’re becoming a responsible person.”