A PIRATE FAMILY
Scholarship brings brothers to ECU
Growing up in Richlands, North Carolina, brothers Benjamin and Adam Reyes didn’t think they would be able to afford college. But their hard work and determination were rewarded with scholarships to East Carolina University.
Benjamin graduated summa cum laude from ECU in May with a bachelor’s degree in music education. Adam, who graduated June 9 from Richlands High School, will officially be part of the Pirate family this fall. Benjamin plans to become a high school band director, and Adam will study to become a history teacher.
Adam Reyes, Angela Jewell – their mother, and Benjamin Reyes (contributed photo)
“It’s absolutely incredible that I am sitting here right now (teaching) because if you would have asked me, four, five, six or seven years ago, I never would have guessed I would have even gone to college,” Benjamin Reyes said from a classroom at White Oak High School where he’s worked as a long-term substitute after completing his student teaching there. “Looking back, there is probably nothing I would change because every single thing I got to experience has somehow shaped me to be the educator I am today.”
He said finances were always an issue in their home. When he started high school, he didn’t consider college much of a possibility. The brothers would need a scholarship in order to make their dreams a reality.
Reyes earned admission into the ECU Honors College, a Maynard Scholarship and an Access Scholarship. The Maynard Scholars program provides a four-year $20,000 scholarship to incoming first-year students from counties in the eastern half of North Carolina. The recipients are required to teach for a minimum of four years in a public, charter or government school in one of the selected counties. His younger brother will also be a Maynard Scholar.
“What means the most about the scholarship is that it’s dedicated for teachers; it’s made specifically for people who want to make other people’s lives better, and I really like that about it,” Adam Reyes said. “I’ve had teachers who have really, really inspired me. … I really feel that every teacher should be very supportive, and they should help the students as much as possible. And I feel I could do my part, do what I can to help other people.”
Their grandmother is glad to see the brothers achieve a goal she dreamed about.
“I always had a desire to be a teacher, and now to see my awesome grandson reach that goal makes my heart smile,” said Sharon Howard. “I can only thank James and Connie Maynard for their caring generosity to give deserving potential teachers an opportunity that otherwise may have not happened.”
Benjamin Reyes went from a high school student who didn’t think college was a possibility to becoming drum major for the ECU Marching Pirates and the 2015 ECU Homecoming King.
“I still ask myself every day, ‘How did those experiences work out?’ I’m so thankful that it did,” he said with a big smile.
While his younger brother has the summer to prepare for his next step, Reyes is entering the real world by interviewing for jobs. He’s hopeful he will have a new school to call his own as a band director by summer’s end.
“He will bring an energy and a sense of professionalism (to his new school),” said Perry Ditch, band director at White Oak High School and a fellow ECU alumnus. “He’s very ambitious, he likes to succeed and he will work hard to make sure that that happens. He is one of the most professional student teachers I have ever had.”
It’s been a good year for the Reyes brothers.
“My main inspiration is my brother,” Adam Reyes said. “Seeing how successful he is, I would also like to see what I can do.”
Below, see how the Reyes brothers overcame financial obstacles to achieve their goals. (Video by Rich Klindworth)