High School Dropout Now High on Education

Joseph N. Harris, 28, a high school dropout who was recently named one of the 20 best college students in the nation, wants low achievers to “take the challenge.”

The one-time Army Special Forces medic, the son of a Mexican mother and a Russian father who divorced, is passing the word to others like him to find their way to success through education.

“Those who have made it are proof enough that it’s worth doing,” said the UC Irvine psychology student, who will attend UC Berkeley this year to study brain degeneration. He was recently named to the All-USA Academic Team, with 19 others.

Harris, married and the father of four, says it’s important that others, especially minorities, hear his story.

“I never knew anyone that went to college when I was in high school,” Harris often says when he talks to groups. He then says he grew up in three foster homes and had to attend a community college to offset his poor high school grades before being accepted at UC Irvine.

Harris, who is a member of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science, spends his free time talking to students in poor areas.

“The first thing I tell them is about the opportunities that are available and at first most of them usually don’t believe me,” Harris said. “They’ve heard the same story many times before from other people.”

In fact, Harris admits, when he was that age, “if people came and told that to me, I wouldn’t have believed them either.”

But Harris says he tells them about his life and his own lack of self esteem when his mother was on welfare. “That usually gets their attention,” he said.

“For them to succeed, they have to have a dream and beyond the dream they have to be convinced that they can reach their goal,” said Harris, born in Detroit and one of four children.

However, Harris adds sadly, “out of 100 people, maybe only one is interested in taking the challenge. I keep hoping they would relate to my past.”

His past includes being shuttled from one home to another.

“I was scared to death being in foster homes,” he said. “I thought it was the worst thing that could happen to me, but it turned out better than I thought it would be.”

In high school, Harris landed a job as a dishwasher and took a food class with the idea of eventually being a cook. “I was looking forward one day to managing a restaurant.” He dropped out of high school at 17 to join the Army.

But after scoring high on its entrance tests, “they told me I did good enough to do any job in the military.” That led him to be part of the Special Forces, which gave him two years of medical schooling.

“The Special Forces was the best and I wanted to be one of the best,” said Harris. “Out of 300, only three of us graduated.”

He was sent to Central America to give medical training to civilians and soldiers. After seven years in the service, Harris decided it was time to get a formal education.

With his UC Berkeley days ahead of him, “right now my head is pretty big, but I can remember the time when I thought I couldn’t do it.”

Harris said he wants to fulfill his own dreams, which include earning a Ph.D.

“The other part is to convince others to get a dream and a challenge and believe in it,” he said.