University at Buffalo (UB)
It's not how you start... it's where you finish
2018 - James Simmons
2018 UBEOC Distinguished Alumni Recipient
UBEOC Class of 1982, 2013
At five years old, living in segregated Alabama in the 1960’s, Mr. James Simmons witnessed the death of his father by the hand of a stranger. In 1971 Mr. Simmons and his mother moved to Buffalo to live with family up north.
“I aimlessly wandered in wrong directions because I couldn’t believe in ‘me’ or in anybody else. I appreciate the court and human service agencies for turning me around. And I am so thankful for EOC administrators, faculty and staff who then pointed me in the right direction. They had faith in me that I absorbed as trust in myself. I hope my story can inspire others to also believe and achieve.”
At eight years of age he felt that mental imprints of segregation and trauma made it very difficult for him to adjust; “I didn’t know how to talk with people of other races. I knew of cotton fields, not city streets. I was confused and scared.” According to Mr. Simmons these emotions turned into stifled anger and led later to many troubled years hanging around pool halls, shooting dice, stealing and not going to school.
As a teenager and adult, Mr. Simmons lived ‘on the streets’ which he stated “…won out for over a decade.” According to him, at 17 years old, he developed an entitlement attitude and didn’t trust anyone. Mr. Simmons’ grandmother urged him to join the Army. Since he did not have a high school diploma, he enrolled at UBEOC and earned his equivalency diploma in 1982. He then joined the Army Reserve. Upon his grandmother’s passing, and his mother’s marriage and move to Kansas, he felt totally lost and resorted to drugs and alcohol to “bathe my life’s undealt-with pain away.” He found himself high, drunk and homeless and repeatedly serving 10-15 day jail sentences. Eventually, one judge told him to “Get help or serve one year.” Mr. Simmons now admires and respects this judge who helped change his life. That ultimatum emboldened him to finally accept help from a variety of social service agencies (Sheehan Hospital Rehab, Genessee County Supportive Services, Salvation Army Rehab and Cazenovia Independent Living Rehab). In 2013 Mr. Simmons returned to UBEOC, studied hard and graduated from the College Preparation program with academic honors and an Incentive Award.
After earning his Associates degree in Mental Health Assistant Substance Abuse Counseling from Erie Community College in 2015, Mr. Simmons graduated from Buffalo State College with a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology in 2018. It is now important to Mr. Simmons to mentor and reassure others experiencing trauma and substance abuse that there is a way to move forward.
Alumni Affairs and Student Development Office