Diamond Wilson, a 2018 Cristo Rey Columbus High School (CRC) graduate, recently finished college and was hired by CRC as its alumni adviser.
CRC is part of a network of Catholic schools across the country that offer a college-preparatory education to students from financially challenged backgrounds. Since the school opened in 2013, 100 percent of its graduating students have gone on to college.
In an interview for CRC’s podcast, Wilson said, “What brought me back was how much Cristo Rey has prepped me for college and what it’s done for me.”
She said that although the workload for CRC students is intense, it’s worth it. “Once I got to college … I realized how much I was prepped not just academically but also career wise.” Because, as Wilson said, she has a heart for giving back to her community, she wanted to help CRC impact others as well.
As alumni adviser, Wilson communicates with CRC graduates – many of whom were her classmates – to see how they’re doing in college or the workforce. She ensures they’re secure with finances and housing and doing well socially and emotionally.
“(Many) of our students are the first generation (in their family) to go to college, some even the first to finish high school,” Wilson said. “We were all in the same boat at one point in time, fearing we wouldn’t get accepted into college, … wouldn’t be able to afford it and wouldn’t be smart enough to handle the rigor.
“Now I have the honor of seeing how far they’ve come and how I can help them achieve even more.”
Ashley Grasinger, CRC’s college counselor who works closely with Wilson and shares an office with her, said Wilson has excelled as alumni adviser.
“She is warm, outgoing and thoughtful,” Grasinger said. “Her life experience, especially her experience as a CRC student, has been instrumental in helping students (here) understand the purpose behind the … demands CRC puts on (them).”
Aside from the academic demands, all Cristo Rey students participate in a work-study program. This entails holding temporary, entry-level positions with various companies that partner with Cristo Rey.
“I enjoyed every single one of them,” Wilson said of her work-study positions. “I appreciate the professional work-study program … (because) I could figure out what I like and what I didn’t like.”
Wilson, who spent one of her work-study experiences in Mike DeWine’s office while he was Ohio attorney general, eventually began college at St. John’s University in Queens, New York as a legal studies major.
“I fell in love with my courses,” she said. “They challenged me, made me think outside the box and pushed me far beyond my comfort zone.” She changed her major to political science with a minor in legal studies when professors advised her to do so if she eventually wanted to attend law school.
Along with several other honors at St. John’s, Wilson was elected executive secretary for the nonprofit Student Government Incorporated, working alongside university president Father Brian J. Shanley, OP.
Of her college experience, Wilson said, “I discovered life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent what you make of it. Because of college, I became the woman that Cristo Rey Columbus Diamond could have only dreamt of.”
The Cristo Rey Network encourages its students to dream big for themselves and their futures. “One of my favorite parts of the Cristo Rey Network credo discusses dreaming outrageously,” Grasinger said.
“Cristo Rey Columbus is changing the lives of our students by helping them to dream boldly and giving them the support they need to make those dreams come true.”
Wilson said that theology class in her senior year at CRC helped her discover her dream vocation.
“One of our assignments covered the Catholic Church helping those in need, specifically those with criminal records,” Wilson said. “That lesson hit close to home, as almost every student knew someone who was formerly incarcerated and understood their struggle.
“From that lesson, I found my vocation. I want to create a nonprofit organization focused on formerly incarcerated individuals and troubled youth. Big dream, I know. But the way I put it, if your dreams don’t scare you, are they big enough?”
For now, Wilson helps students who are where she was not long ago, which she finds extremely fulfilling.
“I don’t think there are enough words … to describe what it feels like to … help our alumni (as) an alumni myself, but the best way I can put it is that it is seeing God’s work with your own eyes.
Elizabeth Pardi is a freelance writer.
