‘My kids are grown, but I have a lot of love to give’: GRIT Scholarship recipient Darnelle Hilliard’s journey back to the classroom

As a high school sophomore, current Buffalo State student Darnelle Hilliard knew he wanted to work with children. He planned to pursue a career in teaching or counseling, but after becoming a father his senior year, he shifted his focus to supporting his family. 

“Growing up without my father caused me to develop a thing where I wanted my kids to feel like nothing else came before them,” said Hilliard, who is now a father of four. “I knew I had to eventually go to school if I wanted to improve our living situation, but I always felt like going while they were young would have been taking too much away.”

After graduating from high school, Hilliard became a school bus driver, a role he has now held for 18 years, which allowed him to be a present parent.

“I was always able to go to my kids’ events and show up for them,” he said. “I always prioritized them and what was best for them.”

Hilliard’s passion for supporting children served him in not only raising his own family, but also in fostering an environment where all children felt welcome.

“I always treated kids the way I wanted to be treated,” he said. “I was the Little League coach, the ‘team dad’—all my kids’ friends loved coming to our house.”

When Hilliard’s youngest sons were about to go to college, one asked him, “What are you going to do now?”

“At first, I was like, ‘I’m about to relax!’” Hilliard said. “But then I was like, ‘He’s right; what am I about to do?’ I didn’t want my kids to ever say, ‘Dad, college is too hard, you don’t understand,’ and the only way I could have them not feel like that is for me to go to school, too—and with more responsibilities.”

Not long after, Hilliard saw an age-inclusive ad for Houghton University on Facebook. He applied, was accepted, and began studying in fall of 2021.

“I was scared, not gonna lie,” he said. “I had been out of school for 19 years. I wasn’t sure I still had what it takes to get a college degree.”

He needn’t have worried; during his time at Houghton, Hilliard maintained a stellar grade point average and was named to the president’s list. As he prepared to graduate with an associate’s degree in liberal arts, he revisited the question he’d first asked himself in high school: psychology or education?

“I knew I wanted to work with inner city kids; that was my passion,” Hilliard said. “And I knew that if I was going to go into teaching, I was going to go to Buffalo State.”

Hilliard has excelled at Buffalo State—he even studied in Zambia as part of Buffalo State’s Professional Development Partnerships—but, this past summer, he encountered a financial stumbling block when he found out he had exhausted both his state and federal financial aid. To make matters more complicated, Hilliard was set to begin student teaching in the fall, which presented a scheduling issue with driving buses. 

“I was already not working as much as I could be because of class,” he said. “My job had been very understanding and working with me to make my classes work, but this semester, because of student teaching, it wasn’t going to work. I was thinking I might have to take a semester off. I didn’t know if we could afford for me to not work.”

But before making any drastic decisions, Hilliard reached out to his professors.

“I sent an email to multiple professors, told them the situation, and asked if there were any other scholarships that they knew of,” he said. “I knew if I reached out, I would probably get the support I needed.” 

Hilliard’s professors responded with fervor. The sentiment, Hilliard said, was, “We have to figure something out to get Darnelle to the finish line.”

Hilliard’s professors identified him as a perfect candidate for the GRIT Scholarship, which has been providing financial support to eligible students since 2022. Unlike many scholarships, GRIT eligibility is not based on grade point average but rather on a student’s demonstrated Guts, Resilience, Impact, and Tenacity. Nominations come from a faculty member or campus advocate. As such, it is the personal relationships between faculty members, staff, and students—like the ones Hilliard has with his professors—that make GRIT possible.

Thanks to GRIT, Hilliard is on track to graduate in December 2025 with his degree in elementary education. He is currently student teaching at Roosevelt Elementary School, an experience he said he is enjoying immensely.

“This is the part I need,” he said. “The knowledge part is easy; the teaching it to somebody else part is the hard part. I’ve been in the classroom since my second semester here, but everything is a building block. If there’s anybody older and considering going back to school, do it. You’re not too old.”

And Hilliard is just getting started. After graduation, he plans to pursue his master’s degree in exceptional education at Buffalo State, a program designed for working teachers.

“I genuinely enjoy learning,” Hilliard said. “This doesn’t feel like a chore. My kids are grown, but I have a lot of love to give.”

Photos by Jesse Steffan-Colucci, Buffalo State photographer.