01 August 2009
It was Glenroy Palmer’s love of basketball that first led him to Columbia Union College (CUC, now Washington Adventist University). While studying at Erie Community College in Buffalo, N.Y., Palmer learned CUC was looking to recruit new players. He met with Coach Dunbar, tried out for the team, and was offered a scholarship.
He graduated from CUC in 2006 with a degree in business marketing management and landed a job as a project manager with Ryan Homes, a residential home-building company. After suffering a layoff, Palmer then worked as a project manager for a commercial construction company, but that job did not feed his passion—it lacked interaction with other people. So he resigned, and took a position with a smaller commercial construction company instead, only to face another layoff.
“I took that as a sign… I need to follow my passion, not the money,” Palmer says.
Palmer’s love of basketball led him back to his alma mater. By day, he gives back to young people by teaching financial literacy at Calvin Coolidge High School in Washington, D.C. By night, he moonlights as an assistant head basketball coach at Washington Adventist University.
Obstacles and Opportunities
Palmer describes his formative years as difficult, noting frequent moves to live with different family members and friends while his mother battled a drug addiction. He attended nine different elementary schools before reaching fourth grade.
Palmer says he lives his life proactively, rather than waiting for things to just happen to him. He smiles as he recalls his first day of school as a second grader. He was dressed and ready to go to school, but his mother wouldn’t get out of bed. Knowing that he should be in school, Palmer walked himself to school, and sat down in one of the classrooms, much to the confusion of the teachers, who didn’t know where he belonged, because he wasn’t yet registered. This is just one example of the pattern that defines his life.
Even in hard times, Palmer persevered. There was a three-week span during his senior year when Palmer, his mother, and sister stayed at a Bronx homeless shelter after an eviction. He kept up his routine during that period, traveling from the shelter to his high school in Brooklyn, then basketball practice or a basketball game. After all that, he headed to work at a McDonald’s in Manhattan, then back home and started over the next day.
He doesn’t regret any of the events that transpired during his childhood years because they made him into the person he is today.
“I’m glad I had the experiences I had, but I’m also glad it’s over,” he says.
While working for Ryan Homes, Palmer moved his mother and sister to the Washington, D.C. area to give them a change of scenery. His mother started working at a Hyatt hotel as a housekeeper. Now she’s the housekeeping supervisor. His sister attends the prestigious Duke Ellington School for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
Palmer’s future plans include becoming a head coach of a basketball team. He would also like to open a non-profit organization aimed at introducing inner-city children to the world outside of their neighborhoods, a world ripe for exploration and opportunities to help others.