{"id":20846,"date":"2021-12-27T10:23:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-27T15:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/rinker\/?p=20846"},"modified":"2022-10-26T10:25:22","modified_gmt":"2022-10-26T14:25:22","slug":"lionel-breaks-cycle-of-poverty-via-dcp-degree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/rinker\/lionel-breaks-cycle-of-poverty-via-dcp-degree\/","title":{"rendered":"Lionel Breaks Cycle of Poverty Via DCP Degree"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By: Samarya Elliott<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

University of Florida College of Design, Construction and Planning graduate Sylvester Lionel <\/a>(BSBC ’10) grew up in a tough socioeconomic condition that consisted of poverty and struggle. As the son of a construction manager and homemaker, Lionel used his father as inspiration and soon realized he wanted a career in construction as well. With big career dreams such as this, he knew early in life he wanted to break the cycle of living in a rough socioeconomic situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn your teens, you realize your standards,\u201d Lionel explained. \u201cI had both parents who pushed us to focus on our education and do well in school so that we could better ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exceeding in grade school was always a goal for Lionel; a goal he never failed to achieve. By the time the young man was a senior in high school, he was an honor student with a bright future ahead of him. Attending college was only a thought for the Maitland, Fla., native due to a lack of funds. It wasn\u2019t until Lionel\u2019s guidance counselor at Robert Hungerford Prep sat down with him that he realized the opportunities UF had to offer. This fateful meeting would be the beginning of his college journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy counselor told me about UF\u2019s AIM program (now known as the Promise program<\/a>) and how they were recruiting students with good grades from lower-income backgrounds,\u201d Lionel said. \u201cShe encouraged me to apply, stuck on me and made sure I followed through with my application. It was huge for me when I was accepted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lionel also benefitted from the Machen Florida Opportunity Scholars Program<\/a>, a UF scholarship program for first-generation in college undergraduate students, which promises all qualified students that 100 percent of their financial need for an academic year will be met with grants and scholarships through federal, state, institutional and private sources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During Lionel’s time as an undergraduate student at DCP, he learned about structuring buildings and being equipped to perform to the best of his ability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The M.E. Rinker, Sr. School of Construction Management<\/a> is very well-rounded and prepares you in every aspect there is for a career in construction,\u201d said Lionel, who continued to meet the MFOS program eligibility requirements and earned a bachelor\u2019s degree without the need to borrow student loans or work while he was in school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Today, Lionel\u2019s hard work and determination throughout the years has resulted in breaking the cycle of living a life like his upbringing. Today, the Gator graduate is a senior purchasing agent for AHS Residential, where he oversees purchasing services that are needed daily to build projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout his professional career, he has received many accolades based on the quality of his work, including being named Project Manager of the Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“For this award, we’re judged based on the criteria of maintaining a budget, how well we are building a home and customer satisfaction,\u201d Lionel explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All his professional accolades have motivated Lionel to continue challenging himself to live up to those standards. They push him to teach the younger generation who are starting their career in construction as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A proud husband and father of two based out of Miami, Lionel continues to follow the wise encouragement his parents provided to him about education when he was younger. As a result, he is currently pursuing his master\u2019s degree from Rinker in management construction science. \u201cMy folks always told me, \u2018Whatever you are going to do, be the best at it.\u2019 So, for me, there was never a doubt I would further my education at UF.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

University of Florida College of Design, Construction and Planning graduate Sylvester Lionel (BSBC ’10) grew up in a tough socioeconomic condition that consisted of poverty and struggle. As the son of a construction manager and homemaker, Lionel used his father as inspiration and soon realized he wanted a career in construction as well. With big career dreams such as this, he knew early in life he wanted to break the cycle of living in a rough socioeconomic situation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":20848,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,10,24,26,30,44,54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumnus","category-bcn-news","category-home","category-home-page-sticky-post","category-industry-alumni","category-news","category-rinker-news"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/rinker\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2022\/10\/lionel-245x300-1.jpg",245,300,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/rinker\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2022\/10\/lionel-245x300-1-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/rinker\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2022\/10\/lionel-245x300-1.jpg",245,300,false],"medium_large":["https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/rinker\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2022\/10\/lionel-245x300-1.jpg",245,300,false],"large":["https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/rinker\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2022\/10\/lionel-245x300-1.jpg",245,300,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/rinker\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2022\/10\/lionel-245x300-1.jpg",245,300,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/rinker\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2022\/10\/lionel-245x300-1.jpg",245,300,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"joeym","author_link":"https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/rinker\/author\/joeym\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"University of Florida College of Design, Construction and Planning graduate Sylvester Lionel (BSBC '10) grew up in a tough socioeconomic condition that consisted of poverty and struggle. As the son of a construction manager and homemaker, Lionel used his father as inspiration and soon realized he wanted a career in construction as well. 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