A decade-long pause triggered by past trauma, the English major returned to Drew to finish what he started
July 2025 – Ten years ago, Darnell Knight C’13, G’25 stepped away from Drew University’s Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program under the weight of a deeply personal crisis that presented trauma from his past. Leaving wasn’t a decision he took lightly. It came with uncertainty, and the voice of his aunt’s warning, “Most people who drop out never go back.”
“But I was determined to prove her wrong,” said Knight. “I knew I’d go back eventually, I just didn’t know when. But that kind of lit a fire in me.”
Knight’s Drew journey began long before graduate school. After serving in the U.S. Navy, he enrolled at Union County College in New Jersey and attended a college transfer fair. A conversation with a Drew representative planted a seed that would eventually grow in The Forest.
“They were talking about the beautiful campus and generous scholarships,” he recalled. He applied on a whim, was awarded a scholarship, transferred, and ultimately graduated with a degree in English and literature in 2013.
He returned to pursue teaching, enrolling in Drew’s MAT program. But a triggering experience forced him to step away and focus on healing.
“This wasn’t just one of those ‘I don’t know what major I want’ kind of moments,” he said. “There was trauma, there was crisis. These were deep stakes that led to my decision to leave. And they’re also what inspired me to eventually come back and finish.”
This past May, he did just that.
“It was amazing. It was surreal. It just all felt like a dream. I never thought that it would happen,” he said of his graduation. “There were moments where I felt like giving up. But to be there, walking across the stage—it felt like I was still in a dream.”
Graduating a second time from Drew was more than an academic achievement, it marked a milestone of personal resilience and emotional closure. Now, armed with his master’s degree and a job lined up teaching high school English, his Drew journey is complete.
“It’s been a really busy year,” said Knight. “I’ve been hustling. I just had this motivation to excel as far as I can.”
It’s a journey that didn’t follow a straight line, but led Knight exactly where he was meant to be.
