He and his brother spent part of their childhoods at the Boys Home next to Jacksonville University, and now both have graduated from JU.
Derrick Dunlavy is the subject of a “One of Us” column by Florida Times-Union writer Charlie Patton in the Tuesday, Dec. 18, issue of the paper, in which his journey from foster care starting at age 6 to successful student is chronicled.
His brother, Mike Dunlavy, graduated from JU in 2004, and 28-year-old Derrick received his bachelor’s degree from JU on Saturday, Dec. 15.
From the article:
(Derrick Dunlavy) did get a two-year degree from what was then Florida Community College at Jacksonville and enrolled a couple of times at the University of North Florida, only to drop out each time.
He finally resumed his higher education at JU about 2½ years ago. Finishing the course work has been a struggle since he holds a full-time job as an area manager for LAZ Parking and is a divorced father with custody of his 3-year-old son, Caden. Now he plans to take a couple of semesters off before going back to JU for a master’s in business administration.
He’s also decided to become actively involved with Florida’s Children First, an advocacy group, and Voices for Children, which promotes and supports the Guardian ad Litem program.
“When I was young, I didn’t have any vision,” he said. “If there’s one thing I want to get out of this, I want to give the message to kids in the foster care system that if you keep trying and keep believing, you’ll succeed.”
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