Jean Guerdy Paul (“JP”), a mechanical engineering major at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), is building a leadership legacy centered on community impact.
Slated to graduate in 2027, Paul arrived in the United States in 2018 from Port-au-Prince, Haiti and began his studies at Brookdale Community College. What followed was a transformational journey marked by resilience, advocacy, and a deep commitment to lifting others alongside him.
Despite facing significant challenges, including the loss of academic sponsorship during the COVID-19 pandemic, Paul remained positive, immersing himself in campus life, earning a reputation as a student leader who showed up everywhere help was needed. Over time, peers and faculty alike came to know him as “Mr. Brookdale,” “Mr. Many Hats,” “The Mayor,” and “Mr. Everywhere.”
That dedication culminated in Paul receiving the Triangle Award, one of Brookdale Community College’s most prestigious honors, recognizing a student who exemplifies leadership, service, and academic perseverance.
Paul’s achievements are backed by a broad skill set. He credits time management, public speaking, teamwork, emotional intelligence, communication, collaboration, goal setting, strategic thinking, decision making, and conflict resolution as critical to his growth. Many of these skills he learned from working alongside Brookdale Community College’s president Dr. David Stout.
“I deeply admire his commitment to inclusive excellence and his ability to foster a sense of belonging across a diverse campus,” Paul says. “By observing his approach to collaborative decision-making and crisis management, I have learned that effective leadership requires a blend of decisive action, active listening, transparency, and grace. He has truly modeled what it means to lead with both a clear vision and a dedicated heart.”
These skills were refined through hands-on experience. During his time at Brookdale, Paul served as president of multiple student organizations, including the International Student Association and the Christian Club. Along the way, he earned recognition for volunteering efforts, leadership awards and certificates, and was a two-time NSLS scholarship recipient.
Each role strengthened his belief that leadership is about responsibility and serving others, a philosophy that continues to guide his work today. Coupling all these hard and soft skills with the desire to help others has proven to be a recipe for impactful leadership.
“To me, Dr. Stout represents the transformative power of a servant leader,” he adds, “and he taught me that the highest calling of leadership is to build bridges where there were walls and to light a path for others to follow.”
When asked which leader he looks up to most, Paul credits the person who shaped his understanding of leadership long before titles or accolades entered the picture.
“I look up to many great leaders. However… I will say my father, Kenold Paul,” he says. “As the saying goes, ‘Leadership starts at home.’ Though perfectly imperfect, my father taught me what it means to be a leader, not just by word, but also by demonstration.”
Paul explains that while his father never received formal recognition, his daily consistency left a lasting impact.
“My father never received an award or recognition. Still, day in and day out, he would show up and lead,” he says. “Most of my leadership qualities come from my father. The refinement and expansion of some of those leadership traits are due to all the other leaders I learn from every day.”
Looking ahead, Paul’s long-term goals reflect both professional ambition and community focus.
“My long-term goal is to become a professional in my field of study, keep on helping build a thriving community, and serve where I am needed,” he says.
In the near term, Paul is focused on completing his bachelor’s degree at NJIT while actively pursuing internship opportunities and building his entrepreneurial skill set.
“For my degree, I have already planned the checkpoints I have left to take and set milestones,” he says. “For my internship hunting, I already have a list of companies I am applying to. I met with their recruiter, and I am now gathering letters of recommendation.”
Beyond academics and career preparation, Paul is investing in his future as a business owner.
“For entrepreneurship, I am part of an entrepreneur hub, read at least seven books a month, and currently work with a mentor,” he says.
Consistency and a clear sense of purpose anchor Paul’s approach to leadership. One quote in particular continues to guide how he thinks about leading every day, drawn from The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life by David Brooks.
“The secret of life, the sculptor Henry Moore once said, is to have a task, something you devote your entire life to, something you bring everything to, every minute of every day for the rest of your life.”
That philosophy aligns closely with how Paul defines leadership in practice; not as a title, but as an ongoing, devoted responsibility to helping others.
“To me, leadership means service,” he says. “Service to your family, your community, and your organization.”
Paul credits the NSLS with helping him strengthen that foundation during an important stage of his development as a leader. Through exposure to other leaders and structured opportunities to reflect and grow, he was able to test and refine his leadership approach.
“The NSLS has helped me reinforce my leadership foundation by providing tools to learn from other leaders, collaborate, be supported, and experiment,” he says.
Just as importantly, Paul values the space the NSLS creates for continued learning.
“Having a platform to learn, fail, and grow is undeniably the number one thing leaders need to get to the next level,” he says.
For Paul, it comes back to intention and accountability to others.
“Make sure that everything you do in a leadership setting is for the betterment of others,” he says. “If you can do that honestly, you will become a better leader.”
And sometimes, you just need someone to believe in you to believe in yourself.
“My mentor Dr. Susan Whyman always tells me, ‘I believe in you.’ While it sounds simple, those four words carry immense weight when they come from someone who sees your potential even before you do. That vote of confidence transformed my mindset, teaching me that success starts with the courage to try and the resilience to keep on.”
Paul wants future leaders to know that he believes in them if no one else has said it, and that anything is achievable with a positive mindset.
“Knowing you have a community of support… has inspired me to pay that belief forward, empowering my peers to recognize their own strength and capacity to lead.”
Meet Arthur Fumarola next, another standout student from the Brookdale Community College chapter who landed an internship with NASA.