As a teenager, Brendan Alleyne picked up an unwanted label high school dropout.

Eleven years later, he earned a far more impressive title doctor.

One things certain about Dr. Brendan Alleyne. The 28-year-old Amherst native has taken the less-traveled path, from high school dropout to plastic-surgery resident at the internationally acclaimed Cleveland Clinic. Along the way, hes earned degrees from Erie Community College, the University at Buffalo and Case Western Reserve University Medical School.

That success has led Erie Community College to name Alleyne one of the schools six Distinguished Alumni for this year. All six will be honored at the Celebrate ECC event inside the colleges City Campus atrium from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday.

As accomplished as Brendan is, hes a perfect example of what we do at ECC, college President Jack Quinn said. We literally change lives, almost every day and every semester. He stands for what ECC is all about.

Alleynes life story chronicles a meteoric rise in academic circles.

Its not that he ever was a bad student. He wanted to be a doctor, and he earned top honors grades at both Amherst middle and high schools, until one awful day in the middle of his sophomore year.

Like many other really bright high school students, Alleyne found a close buddy, who became a friendly academic rival; they prodded each other to do well academically. One middle school teacher even gave them high school-level exams, to push them.

Then in January 2003, in the middle of sophomore year, Alleynes friend was killed when he was struck by a vehicle on Millersport Highway, while running with the schools track team.

The next day, Alleyne remembers walking by his friends empty desk in every class. Suddenly, he started wondering what he was accomplishing in school.

View original post here:
Dropout-turned-doctor is among group of six alumni to be honored by ECC