News & Events
City Tech 2003 Valedictorian Overcomes Substance Abuse Past
to Graduate with Honors on Way to Legal Career
For Jed Gelber, being valedictorian of New York City College of Technology's Class of 2003 is further validation that he has successfully kicked the substance abuse problem that plagued him off and on for more than 20 years.
"I am living proof that we don't just get a second chance in life, we get a third, fourth or fifth. But it's not an infinite number, and at some point you either pull yourself out of the pit or languish in it permanently," says Gelber, who began abusing drugs and alcohol as a high school student, joined the marines in a failed attempt to develop the discipline to give them up, and had several relapses before finally coming clean at the age of 40.
Now, just four years later, he is graduating with a bachelor of science degree in legal assistant studies and will be attending CUNY School of Law at Queens College in the fall. Gelber finds all areas of the law fascinating -- "the history of our law," he says, "is the history of our country" -- but has managed to narrow his interests down to two areas: criminal law and employment/labor law.
"I was especially inspired by my criminal law professor, who is a supervising attorney at the Brooklyn Legal Aid Society," he says. "I also feel I could have an impact as a labor lawyer. We spend a third or more of our time at work; if a person is being exploited in the workplace, it greatly diminishes the quality of his or her life."
Gelber came to City Tech with the idea of becoming a paralegal, but when he found out how much he enjoyed the coursework and that he seemed to have a talent for writing, "I was convinced to become a lawyer; writing well is essential to being a good one." He credits his high school, Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School on Manhattan's Upper West Side, for teaching him to write and be articulate, even though he wasn't a good student due to the distractions of addiction.
After high school he went for "one disastrous year" to SUNY Stony Brook, where the only bright spot was the "A" he received in English. After his substance abuse problem caused him to withdraw, he worked for some years as a clerk at a Wall Street firm.
"But when I saw that my life wasn't progressing and that I was still struggling with my addictions, I went into the military to give myself direction and discipline," he explains. "My family was shocked that I enlisted; they didn't know the extent of my abuse problem at the time."
When he completed boot camp, it was the first time in his life that he had accomplished something that he had chosen for himself to do, and that felt good. He became an avionics technician and served for four years, mostly in Southern California and a six-month deployment in Japan, rising to the rank of corporal. "I'm very happy to have been a marine," Gelber says. "Like being an alum, it's something that sticks with you for the rest of your life -- a love of country, a love of your school."
After receiving his honorable discharge, Gelber worked as an abstractor for a title insurance company. It was in that job, which he held for almost ten years, that his interest in the legal profession developed. As an abstractor, he did research on real estate properties, and had to go to federal, state and county courthouses, all of which put him in contact with lawyers. "I loved doing research; it's like detective work," he explains. "Each parcel of land tells a story."
One of his colleagues at the title insurance company was a paralegal, and Gelber came to the conclusion that going back to college to major in legal assistant studies and become a paralegal would be a natural career progression for him.
He still hadn't hit rockbottom, however. "A person only turns himself around when he's ready," he explains. "In many ways my life really did begin at 40, when I recovered from my final relapse." That's when he enrolled in City Tech, the only public college in the city that has a bachelor's degree program in paralegal studies. "I took to the college incredibly well right from day one -- it was perfect for me. I loved my classes and the professors and the fact that they were all attorneys." Gelber was rewarded with a 4.0 that first semester, a GPA he has managed to maintain ever since.
With the help of a job as a writing tutor in City Tech's Office of Student Support Services and a Benjamin H. Namm Scholarship, he was able to stay financially afloat. "My job as a tutor showed me that I enjoy teaching," he says. "When I finish law school, I'd like to come back to City Tech to teach a course. It will be one way I can give back."
New York City College of Technology's Commencement Exercises take place on Monday, June 2, beginning at 10:30 a.m., in the Theater at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan. Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez will be the commencement speaker. With the support of CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein, the College has recommended that an honorary doctorate in commercial science be awarded to William Polk Carey, chairman and founder of W. P. Carey & Co. LLC, the world's largest publicly traded limited liability company. His selection will be acted on by the CUNY Board of Trustees at its May 27th meeting.
