Ms. Deneen Brown has been very busy getting acquainted with her new position as Director of Guidance. A Delaware native, Ms. Brown grew up right off of Naamans Road, and attended P.S. DuPont, Hanby, and Concord High School. As a child, she lived in a diverse, multicultural neighborhood, where almost all ethnicities were represented. A cultural melting pot, so to speak, which exposed her to different ways of life and cultural traditions. Active in athletics, she participated in Track & Field prior to high school, where she then made the transition to cheerleading. Loving to sing, she was constantly in choir, and took up playing the clarinet for five years until the eighth grade. Ms. Brown was very involved in school, working in school yearbooks, the newspaper, student council, and many others. Participation in community service was a particularly passionate aspect of her formative years as well.

As for what made her want to work at Salesianum, constant curiosity about a school that was constantly touted and talked about piqued her curiosity, and made her research our school. Upon learning about our patron saint Francis de Sales, she was, now, really interested in joining our Salesian family.

In regards to her experience working in the Guidance office, Ms. Brown stated that the whole department is very tight-knit, as it is “crunch time” for seniors looking to get into colleges, and they have walked with her step-by-step as she acclimates herself to Salesianum, something which she’s very grateful for.

Q&A Section:

What’s your favorite movie? My favorite movie is Sixteen Candles.

What’s your favorite TV show? My favorite TV show is still A Different World.

What is your favorite food? So, I’m trying to be healthy, but I would say my favorite food is Italian food. So, the pasta, but with the red sauce, not the cream sauce. I also have a big fetish for French fries and milkshakes. So, all the carbs, yeah, bad food for me!

What was your dream job growing up? Was it always being involved in Guidance like this? Or was it something way out there? My dream job growing up was for both my cousin and I to move to New York City, and we were both going to be lawyers. But, we were going to be living in a duplex, and we had planned it all out ‘til we got into college, and were like, “‘Hmm, I’m not going to law school, are you going to law school?’”, and she was like “‘No, I’m not going to law school.’” So, she’s in healthcare, and I turned to guidance. So, during my senior year, I noticed that I really liked working with students, and so that’s what I decided to do: go into education.

What is your experience having gone to a PWI (Predominantly White Institution) and an HBCU (Historically Black College/University)? Two completely different experiences. Since I attended Concord High School, I was predominantly around Caucasian people. When I started getting into high school, my Grandfather really instilled in me that he wanted me to look at HBCUs because, at that time, I didn’t know what they were! I was like, “‘What is an HBCU?’”, and then he explained it to me, and he would always buy me Spelman sweatshirts every year for Christmas, because he lived in Atlanta, Georgia. I remember getting down there, and looking at the campus, but it was too far away for me. So, I remember applying to Howard, and talking to him, and saying, “‘Well, is Howard okay?! Like, is that good enough?’”, and he was like, “‘Yeah, that’s fine! I’m just happy you looked at an HBCU.’” So, the reason I ended up looking at an HBCU was because I was curious to see what it would be like to be around people of color twenty-four hours a day. That was not an experience that I was having going through elementary school, middle school, and high school. Also, I wanted to be taught by black professors, I thought that would be something different and unique. Coming up through school, I think there were, maybe at the most, seven or eight black teachers for me coming through school, that I can remember. So, being at an HBCU is completely different. Going to Villanova was completely normal for me, as that was like coming home, in a sense. So, that wasn’t much of a change.