Why I Give Back: Roberto Pupo ‘85
(This article first appeared in the Belen Jesuit Alumni Magazine, Summer 2020 edition)
My time at Belen did not follow a traditional path because I did not attend Belen until my sophomore year in high school. While a short stint, those three years were a blessing in many ways.
I remember asking my parents mid-way through freshman year of high school to take me to Belen so I could apply for entrance for the 1982-1983 sophomore year. I also remember being quite nervous about my start at a new school, not knowing what to expect and wondering whether I would be able to handle the academic rigors at the school.
I had no idea that on that first day I would meet life-long friends and would become part of a community that would form an indelible part of my life. The importance of Belen is ever more apparent to me now, almost 40 years after the first day I walked through the very halls that my two sons have called their own. Attending Belen altered the course of my life. At Belen, I found a place that nurtured my faith, helped to shape my values, and formed me to be the person that I have become. The passing of time and my experiences during the many decades, including my experiences as a parent, have left no doubt in me that the hallowed halls of Belen are home to a community unlike any other that is dedicated to a single goal – the betterment of its students in all aspects of their being. Belen stands out for its exceptionalism as a place where people look past their self-interest and act for the benefit of the boys who are the focus of the school.
Looking back at my time at Belen, I am filled with fond memories of many men and women who made me a priority in their lives. They personified the Jesuit value of being men and women for others and are constant reminders of the importance of living up to that value. The many memories are too numerous to recount but some are also impossible to ignore.
One such memory was the once-in-a-lifetime Close-Up trip to Washington, D.C. during which I had the good fortune of being selected to ask then-President Ronald Reagan a question in the Old Executive Office Building. It was a question about political instability in Central America and the President’s response headlined the CBS evening news. This was yet another Belen-inspired unforgettable moment in my life. While having President Reagan invite a Belen student while we were in D.C. was just a stroke of luck, that experience was made possible through the efforts of Mr. Patrick Collins who, through his tireless work to build a first-class social studies department and his desire to make us better students and members of our democratic system, simply raised the bar so high that he made us better people. His classes and his approach to teaching fostered pride in the American government system and love of country and were one of the principal reasons why I pursued a course of studies in politics and law.
Other great memories revolve around my time with Key Club and my involvement with the Club’s various service projects. Whether volunteering with teens participating at the Junior Special Olympics, spending time with children at the Children’s Home Society, feeding the homeless or visiting the elderly, I realize today that those experiences were as, if not more, beneficial for us students than for those we were supposed to be serving. Key Club, like many other school organizations, had a moderator who championed the activities of the Key Club and mentored its members. In the ’80s that champion was “Mrs. H.” Key Club started under her watch in 1983 and I was fortunate to have worked with her as the first Key Club President at Belen. I am grateful, not only for her work on Key Club and her mentorship but also for her sage advice and friendship.
Last but certainly not least, I will never forget how the administration helped me achieve my dream of continuing my Jesuit education at Georgetown University. I remember Father Marcelino Garcia, S.J. approaching me to let me know that the administration had contacted GU to confirm I would qualify for a scholarship that would make it possible for me to attend the university, even though I had not attended Belen all four years of high school, which was potentially a disqualifying factor. To this day, I don’t know how he became aware that was a huge concern of mine at the time. This exceptional expression of kindness and interest in the well-being of others paved the way for personal and professional successes that defined my life.
The story of my days at Belen would be incomplete without mention of one of the many Belen-inspired life-changing experiences I had as a Belen student. At my first Belen dance, the 1982 Kick-Off Dance, I met a beautiful Lourdes student who made quite an impression. Almost eight years after that dance, that girl and I were married by Fr. Eduardo Alvarez, S.J., who was one of my teachers and mentors at Belen. My wife Eme and I and our four children have been able to build a life with deep roots in Belen, with our two boys (Roberto A., ’17, and Gabriel J., ’20) having shared my experience as a Wolverine (and with our youngest daughter Alexandra has been part of the last two Belen musicals – The Wizard of Oz and The Hunchback of Notre Dame).
There are so many other stories to recount and so many people who went out of their way to be kind, to help, to teach and to mentor. To them, I say thank you; each and every one of you is an important part of the reasons why I give back.
So to the question as to “Why I Give Back,” I answer, “How could I not give back?” I have received far more from Belen than I will ever be able to give to it and my wish is that those that can, act to preserve this blessed place for other generations.
BELEN JESUIT PREPARATORY SCHOOL
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: communications@belenjesuit.org
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: communications@belenjesuit.org
Belen Jesuit Preparatory School was founded in 1854 in Havana, Cuba, by Queen Isabel II of Spain. The task of educating students was assigned to the priests and brothers of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), whose teaching tradition is synonymous with academic excellence and spiritual discipline. In 1961, the new political regime of Cuba confiscated the school's property and expelled the Jesuit faculty. The School was re-established in Miami the same year, and over the next decade, continued to grow. Today, Belen Jesuit is situated on a 34-acre site in western Dade County, just minutes away from downtown Miami.