Journalism Profile

Jacob Cornish

The journey of life has not been an easy one for Dr. Peter Cornish, he grew up all over, by the time he was a senior in high school he counted that he had lived in a total of 15 places. These included a stint in Louisville, Kentucky, as well as a number of years in Tampa Bay, Florida and Harlem, New Jersey. He was born the into a family that already had 8 children in it, being the youngest of 9 children in a family that did not have a lot of money to begin with caused him to learn to lookout for himself. He got a job as a cashier at the local corner store and used his weekly paychecks to buy bus fare and school supplies at the age of 12. He explained that holding onto a job at such a young age taught him that  “nothing comes easy to a white boy in Harlem, you gotta go out and grab what you want.” He used this as his motto for the entirety of his life.

Dr. Cornish, explained that growing up in a studio apartment with a family of 11 people in it was the hardest thing he has ever done in his life. Harlem was a very tough place to grow up and he witnessed more violence there than he ever had in his life. He was held up by a homeless man with a knife and was forced to hand him his bus pass. This caused him to have to wake up an hour earlier and walk a mile to school since his parents could not afford a car. That however was not even the memorable thing he had experienced in his childhood. When i asked him his most vivid memory as a child he told me something i could not even comprehend, it was the most gruesome and terrible thing i have ever heard in my life and my father is now, more than ever the biggest role model in my life. He explained to me that on christmas eve his family went out to dinner for the first time of the year for the special occasion. When they got home the door was knocked down and all of their presents were gone. Their house was robbed clean and everything was a mess. The family kept rummaging the house for possessions and their family dog and what they found was worse than ever. Peter walked into the bathroom and saw a sight that he “Still has nightmares about to this day”. His dog, a 5 year old golden retriever, was lying lifeless on the bathroom floor with a kicked open stomach. He was unable to fathom what he had just saw. His parents quickly came in after they heard the blood-wrenching scream he had let out. The horrible mess was cleaned up and the family moved on with their life the best that they could. Peter continues to believe that to this day his short lived Harlem stay was an experience that made him able to handle any sort of adversity and possess the ability to work hard for what he needs.

As Dr. Cornish got older he continued to move around and progress as a person. His family started to settle down and he did his high school years in numerous parts of New Jersey. His last 2 years of high school were finished in New Brunswick, where he was able to maintain a 3.8 GPA despite having to manage a job as well. He graduated high school with hard work and determination and he continued to use his motto of going out and taking what you need at the University of Rutgers in New Jersey. His family was not able to afford to put him through college and since Rutgers is a state university they were reluctant to give him any financial aid. With this in the back of his mind he knew he needed to get a job in college as well. He worked for a moving company the entirety of his college career and was still able to graduate with a 4.0 GPA. He won an award for finishing top 5 in his class at Rutgers and continued to get his PhD at UAlbany when he graduated. Paying for college however, seemed to be the hardest part for him. He explained to me that “Every semester I never knew where the money was going to come from”, he even needed to ask Rutgers to loan him his last semester's tuition so he was able to get his degree. They saw his academic record and didn't think twice about granting his request. Peter's journey through college really taught me that if you work hard and believe you can succeed you can, even if the odds are not in your favor. His second son, Sam Cornish, says “My dad has the biggest influence on me than anybody i have ever met, he sculpted me to know to get things done. He made me realize that life doesn't come easily, you need to strive for your goals and work hard to achieve them.”

Being able to come from nothing and turn into the Dean of Albany College of Pharmacy showed me that hard work and dedication really do pay off. My father is the role model in my life and him being able to make a full house out of a pair of 2s really gave me a model to how i should live my life.