After earning his undergraduate degree, Didier decided to take some time to think about continuing on to law school. “A little time” turned into 11 years and a career he loved: teaching and working in development at St. Benedict’s Prep School in Newark. But back in fall 2001, Didier’s interest in the law won out, and he began a new routine: working flexible hours at St. Benedict’s, then taking law classes nearly every night.

Didier, who attended both St. Benedict’s and the Lawrenceville School, in Lawrenceville, N.J., credits a law and literature class with sparking his interest in a legal career. But when he graduated from Brown University, he hesitated to go on to law school, unsure of how much daily impact he could have as a lawyer. Then the teaching job at St. Benedict’s “fell in my lap,” so he grabbed it, intending to mull over his future while working. He loved teaching so much that it took him more than a decade to decide that he could indeed make an impact on people’s lives as a lawyer. “Everyone is interested in cases that change the world, but realistically there are very few of those,” Didier notes. He opted for a form of law where he can have a direct -- if not dramatic -- impact on a broad range of clients, on a daily basis: real estate law.

He had an easier time choosing a law school, selecting Rutgers Law School for its diversity and its liberal philosophy. The proximity of the Rutgers-Newark campus to St. Benedict’s -- Didier walked to his law classes form his job at St. Benedict’s -- was the icing on the cake.

Didier, who came to the U.S. from Haiti as a small boy, is the first lawyer in his immediate family, and a source of pride for his parents and sisters. “My parents took any jobs they could get when they came here: in factories, in a hospital kitchen, as domestics,” he says. “They were very dedicated and very disciplined, and always emphasized the educational opportunities here for us. They’re thrilled at the opportunities I now have before me.”

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