December 9, 2025
As a travel agent, Kaminski says he can book “any type of travel for anyone anywhere.” He plans to direct 5% of his net commission of any bookings from Beacon staff, alumni, parents or students to the college for student groups and clubs.
November 12, 2025
The many post-pandemic learning challenges erupted in the years since have also flowed into classrooms at Beacon College. But thanks to its mission-driven focus on neurodivergent learners, the college has made good strides in helping students recover and thrive.
November 12, 2025
Alum Jaymes Fowler’s family tree includes ancestors who fought in the Civil War, World War I and World War II. His grandfather served in Vietnam. His younger brother, T.J., a nuclear engineer specialist, is a U.S. Navy veteran. And, Fowler now serves as a U.S. Army sergeant stationed at Fort Drum in New York.
August 13, 2025
Teaching and learning are big deals for Brin Carson. They’re also key to her job as a naturalist at Wormsloe.
May 5, 2025
When his boss asked Jack Lenz to lead a new initiative in late 2023, he wasted no time. With his typical gusto, the Beacon grad and community services worker embraced the goal: To create a food pantry for former foster children living in an apartment complex after aging out of the system. A month later, Lenz had lined up the resources and logistics to open the new site featuring fresh fruit and vegetables and other foods.
February 26, 2025
On most Saturdays for the past 11 years, Beacon Alum Richard Weaver has been building houses for people in need.
October 2, 2024
Beacon graduate Dan Graff found his passion working through CAI Neurodiverse Solutions.
August 6, 2024
As a travel photographer and writer, alum Grady McGill has gone to far-flung destinations, from Ireland to Russia, Alaska to Greece, South America to Canada — and many points between.
April 5, 2024
Beacon alum Ryan Looney lands a dream job writing about entertainment for Collider.
February 1, 2024
Beacon College graduate Travis Hunter serves as the office administrator for the Oklahoma City Baseball Club, the Triple A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
October 6, 2023
Beacon graduate Kyle Sandfort now works in quality assurance at Infosys, a digital services and consulting company with clients in more than 56 countries.
September 5, 2023
Beacon graduate Steven Adams was instrumental in drafting the student body constitution.
By Loraine O’Connell
After graduating from high school, Brian Kaminski had had enough.
“I was ditching classes at two different colleges,” he recalled. “I didn’t want to go to school. I was tired of it.”
Diagnosed with ADHD at age 6, Kaminski admits he was “at a rebellious age.” His parents, equally frustrated, believed Beacon College would be a good fit.
When he enrolled in 2010, he carried on his party lifestyle.
“The first semester was bad for me,” said Kaminski, 35, of Orland Park, Ill. “I didn’t really do anything. I partied too much, got suspended for a semester and had to go to summer school.”
Enter Michele Patestides, his learning specialist, who helped him refocus. “She pretty much kicked my butt and put me in my place,” Kaminski said. “She helped me focus on my academics rather than partying all night.” Patestides remembers his early struggles but also his transformation: “He matured and grew to value his education,” she said. “He became the comeback kid who turned his academics and engagement around — and I couldn’t be more proud of Brian.”
Kaminski’s turnaround led to a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems, IT roles in Illinois and at Beacon, and now ownership of Cruise Planners: Memorable Trips and Cruises, part of the Florida-based Cruise Planners network. From his Illinois office, he hopes to use the agency as a way to give back to the college.
His student years, however, were marked by a devastating bout with cancer. “I finished my junior year in a hospital ward,” Kaminski says. While undergoing treatment in Gainesville, Beacon professors worked with his parents, his learning specialist and Beacon President George Hagerty to help him complete coursework. He later took a semester off to finish treatments in Indianapolis. Hagerty visited him in both cities.
During his student years, Kaminski “was the person who did all the audiovisual for a very young college,” Hagerty says. “He was very much an important part of the fabric of the student body here. He was always a positive spirit on campus.”
After years in IT, Kaminski decided it was time for a change. His late grandmother had been a travel agent, and he got his first taste of traveling the world with family and friends at age 10.
“People are always asking me for advice,” he says. “So, I thought, what the heck, I’ll try it.”
As a travel agent, Kaminski says he can book “any type of travel for anyone anywhere.” He plans to direct 5% of his net commission of any bookings from Beacon staff, alumni, parents or students to the college for student groups and clubs.
Hagerty learned of Kaminski’s plan last year, noting that Kaminski’s parents had been the benefactors behind the naming of Kaminski Park, outside the dining commons.
“They were generous people,” Hagerty says, “and they certainly have instilled that in Brian. He’s chosen, like his parents, to direct that generosity to Beacon.”
