Nationwide — Rehan Staton, a 27-year-old man from Maryland, is gaining national recognition as he is set to earn his law degree from Harvard Law School this year after years of working as a garbage worker. He recently co-founded the non-profit The Reciprocity Effect as a way to give back to other support staff.As previously reported, Staton’s education suffered because his family struggled financially and emotionally when his mother left them. He was not accepted into any college so to help support his family, he decided to get a job at Bates Trucking & Trash Removal in Bladensburg, where his father and older brother were also working. That’s when the idea of going to college reoccurred to him.
“A lot of the folks at the sanitation company actually started referring to me as ‘smart’ and not a lot of folks have done that before,” Staton told Fox News. “They essentially said you should go to school.”
Staton was hesitant to pursue higher education at first but with the help of his boss, he got into Bowie State University. He then transferred to the University of Maryland, College Park, where he majored in history.
While in college, he took out loans and he did not stop working as a janitor to pay for his education. At his job, he heard numerous stories from his co-workers who were formerly incarcerated. It made him think about the law and the justice system as well as the possibility of him going to law school.
Ultimately, he got accepted into Harvard. His exceptional story then made national headlines and even caught the attention of media mogul Tyler Perry, who personally called him and offered to pay for his law school education.
Staton started law school in August 2020. Since then, he has been making his mark in the field. He co-founded The Reciprocity Effect, a non-profit organization that helps raise funds and provide financial relief to those who work in janitorial services. The organization is currently partnered with Harvard and he hopes to add more schools in the future.
“The nature of reciprocity would simply make sure everybody wins,” he said. “The support staff are happier. That would make us happier, and then that would give them a better work product. That would give us a better work product.”
Moreover, Staton, who is set to graduate in 2 weeks, considers to work as a corporate attorney with a focus on sports law.