GaBonni Leary is headed to Temple this fall after the Community Gateway connected him with resources and opportunities that helped him reach his goals. 

GaBonni Leary, a first-year student and North Philadelphia native, is set to be a Temple Owl this fall semester. Growing up in Yorktown, Leary recalled watching Temple expand its campus, particularly with the construction of Morgan Hall, which opened on Main Campus in 2013. Around the same time, at just 5 years old, he told his mother that he would one day attend Temple. 

Fast forward to Christmas Day in 2025, Leary was with his mom and the rest of his family as he opened an email that would make the holiday even more memorable. He was accepted into Temple, and his household erupted in cheers.  

Leary’s achievement was made possible, in part, through a connection his family had developed with Temple a year earlier. In April 2024, his grandmother Darla Beasley attended a Clergy Community Leaders Breakfast, where she met Shelbie Ulysse, a coordinator with Temple’s Community Gateway, the university’s resource center that connects individuals with free and low-cost services that align with their interests.  

After Beasley shared Leary’s interest in becoming an Owl, Ulysse told her about the several precollege programs Temple offers to young people. Since its launch in May 2024, the Gateway has connected with more than 5,300 people and is currently working with more than 304 clients.  The center emphasizes a person-centered approach that helps clients achieve their goals and keeps them coming back.  

“We dedicate time and research to understand what our clients like GaBonni are looking for and we connect them to programs that can help,” said Ulysse, the Gateway’s violence prevention and community engagement coordinator. “We pride ourselves in building a rapport with our clients through consistent communication and check-ins, which I think makes our center successful and, in many cases, refer a friend or family member about how we can help them too.” 

The Gateway connected Leary to Temple’s STEM-UP Leadership Experience, a free six-week summer day program on Main Campus that offers college-level STEM classes, including biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics and data/computer science for high school students entering grades nine–12.  

“On the first day, I looked over at my friend and said, ‘Wow, this is really a college-level class,’” said Leary. “I was so excited because as a high school student I always wanted to take a step up into a college class atmosphere. I was impressed with how advanced the math we learned in the program was. The teachers and lessons were great; it was a different type of experience than I expected.” 

The experience encouraged Leary to return to Temple the following summer to also participate in B4USoar, a high school dual-enrollment program run by the Fox School of Business where he had the opportunity to take tuition-free college courses and earn college credits. He took the course Creativity and Organizational Innovation, an entrepreneurship-focused class that explores creativity and innovation in business. 

By his senior year, Leary had received several college acceptances, so he was still weighing his options. As he thought about where he wanted to go, he also began thinking about his mom and the importance of staying close to home near family. 

He took a final fall tour of Main Campus, where he stepped inside the Fox School of Business and was struck by its curved collaborative space on the first floor of Alter Hall, affectionately known as “The Egg,” which features the largest elliptical stock ticker in the country, displaying financial market data in real time. The tour left Leary nearly sold on Temple that day. 

“After hearing all the amazing connections and resources Temple’s business school had for students, I was like, wow, this might be the place for me,” he said.  

As Leary went through the Temple application process, Ulysse wrote him a letter of recommendation and provided him with financial aid resources and tips to improve his college essay. When his financial aid letter finally arrived, he was surprised to receive more assistance than he expected, helping make his decision to attend Temple an even easier one. 

Now, as he prepares to begin his first year as an accounting major at Temple, Leary is looking forward most to Weeks of Welcome; Temple Fest; and getting involved in clubs and organizations to make friends, build connections and explore internships in business. 

“I’m really excited to be a part of clubs and organizations and make connections at internships that can hopefully lead to future jobs,” he said. “I’m also looking forward to everything from the many food options on campus to attending Temple football games at the Linc on Saturdays. 

For more information on how to get connected with resources and services through Temple’s Community Gateway.