Michael DiMaio | Student and Director of The Infinite Mission
“I came from a working-class family of five and grew up in a community that limited my knowledge of career options. I was also only the second in my family to attend college. Because of this and a spectrum of other reasons, my path to figuring out my passions has not been smooth sailing. My father was an extremely hard-working auto mechanic who taught me my strong work ethic, and I was lucky enough to become an apprentice for an electrician as a teenager. While I enjoyed the work and enjoyed using my hands this way, I knew I wanted to challenge myself mentally as well. So, straight out of high school, I enlisted in the Air Force and served for a year and a half until I was injured and given an honorable discharge. Unfortunately, addiction runs strongly in my family, and I was exposed to much substance abuse growing up. Being prescribed medication for my injury, I didn’t have the tools necessary to cope with my issues, and as a result, I leaned into my substance use disorder. This set off a 23-year-long spiral that altered the course of my life and career forever.
In 2007, I attended Berk Technical Institute to become a paralegal, but as was the usual at the time, my addiction got in the way, so I dropped out after a semester. The addiction had a firm grip on everything in my life (from my relationships with my family, including my son, who had all become estranged from my career, which had been put on hold indefinitely) until 2013, when I was finally able to ask for help. After several months of treatment, for the first time in my life, I was able to seriously and truly contemplate the impact I wanted to make. I would never have been able to live the sober and happy life I now lead without the help and support of many around me, and this inspired me to pursue a degree in Public Service to do the same for others. I was also fortunate enough to take a nonprofit management class at Villanova. This passion for service to others, as well as the inspiration I felt from this class, led me to create my own nonprofit: The Infinite Mission, which is dedicated to providing for the community, encouraging everyone to serve others, and providing whatever resources we can from food and clothing to outreach. We serve over 150 individuals suffering from homelessness in Kensington every month, and I can’t wait until we can do even more.
I can honestly say if I had completed my studies in 2007 to become a paralegal, I likely would not lead the incredible life I lead today or be the founder of a nonprofit that helps so many. And to share another moment of redirected success, last year, I interviewed for an internship with the Department of Justice in Philadelphia, and it went really well. I was so excited and believed I had secured this incredible opportunity. Needless to say, I did not, and I was crushed. I questioned everything I worked for until I landed an internship at the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office with their Veterans Treatment Court, and not getting the internship with the DOJ became the biggest blessing of my life. I have thrived in my current internship and made a much bigger impact than I could have in any other role.
I write all of this to say that life is full of challenges and hard times, but in pushing through these obstacles and “redirected successes,” things can turn out so much better than we imagined and all of the struggles and late nights filled with self-doubt become worth it in the end. So, I ask that you too, keep pushing yourself further than you thought possible because if I can go from believing my only two options in life were to end up in a grave or prison to believing I deserved more out of life and then proving myself right, you can too. If anyone told me even 5 years ago that today I would be a student at Villanova University with an incredible internship as the Founder of a nonprofit who was then asked to participate in this incredible Resume Resilience project, I would never have believed them. I am living proof that it is so important to believe you can do more and then get out there and do it!”
