THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, January 27, 1995               TAG: 9501270015
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A12  EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Editorial 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   34 lines

KIDS WERE TOLD WHAT WAS BEST HE HEEDED HIMSELF

Common are the people who tell others how to live their lives; infinitely rarer is the person who listens to himself preach and acts on what he hears.

One of the rare ones is Sean Blackwell, a 28-year-old freshman at Virginia Wesleyan College. His story was reported earlier this week by sportswriter Tom Robinson.

Blackwell dropped out of Portsmouth's Manor High School in the 11th grade, back in 1985. After failing his first attempt to earn a General Equivalency Diploma, he worked, though not always regularly. He painted, welded, drove a truck, worked in a factory. He counseled disadvantaged kids.

He told them the way, but it was a way he had never taken.

``I want to work with kids, in any aspect,'' he said. ``And I want to be able to show kids the way. Not just say, `You can do this,' but show them.''

And he said, ``I was a hypocrite. I got tired of being a hypocrite.''

He earned his GED in 1993 and this past August he began attending Virginia Wesleyan. He's a basketball player whose 29 blocked shots lead the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Other students call him ``grandpa,'' but he's looking ahead to a bright future.

While telling others what was best, he listened, and he heeded himself. by CNB