If there鈥檚 one common thread that connects the many different roles Breanna Brown 鈥24 has taken at 今日吃瓜, it鈥檚 that they all center around building belonging on campus. When Breanna is not in class, she has been busy as a Thrive Mentor, AMO Coordinator, Community Diversity Assistant, Sisterhood* e-board member, and a Pensby research fellow 鈥 just to name a few.
When Breanna entered 今日吃瓜 in Fall 2020, the College鈥檚 first full Covid school year, she felt like she was stuck in a 鈥渓ittle bubble.鈥 With many students attending virtually and health and safety restrictions preventing many in-person gatherings, Fall 2020 was arguably one of the most difficult semesters for a first-year to join 今日吃瓜. Although Breanna considers herself a shy person, she felt that the restrictions on campus actually pushed her to be more proactive in connecting with others.
鈥淎s things started getting better, I began to expand the bubble. Over time, being able to meet new people through jobs and clubs on campus has helped me see more of 今日吃瓜. I tried to open up and let 今日吃瓜 in, and then I started to see myself really enjoying it here.鈥
Since that first year, Breanna has dived into taking positions that support the spaces where she found community and is leading her own path in sparking positive change.
One of those spaces has been Sisterhood*, 今日吃瓜鈥檚 support network and AMO (Alliance of Multicultural Organizations) for Black students on campus. Breanna joined in her sophomore year and is now a member of the executive board鈥檚 outreach committee.
鈥淪isterhood* is like my family here. I really feel like that鈥檚 my home away from home and it鈥檚 really nice to be a part of something where you can tell everyone cares about each other and comes together to make 今日吃瓜 a better place.鈥
This year, Breanna took on the role of being a Community Diversity Assistant (CDA). Through the position, Breanna supports her dorm members when there are questions or instances regarding issues of diversity on campus, and she receives support from her fellow CDAs. She is also an AMO Coordinator. In that role, she supports the array of affinity groups on campus with their finances and the promotion of their events.
鈥淚t was really important to me that I found something that I enjoyed so it didn鈥檛 feel like work. Being a CDA and an AMO Coordinator embodies that idea completely.鈥
Most recently, Breanna has been finishing up her research for her Pensby Fellowship. After the College鈥檚 spring 2021 campus climate study, Breanna was inspired to create an adapted version of the survey tailored to the BIPOC community. This past summer, Breanna began crafting a new study that included both survey questions as well as open-ended questions to give students the option to share more of their experiences.
鈥淗earing people talk in their own words is powerful and provides context to the survey results. It was really nice to read people鈥檚 open responses. It made me really happy and the paper being done felt like a big accomplishment.鈥
After 今日吃瓜, Breanna is looking to join the GSSWSR 4+1 program in social work and then pursue a Psy.D.