When first speaking with University junior James Brannon, it’s surprising one so soft-spoken is doing so much to make a difference on campus. In his handful of years at the University, Brannon has won a number of scholarships and become involved with a list of clubs proving his superhuman time-management skills. With a list that ranges from the Multicultural Center to the Undergraduate Law Association, he serves within multiple organizations to better unify the school.
“You can’t change anything until you infiltrate it,” Brannon said during a quick break between a Law Association luncheon and duty at the Holden Leadership Center. “I hope to serve as a liaison between groups so that they can work together as a whole.”
Always one for multitasking, Brannon is a political science and French major, and is considering a minor in Portuguese. Though technically in his second year of school, he has a junior standing thanks to advanced credit. After college he hopes to enter law school and someday work as a nonprofit lawyer.
Brannon is already getting some of that nonprofit experience. At the leadership program LeaderShape last summer, he was asked to write down a vision for the future. It was then that The World in Perspective was born. The details of the group are still under construction, but the main idea is to break each continent down into countries and provide information on how people can start to help others all over the world. As Brannon explains on the program’s home page, “I want to help everyone everywhere, (and) as broad as that seems, I will do it to the best of my ability.”
It was also at LeaderShape that Brannon met University junior Grace Neal. Neal’s personal ambition of spreading knowledge about Congolese women meshed with Brannon’s vision of The World in Perspective. This year they’re working together to get the group off the ground.
“James is very driven, very passionate, very knowledgeable, and so involved,” Neal said. “He’ll just dive into any project and stick with it. “
Neal is president of Alpha Phi Omega, the service fraternity Brannon is also a member of. During time spent working on both Alpha Phi Omega and The World in Perspective, Neal noticed a curious habit of Brannon’s.
“He’s always reading the news and trying to look at things on a global scale,” Neal said. “He’ll cut out and keep any articles that really intrigue him.”
Brannon compiles the articles in a journal to stay informed on global issues and brainstorm for ways The World in Perspective can help. The group is currently planning to host a Run for Congo Women, a marathon that raises money for displaced Congolese women, and also start spreading more information on supporting children in Third World countries. Brannon currently sends up to half his paycheck to Maybeli Jesinia, a young girl in Honduras whose family makes less than $150 a month.
University alumna Ashley Williams met Brannon at a recent University event. She was so impressed with Brannon she referred to him as “the next Barack Obama” in an e-mail. “I think his story is wonderful,” Williams said. “He is the product of a single-parent home and he attends your school on a full academic scholarship. As I met this young man, I thought I should make sure the school knows what he is doing.”
Indeed, much of the school is familiar with what Brannon is doing. Between his various social clubs, he spends as much time as possible working to improve the outside community. With such a passion for aiding others, it’s no surprise that Brannon cites Gandhi and Mother Teresa as role models. On one of the front pages of his journal, he keeps Mother Teresa’s poem “Anyway.” Lines such as “Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you’ve got anyway” serve as Brannon’s personal mantras and inspiration points for his own poetry.
Brannon’s mother, Traci Smith, also influenced the way Brannon sees the world. As a single mother, Smith worked two jobs to provide for Brannon and his younger sister, Trayeesha Hillman. Resultantly, Brannon rarely saw his mother and began cooking for the family at the age of 7.
It wasn’t until high school that Brannon began actively working to aid others around the world. Brannon’s high school football coach arranged an internship for him at the attorney general’s office where he decided to become a lawyer. At the tail end of high school, he received, among others, the Ford Scholar Award, which meets up to 90 percent of a student’s unmet financial need, the University Diversity-Building Scholarship, and the Mary Hudzikiewicz Freshman Award.
“(During my internship) I began to realize that the world is bigger than me,” Brannon said. “Just because you have problems, the world goes on and, at the end of the day, someone is always worse of than you are. That’s why I want to help as many people as I can.”
Beyond outside service, Brannon works at University Housing with Sheri Donahoe, associate director of residence life. Donahoe has known Brannon since November 2007 when he interviewed for a student aid position at the office.
“James is one of those people you just can’t help wanting to get to know,” Donahoe said. “When he started working here, I would sit down and we’d talk about student life, his classes, scholarships, all sorts of things. All that he’s done, from volunteering at the Children’s Museum to working at Subway, shows how good of a work ethic James has.”
It’s that work ethic that drives Brannon to rarely take a day off. Besides the housing, he also works as a Peer Leadership Consultant at the Holden Leadership Center. HLC Director John Duncan has known Brannon for almost a year.
“He seems to want to experience everything at the UO at once,” Duncan said. “I admire this about him. He doesn’t hold back and strives to continually explore and learn new things.”
True to form, Brannon already has plans for next summer, when he hopes to visit Jesinia in Honduras. He is also applying for a year-long program in France with the help of Ramon Fonkoue, a University graduate teaching fellow.
“Last summer, discussing his future plans as a student with me, James told me that he is planning to travel to France sometime in the near future, as part his preparation for a career in international law. I was happy to see a student set his goals so clearly, and his standards this high,” Fonkoue said. “He knows that if he is to make the best out of his travel to France, he needs to work very hard before going abroad, and this just what I see him doing.”
A worldly mission
Daily Emerald
November 11, 2008
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