ETTRICK, Va. -- With less than 24 hours until the real thing, the nearly 300 Virginia State University students who make up the fall 2023 graduating class rehearsed the steps of the ceremony that will mark the end of one journey and mark the beginning of another.
Among them was one student whose journey took over 20 years since he first stepped foot on campus.
"Feels good to be on the floor. I'm getting ready to graduate," said Brandon Anderson. "I never dreamed of me being back at the Virginia State University, which is where everything started for me."
Anderson said his childhood was tumultuous as his family moved around with his father in the military. He added his father was abusive towards his mother and she eventually left him and moved back to Virginia where her family was.
"And then later on when my mom passed away at the age of 34, which me being only seven, and so that shifted things and a place of loneliness at that time," said Anderson, who added, with his father now incarcerated he went to live with extended family but they were not supportive.
He said things were so difficult that he contemplated suicide when he was 13.
"It was hard. You see what other kids are doing and they're enjoying life with their parents, their mother. I remember days at school, not even being able to have muffins with moms or donuts with dads are those type of things because my mother was deceased," said Anderson. "I just didn't want to deal with it no more."
He said intervention came thanks to his guidance counselor.
"She really honed in on the things that I was doing and not doing and why I was acting up in class and she really cared that much to say, 'I'm not letting you -- I'm not letting you do this.'," said Anderson, who added she took him out of class the day before he was planning the suicide. "We're walking down the hallway. She's like 'I can suspend you, I can put you in detention, or put you on this bus and send you to this trip. And then based on your the behavior, we're going to make that decision."
He said that trip was to VSU as part of Alpha Phi Alpha's Go to High School Go to College program which gave students a look at college life.
"There I met a guy who was a mentor at that time to me and I explained to him my story and he was just like, 'You can't do this and there's so much more out here.' And he walked with me through what he went through every day, going to class going to school. I was like, 'Wow, I can do this.' And so,…I started to think 'Some people really do care about you.' And so that, for me, was my turning point."
Refocused, Anderson said he stayed in school and continued to visit VSU taking classes and programs during his high school years through its Upward Bound program.
But, after high school graduation he said other challenges, including financial, kept him from being able to attend VSU. But, he said meeting a few more mentors along the way, and support from his sister, plus a government job that paid for him to get his associate's degree at community college kept the dream alive.
He was finally able to enroll at VSU in 2021 and will graduate from the Reginald F. Lewis College of Business with a 4.0 GPA and a degree in Management Information Systems and a minor in Cybersecurity Forensics.
"I'm so super proud of him. I hope he knows how proud I am of him," said one of Anderson's mentors, VSU Associate Professor Aurelia Donald, who was at Friday's rehearsal. "It's been amazing watching him overcome hurdles one at a time. 'This is my new hurdle. I got it, I'm going to take it. I'm going take it, dissect it, figure out what I should learn from it, and then jump over it.'"
During his time at VSU, he also gave tours to high school students (like he got over 20 years ago) and started a wellness company that focuses on mental and physical health for kids and their families (Anderson added he once weighed over 400 pounds and got healthier around 2009).
"I want to give back because for me, like, I didn't have that."
And as he gets ready to walk and realize a nearly lifelong dream -- Anderson said to anyone who may be in a place where he once was -- to follow the advice a mentor gave him and remember your why.
"Because when I tried to do it for what other people thought of it, it didn't matter. But when I did it for myself, I was able to open these doors and make, make the celebration what it is for me today."
And while Anderson will end his bachelor's journey on Saturday, it will not be the end of his time at VSU as he will now pursue his Master's Degree in Computer Science at the school on a full ride scholarship.
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