Taking charge to shape his future

From the track to the stage to the classroom, Brandon Ellis’ support system helped him thrive

As a member of the track team, theater and improv clubs at Concordia-Chicago, Brandon quickly learned how to manage his time carefully. Fortunately, rather than making him feel torn between activities, his coaches, teammates and friends were there to cheer him on. “What really helped me, especially with the transition period into college, was being part of these very team-oriented and group-oriented projects,” he says. “It helped me to build my support system. When I would tell the track people I have a play coming up, they’d want to come see it. Or when I’d tell the theater people that I have a track meet coming up, they’d want to come to that.”

Brandon describes that, during freshman year, he struggled a bit with moving to a new place and starting a new chapter in life, but he persevered. “Something I learned from CUC that will help me to be successful, is that if it seems hard at first, it will get better if you keep going and don’t give up.” Brandon found his CUC professors were supportive and invested in his success, and he graduated with his bachelor’s degree last spring. “I didn’t come here because I slacked off and thought I’d just breeze through it,” Brandon says. “CUC taught me to be very gung-ho, and to take charge of pushing through to the future.”