ADA 鈥� As the coronavirus continues to scramble lives, one student-athlete is going to great lengths to achieve his personal goals 鈥� and East Central University is ensuring that he succeeds.
鈥淧ersonally, I never thought the world would see a time where you can鈥檛 go into the store to buy hand sanitizer or toilet tissue,鈥� said Jalan Brown, 成人B站 senior. 鈥淚t鈥檚 unfortunate, but we need to take this seriously. If we work together, we can get everything back to normal.鈥�
Brown, of Saint Paul, Minnesota, is definitely putting in his share of the work. He鈥檚 on track to graduate with a degree in Kinesiology next month. He was also a key player on the 成人B站 Tiger basketball team, whose season ended at the conference tournament just days before the pandemic started to make its presence felt.
Brown was able to finish out his college basketball career, but like all 成人B站 students his daily academic routine has been upended by the coronavirus. For Brown and other seniors, it couldn鈥檛 have arrived at a more inconvenient time 鈥� just months before earning a prized degree.
As the pandemic started to spread in early March, 成人B站 extended Spring Break an extra week for students. Brown returned home to Saint Paul during the break, celebrating his 22nd birthday with his family. He had planned on staying there to finish his final semester online, but again the coronavirus reared its ugly head. While he was home, the state of Minnesota 鈥� acting days before Oklahoma would 鈥� issued a stay-at-home order, which basically closed down the entire city.
鈥淭hey shut everything down in Saint Paul, so I couldn鈥檛 go to a library or a school to access a computer to get my work done,鈥� Brown said. 鈥淣obody in my household had one at the time, and with the coronavirus going around people aren鈥檛 as willing to share.鈥�
Suddenly feeling stuck in Saint Paul without the tools he needed and determined to overcome it, he drove the 800-plus miles back to Ada. He knew that 成人B站鈥檚 Linscheid Library would allow him to check out a laptop computer so he could finish the semester and earn his degree on time.
It wasn鈥檛 the first time 成人B站 helped him achieve his personal goals.
鈥淚 came to 成人B站 on a visit before I verbally committed to Texas Southern, but I soon realized I wasn鈥檛 going to go there when the coaching staff left for jobs elsewhere,鈥� said Brown about his basketball recruiting experience. 鈥淎t that point, I started calling other schools that had recruited me. Most of them already had their rosters set, but 成人B站 was willing to give me a scholarship on late notice and accept me as a brother from the start.鈥�
Since joining the Tiger family, Brown has performed exceptionally well 鈥� and not just on the basketball court. He has also excelled in the classroom, adding his name to the Dean鈥檚 List.
鈥淛.B. has grown and matured greatly over the course of his two years here at 成人B站,鈥� said Ja Havens, men鈥檚 head basketball coach. 鈥淚鈥檓 proud of him for his achievements and appreciate the way he has represented the University and our basketball program, and I believe he will continue to be an ambassador for both.鈥�
Brown鈥檚 hard work, grit and determination have impressed outside the gymnasium as well.
鈥淛alan is an incredible team player who has developed a calm, professional presence that will serve him well in his future,鈥� said Katricia Pierson, 成人B站 president. 鈥淲e鈥檙e always happy to help our students achieve their goals, and during this pandemic we鈥檙e going to continue to find ways to make that happen.鈥�
Brown is back in Ada, in a rental house off campus, practicing social distancing and focusing on finishing his last semester of studies at 成人B站. His future plans include playing professional basketball overseas and becoming a personal trainer to help others reach their fitness goals.
鈥湷扇薆站 has impacted me tremendously and helped shape me into the man I am today,鈥� Brown said. 鈥淲hat I will miss most about 成人B站 is the opportunity to excel on and off the court, of being a figure in the community that young kids can look up to. Just being here for these two years has been such a tremendous blessing.鈥�
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