Sophomore Amanda Brannan anxiously sits on a bus on its way to the Race for the Cure as sophomores joke and chat around her. Even though it’s 5:30 a.m., the students are restless, waiting to get to their destination.
Brannan works every October to raise money for breast cancer awareness. She has become one of the top fundraisers in the state, and this year was no different. “[We] all had to wake up at 4:30 to get to the buses no later than 5:30. We had two full yellow buses filled with students,” Brannan said.
Brannan’s team was mostly made up of sophomores. “Words can’t even describe the amount of love and support I have from the John Carroll family. My sophomore class is so supportive and it is just so amazing to see them all get excited over a cause like breast cancer,” Brannan said.
According to Brannan, the sophomore class did not just give their support. “The connections I had with the sophomore class were also amazing. The buses were provided by one of my classmates, and also everyone who came brought some kind of food to share or drinks for the morning and the bus ride to Hunt Valley and on the ride home,” Brannan said.
However, Brannan’s hard work did not stop at the race. She visited the eighth grade classes at St. Margaret School on Nov. 13 and Nov. 14. “I went to talk to [the eighth grade classes], because in eighth grade in library class you have to do a project on a cause. You research a cause and explain why it means so much to you. So I went to SMS and talked about my cause, and the cause that is close to my heart,” Brannan said.
She got the idea to talk to St. Margaret students because of Chelsea Shock, class of ’11, a St. Margaret graduate who spoke to her eighth grade class. “When I was in 8th grade, Chelsea Shock came to talk to my class at SMS, and I will never forget how inspired I was by her talk. Chelsea had a lot of the same dreams and goals I did, so it was very neat to listen to someone older than me who was putting their goals and dreams into action,” Brannan said.
The students at St. Margaret School loved Brannan’s presentation. “I thought [the presentation] was really great. She showed us why we need to help find a cure for breast cancer,” St. Margaret eighth grade student Grace Chubb said.
“I like how she showed the truth. She did not sugar coat it. She showed us what we as students can do to help,” Saint Margaret eighth grade student Madeline Wright said.
Brannan was happy about the response of the students. “The most rewarding price I got after talking to the eighth graders was when I had at least six different students Facebook chat me and say they were inspired. I also had two students chat me asking how they can get SMS involved with breast cancer awareness,” Brannan said.
Brannan’s main goal was to tell the students that dreams are important. “I really spent the most time on talking to them about how you are never too young to have a dream or goal,” she said. “I made it clear to them that setting a big goal and dream is not easy, but with hard work and if you believe in your dream and goal one hundred percent, then you are golden.”
Ashley Beyer is a Lifestyles Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.