May 2021 graduate Brandon Drain is the change he wants to see.
Brandon didn’t want his future to look anything like his past, so when he arrived at MSU, he grabbed hold of the opportunity and didn’t let go.
To help ease the transition into a college environment, Brandon joined the FAME program, which provides mentorship and ensures that basic needs are met for MSU students who have experienced childhood hardships such as homelessness, foster or kinship care, or who are otherwise independent. With the support of FAME, Brandon felt empowered to explore and pursue all the opportunities that captured his interest.
“Being here at MSU provided me experiential, firsthand knowledge and awareness to the world around me that, prior to coming, I never knew existed. I was able to mold myself as a man in a way that I never saw possible and in a myriad of ways that go beyond just the academic experience,” Brandon says.
I kept moving forward because I didn’t have the privilege of leaving college to go back home with mom and dad—it was all me. MSU became the canvas I used to cultivate the life I have now, and the one I’m continuing to build for the near and distant future.