Three years ago today, I graduated from college. I took a much different route than most of my family and friends. I didn’t go to a 4 year institution right out the gate. Freshman year of College, my dad drove me 26 hours to Nebraska because I had a full scholarship to play basketball. Sophomore year, I transferred to Louisburg College to finish out my second year. I took the JUCO route because I looked at it as a second chance because I wanted to have better grades and I wanted to reach my goal of playing Division 1 ball. I graduated from there with a 3.5 GPA and transferred to Norfolk State for my last two years of college. The coaches wanted me to walk on and I said “no way. not with my talent.” So I was invited to an open gym session the very next day and received a call later on that same day, saying “Hey Brehanna. I have some good news for you.” I replied back “Hello. What might that be?” And coach said “We have a full scholarship available for you.” I said “That’s awesome! Thank you so much. I’m ready to get started.” I was the one and only junior on the team so I had to fight for a spot. My coaches at the time had favorites and just refused to play me. Every single day I would show them how good of a player I was. I even stayed in the gym late at night putting up shots, working on me and my game until the janitors had to kick me out. My senior year, things changed for the better. One of the coaches from our men’s team took over as our head coach and we had our same cool assistant coach. I played more. I was their go to player. They believed in me and knew what I was capable of. It’s kind of scary when you’re a senior in college that’s about to graduate. You don’t always have it figured out by then and constantly wonder, what’s next? How will I get there?? I took so many different routes that weren’t expected. I had the chance to play ball overseas but stopped playing because I wanted to try something new. A new opportunity came up.. a new challenge I wanted to take on... Fast forward to 2017, I made history as The First Black Female Tire Changer in NASCAR. I didn’t watch NASCAR growing up but I took a chance once Coach Phil and the Drive For Diversity program came to NSU and recruited me. I said all of this to say that you don’t have to always have it all figured out. Be open to trying new things. And sometimes, you just have to go with the wind. Shoutout to everyone graduating. It’s a great feeling to walk across that stage, knowing that your hard work has paid off. Continue to write your story of greatness! I love y’all. Yours truly🤟🏾🤟🏾🏁💙💙