Donavon Brown overcame the odds.
A journeyman, Brown is finishing his sixth year of college, preparing to graduate this Sunday.
He has been through it all. After attending Lincoln College for three years, Brown was forced to transfer after Lincoln was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and an unforeseen cyberattack.
Brown wasn’t sure what to make of his situation, but he knew that he wanted to keep pushing and graduate from college. He decided to finish his academic career at Millikin three years ago, and Sunday’s graduation will be an incredible accomplishment. Brown stuck with it, no matter the odds against him.
“I’ve been in college for six years,” he said. “I was supposed to be a senior [when I transferred]. They dropped me all the way back down to a sophomore, because the credits didn’t transfer over.”
Brown had several close friends who transferred to Millikin with him, but many understandably found it difficult and chose not to finish up school in Decatur.
“A couple of them dropped out, a couple of them stayed and stuck with it,” he said. “The rest of my friends that I came with dropped out. I knew I had to be motivated. I had to stick with it, so I could get done with school.”
Brown understood that he had no choice but to find that motivation in himself. And that is exactly what he did.
“I always knew what I wanted since I was young,” he said. “I’ve had family members tell me, ‘you’re not going to go to college.’ I’ve had friends say that. I took that into full effect, and it made me lock in. I always knew my time is coming. It doesn’t matter how long the road is at the end of the day, my time is coming.”
Brown originally wanted to play basketball at Millikin, but he wanted to stay active year round, leading him to compete for both the football and track teams on campus.
“I did track at Lincoln, but I wanted to stay active the whole year, instead of just one-half of the year. Either I could just do track and nothing, or I could do football, and then also do track,” he said.
Although he competed for both teams, Brown cites the academic side as his favorite part of his college experience.
“This last semester was probably the highlight of my career,” he said. “I did a lot this semester. The whole thing was really interesting. I did photography, videography, and started writing and doing all sorts of things with the media. I also helped 1901 Productions and helped with Blue Connection.”
Clearly, Brown was very involved. However, out of every venture, photography, specifically sports photography, is where he found his foothold. Taking pictures at basketball games, in particular, has been an amazing experience, but also a huge challenge.
“I’m an athlete, so I love basketball,” Brown said. “Even though I sometimes don’t get them, I know what pictures to take and where to take them, and the angles and stuff like that. I missed a couple pictures when Chris (Ketchum) got a dunk. I really wanted that picture. The intensity level is different when I’m around a basketball game.”
Brown’s experience working for the Dec is one that truly blossomed this semester, as he was seen on the sidelines of every home football game, and on the court at nearly every basketball game or wrestling meet.
“It’s been fun,” he said. “I took a lot of pictures over the semester and did a lot of meetings. It’s been a different type of experience, because I haven’t done this before. I’ve been taking pictures for a couple of years now, but I never really took it to the next level, but I’m glad that I did. The Dec has been a great experience for me.”
Brown plans to take this experience into whatever field of work he will pursue, and his hard work and dedication has provided ample opportunities for him to choose from.
“I’ve thought about coaching or being a teacher,” he said. “I’ve thought about becoming a police officer. Next semester, I have an internship doing all the media with the Student Success Center. Right now, I’m going to stick with the media side.”
Being a full-time student is no easy feat, but being a full-time student with a family is even more difficult. Brown accomplished that, and he did it with a smile on his face. Watching his two kids grow up has only motivated him to work even harder.
“At first, it was really hard,” he said. “When they’re younger, they need more care. They’re toddlers now, so I can sit and do my work while they go around and play and stuff like that. I just want the best for them. I want them to get all the opportunities that I didn’t have. When they get older and decide to do whatever they want to do, as long as they’re happy, I’m happy.”
Millikin did not play out the way that Brown expected, but if you asked him, he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I thought it was going to be a totally different atmosphere,” he said. “That’s a good thing, because I came in expecting to go to a big party school, doing this and that, and worrying about all types of stuff. But, Millikin actually taught me to sit down and lock in. It was definitely a good thing that Millikin wasn’t what I thought at first.”
