by Courtney Cleveland

features editor

Jonathan Brandon is a freshman who plans to major in business administration. He is currently a member of Kappa Alpha Order.

The Purple and White: What made you come to Millsaps?

Jonathan Brandon: Well I’m the ninth person in my family to come here, so it was always an option. I came to visit and felt really comfortable here.

P&W: What did your family think when you decided to come to Millsaps? Did they pressure you come here?

JB: They definitely encouraged me to come here, but I never felt pressured at all. I will say they were pleased when I made my decision.

P&W: How have you, as a freshman, adapted to being on a college campus?

JB: I feel like I’ve adapted pretty well. I didn’t have to study much in high school and now I study all the time. But somehow, I’ve been able to keep a pretty good time management schedule. I’ve been getting my work done.

P&W: Are there any changes you would make to Millsaps?

JB: I mean, of course the caf. The caf could always be better. But not really. I like it how it is for the most part.

P&W: Have your friendships changed since moving to college?

JB: They’ve just kind of developed, as far as more understanding. Everybody seems to have a better grasp of who they are. They thought they knew who they were and now that they’re in college they’ve become different. They’ve been positive. Others, I’ve just lost. I have a fewer number of friendships, but better relationships with those few.

P&W: What is your strongest personal quality?

JB: I would say my self-discipline. I can pretty much set my mind to do something and get it done if it needs to be done.

P&W: If you could travel anywhere, where would you go and why?

JB: Mount Everest, no doubt. Because I feel like that’s a place that only a select group of people get to go, and I think it’d be pretty awesome to go there and experience the challenge of climbing a mountain, the tallest mountain on Earth at that. I like to challenge myself.

P&W: What’s something embarrassing/funny that your family would say about you?

JB: They always make fun of me for having large poops. I always stopped the toilet up as a kid.

P&W: If you won the lottery, what would you do with the earnings?

JB: I’d buy my dad a boat because I’ve always told him that I’d buy him a boat. A lot of people say they’d give to charity, but I wouldn’t necessarily do that. I’d probably start a program foundation to benefit something or someone. I would start a summer camp. I mean, the lottery is a lot of money. I’m going to splurge. I’d probably buy a couple [of] cars and a house. I’d save half of it, at least. 50 percent is going in the bank, no doubt.

P&W: How do you feel about the outcome of this year’s election?

JB: I mean, honestly, I was a little bit surprised when Trump won. I didn’t know what to think about either one of the candidates. I think that as a country, we have to come together and support who we did elect as president and back them up. Hopefully, he’ll do something good for us, but we also have mechanisms in place to control him if we need to. We have to give him a chance. Trump is an interesting dude. He’s something different and it might be time for America to experience something a little different.

P&W: To end on a lighter note, what’s the last thing you did for fun?

JB: The last thing I did for fun? Oh, I was playing FIFA last night with my boys at the [fraternity] house.

The Purple and White would like to thank Jonathan for taking the time out of his day to answer these questions! If you or someone you know would like to be featured in the next “Meet the Millsapian” article, you can email me at clevecd@millsaps.edu.