FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SISTERS PERSEVERE WITH EDUCATION

GOALS IN FACE OF ADVERSITY

DANVILLE, VA, July 24, 2002 --- Janice Marie Brandon knows what it’s like to face adversity and triumph to victory with a medal of courage. Her sister, Barbara Younger also knows; but what both have learned is that adversity can be the driver for success.

After 22 years at Tultex, Janice and Barbara were among the long list of displaced workers when the South Boston facility closed. Faced with an uncertain future, both decided to seize an opportunity to pursue the college degree that had eluded them for decades. This opportunity came as a result of the North American Free Trade Agreement- Transitional Adjustment Assistance program, which offers displaced workers the opportunity to receive unemployment assistance, job search assistance, retraining and income support while training.

Janice, 43, and the mother of one, is enrolled in the air conditioning and refrigeration program at Danville Community College.

 “I guess you’re wondering why I chose this field,” Brandon says. “It started in 1998 when our furnace broke down and the guy came to repair it. He stayed a whole week and didn’t do the job.

“From that day on I wanted to go under the house and see if I could do it, so I decided to take an oil burner class. I really enjoyed it.” Brandon continues. “When Tultex closed in 1999, I decided to pursue a technical program of study.”

 Her sister, Barbara was also displaced by the Tultex plant closing and she decided to enroll in the electrical electronics program because it was a hands-on program.

“I really like working with my hands”, says Barbara.

When Barbara first thought of returning, she had several concerns: 1. how her decision would affect their finances since the family had relied on two incomes and 2. the length of time that she had been out of school.

“My husband and I had to sit down and figure a budget that would allow me to do it,”  Barbara says calmly reflecting on the challenges she faced. “ I had been out of school for a long time and had become a television addict so I had to make myself turn off  the TV and get back into the routine of studying. It’s been hard but we’re almost at the end now”

Both sisters will complete their studies this summer

Brandon also speaks to the personal challenges and victories that she encountered during her studies. “The classes were great and the teachers were marvelous,” says Brandon, “but toward the end of the first year, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and I had to decide if I was going to continue my studies or quit, because I knew that I had to go through chemotherapy and radiation.

“I didn’t know whether I could deal with that and going to school so I decided to talk to my teachers,” Brandon says.

Buddy Clayton, professor of air conditioning and refrigeration, was one of the teachers that Brandon talked to and she beams when she talks about her experience.

She was most encouraged by Clayton’s advice. 

“He encouraged me to get the facts and then register, which I did,” she says. “Then I had my operation and the doctor told me that he didn’t think I could take courses because I would probably get sick from the treatment. When I told Mr. Clayton what the doctor said, his response was ‘Let’s try.’”

That was also the consensus from most of the people that surrounded Brandon --- people like her daughter, four brothers, three sisters, and Sarah Cunningham, whom she describes as a strong spiritually-centered friend with whom she is taking classes.

“What I didn’t get in church or at home, I got here at DCC. That was the wonderful thing about it,” says Brandon. “In fact, when I was first diagnosed I told Sarah (Cunningham) about it. At the time, I was depressed and I cried most of the time I was in class but Sarah had a strong spiritual background and her spirit just lifted me up and I stopped thinking about myself.

“She told me that we all have to take one day at a time,” Brandon says. “Prior to that, I had thought of dropping out of school, but I just prayed and asked the Lord to let me go back because I felt that if I went back, I’d feel better. Once you overcome fear and decide to live each day to the fullest then everything becomes a joy.”

Brandon returned to classes in the spring and excelled in her studies.  Not only did both sisters make the Dean’s List, but they both are graduating magna cum laude (with higher honors).

 “It seemed that the Lord put me in a position where everyone that I met had a spiritual background and they were my backbone and my support,” Brandon says. “It was that first semester that Mr. Clayton told me ‘Janice I don’t want you to quit because I want you to look at your grades.’”

When she was shown her grades and she saw how far she had come, she says decided to step out on prayer and faith and continue her studies. “It was a little hard but the only time I missed class was when I had my treatments.”

Younger affectionately reflects on her sister’s struggle and how it encouraged her. “I look at her and all that she went through that first year and I said, if she can do it, I should be able to do it too. I would see her take her treatments and get up the next morning come to school and stay all day, “ says Younger. “I said if she can do it, I know I can.

Brandon adds, “I thought it was going to be hard and that I had to compete with the guys but it wasn’t like that. The guys worked with me and it was like a family environment.

            “Having my sister along to share the experience is marvelous,” Brandon says. “If I had a problem, I could discuss it with her and she would get me back on the right track”

It’s a feeling also shared by Younger. “We worked together until the plant closed and it seemed fitting that we should go to school together,” says Younger. “She supports me, and I support her.”

            The road to success has not been easy but it has been a courageous journey for both. With an average commute of 300 miles per week, the pair now view the daily trek as nothing more than part of the journey to success.

“The first two months were hard,” says Younger, “but with my sister in the car the time seems to fly.”

            “Everybody should go to school and broaden their horizons,” Brandon continues. “because you don’t know what you’re missing until you put yourself into a book. My advice to anyone considering returning to school is that you don’t know what you can do unless you try. I didn’t think I could finish school unless I tried. If I had stayed in bed wallowing in self-pity, I probably would still be there or I might be dead. I probably would have been in a state of depression and that probably would have taken me out but I had to get one step beyond feeling sorry for myself.”

 Brandon credits her daughter, a Halifax County schoolteacher, for pounding positive thoughts into her head everyday. “She would say,  ‘Ma you can’t get better unless you can get over dwelling on your sickness.’ Think about the positive stuff’.

“Then I started looking at the positives and started looking for ways to help somebody, says Brandon, who views her struggles as a blessing. “Some people look at sickness as a being a ‘curse’, but I look at my sickness as a blessing because it has opened my eyes.

Brandon and Younger are quick to offer some important advice for everyone thinking about school.

Younger simply says, “Do it! When I first started, it stressed me out some because I wasn’t used to studying, but the DCC counselors encouraged me to find time for myself. Once I decided to take one hour for myself and decided to make it part of my routine, I was able deal with whatever I had to do.”

             Brandon reiterates the same ideas regarding school, but adds a little additional advice. “Don’t let someone dictate to you and tell you that you can’t do it. When I was in elementary and high school, I was always told that I wasn’t ‘college material’ so I figured I wasn’t ‘college material.’ I watched my sisters go to college and I used to envy them and I said I’m just going to try it’.

            To recognize her courage and perseverance in achieving her educational goals, Brandon received the Stephanie Ferguson Medallion of Courage, presented to her at graduation by DCC President Dr. Carlyle Ramsey.

 “I was sitting at graduation and they were talking about presenting this medal, then they called my name and I was shocked because I didn’t feel that I deserved it,” Brandon says modestly. “People would tell me what I did was courageous, I guess I haven’t seen that part yet, rather I choose to tell the story because I think maybe someone can benefit from it and my goal is to help someone else.”

Now to me, that’s what achievement, success and triumph are really all about!,” Brandon adds.