|
|
|
Oklahoma Baptist University alum John Brooks, 1973, is a 2009 recipient of the OBU Alumni Association’s Profile In Excellence Award.
The award is given to a former student who has “demonstrated recognizable accomplishment in his or her profession, business, avocation or life service in such a way as to bring pride and honor to the university.” Each year, 12 Profile In Excellence recipients are selected, and each is featured in an article in OBU Magazine.
John Brooks is focused on a specific goal. Looking through the lens of the next generation, his ambition is to invest in college students and the influence they will have in the world around them.
The 1973 graduate has helped thousands of American college students create relationships with students in 32 other countries. He is building on a concept he appreciated while on Bison Hill.
As a non-traditional student, his undergraduate experience was different than most students’. However, Brooks said OBU helped make a place for him within the campus culture and encouraged him in his plans for the future.
“Small classes and personal attention from professors is still a reminder to me today of the importance of being willing to consider that students are all in different situations,” he said.
It was not until graduate school that Brooks truly recognized his growing desire to work with students. He sharpened his focus on the influence students have in their decisions and relationships. Challenged by a mentor to start working with students, Brooks began to realize the benefits of the investment.
His investment instantly reaped dividends. After completing his master’s and doctoral degrees he worked with students at Wichita State University through an organization which aimed to make a difference nationally and internationally through the influence of students. Brooks shared the ambition. He capitalized on an opportunity to lead a group to Central Asia, prior to the fall of the Soviet Union.
“I was able to interact with Russian and Kazakh students in a meaningful way and saw their desire for truth,” he said. “I wanted to provide the U.S. students an opportunity to make friends from other cultures and talk about truth with them.”
Brooks increasingly received requests to send students overseas to interact with college students. He said the stateside students’ willingness to invest themselves in others triggered the growth of travel opportunities. Their availability also led to creation of a new vehicle for fostering international friendships.
His desire to create opportunities for students to make a difference internationally became infectious. The FOCUS students developed an appreciation for the cultures they were experiencing worldwide and began to better understand what international students encounter in America. That made them more willing to invest time with the organization.
“Most of these students now have deep friendships with people from their host country and a greater heart for international students in the States,” he said.
Brooks and his wife, Peggy, are driven by the cultural opportunities they can create for students. They now work with six FOCUS staff members to facilitate new global experiences. The effort also is a Brooks family enterprise, as their children, David and Candace, ex ’94, have volunteered with FOCUS since its inception.
“My heart’s desire is that we would be able to help facilitate these same kinds of relationships between students from all nations of the world,” Brooks said.
Oklahoma Baptist University alum John Brooks, 1973, is a 2009 recipient of the OBU Alumni Association’s Profile In Excellence Award.
The award is given to a former student who has “demonstrated recognizable accomplishment in his or her profession, business, avocation or life service in such a way as to bring pride and honor to the university.” Each year, 12 Profile In Excellence recipients are selected, and each is featured in an article in OBU Magazine.
John Brooks is focused on a specific goal. Looking through the lens of the next generation, his ambition is to invest in college students and the influence they will have in the world around them.
The 1973 graduate has helped thousands of American college students create relationships with students in 32 other countries. He is building on a concept he appreciated while on Bison Hill.
As a non-traditional student, his undergraduate experience was different than most students’. However, Brooks said OBU helped make a place for him within the campus culture and encouraged him in his plans for the future.
“Small classes and personal attention from professors is still a reminder to me today of the importance of being willing to consider that students are all in different situations,” he said.
It was not until graduate school that Brooks truly recognized his growing desire to work with students. He sharpened his focus on the influence students have in their decisions and relationships. Challenged by a mentor to start working with students, Brooks began to realize the benefits of the investment.
His investment instantly reaped dividends. After completing his master’s and doctoral degrees he worked with students at Wichita State University through an organization which aimed to make a difference nationally and internationally through the influence of students. Brooks shared the ambition. He capitalized on an opportunity to lead a group to Central Asia, prior to the fall of the Soviet Union.
“I was able to interact with Russian and Kazakh students in a meaningful way and saw their desire for truth,” he said. “I wanted to provide the U.S. students an opportunity to make friends from other cultures and talk about truth with them.”
Brooks increasingly received requests to send students overseas to interact with college students. He said the stateside students’ willingness to invest themselves in others triggered the growth of travel opportunities. Their availability also led to creation of a new vehicle for fostering international friendships.
His desire to create opportunities for students to make a difference internationally became infectious. The FOCUS students developed an appreciation for the cultures they were experiencing worldwide and began to better understand what international students encounter in America. That made them more willing to invest time with the organization.
“Most of these students now have deep friendships with people from their host country and a greater heart for international students in the States,” he said.
Brooks and his wife, Peggy, are driven by the cultural opportunities they can create for students. They now work with six FOCUS staff members to facilitate new global experiences. The effort also is a Brooks family enterprise, as their children, David and Candace, ex ’94, have volunteered with FOCUS since its inception.
“My heart’s desire is that we would be able to help facilitate these same kinds of relationships between students from all nations of the world,” Brooks said.
