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By: Sarah Brown – Managing Editor

Morgan Anderson was born and raised in Cordele, GA. She graduated from Crisp County High School in 2023. Morgan applied for many colleges both in state (UGA, Augusta) and outside, many of which accepted her, but she was always drawn to Brown. When we spoke with Morgan she mentioned the reason in which she chose Brown University, being that they had an open curriculum, where specifically in her first year she can pick and choose what she would like to take, all which are mainly introduction courses. She took a lot of dual enrolment classes and she wanted to go to a school where she did not have to retake any classes, which Brown had. At this moment she is unsure of what her major is, she is going with the flow and seeing what stands out to her. She is open to anything besides technology, computers and engineering, in her words, “pretty much all the stuff that my dad does.” She says she is still open to law and medicine, things that she said after she had experienced it briefly she wasn’t going to do. She doesn’t really want to get into a career path that is directly correlated with those fields like a doctor or lawyer. She is really looking into things that involve media, journalism, and education. Morgan is very much open minded to her future and where Brown could take her.

Her journey to finding Brown is what she described as kind of a funny story, she mentioned that she was taking a math class at South Georgia Tech and she looked up colleges that do not require a math credit and Brown popped up. She did say that she will probably still end up taking math at some point in her college career, only difference will be she will be taking it to take it not because she has to. “It is different learning because you want to, and not being told you have to have it.”

In regards to scholarships she speaks about the Colony Leadership Scholarship she received which is a unique scholarship. She described it as more of a program and experience, as the scholarship requires you to visit four places in Georgia and learn about what goes on in these places, and the industries. She went to Albany, Moultrie, Valdosta and Savannah. The scholarship is a total of $1000, $250 for each place visted. For more information on this program visit Colony Banks Website  Colony Leadership Program

She also applied for local scholarships and received financial aid from Brown. Brown University offers great financial aid packages for low-income families, allowing her to get a full scholarship. She mentions that many small town kids like the idea of going somewhere and getting an experience and are deterred from doing so due to costs. She also mentions that the “rural stamp” can really help in college admissions, as university’s like students from small towns and schools they have never heard of. Morgan really encourages those who do not think it is possible to get into a big school to “try it anyway.”

When it came to requirements to get into Brown, it is a school that has become test optional. It is not required by many private institutions to submit SAT scores. Which is great for those who struggle with standardized tests. They ask for a personal essay, they did have Brown specific supplemental questions, 1. A situation you would have been in where you have to interact with someone with different beliefs or opinions than your own, 2. Why Brown? 3. Tell us about something that you love. Morgan decided to write about something that she loved with the topic being Dr. Pepper. This essay has created quite the reputation for Morgan being the, “Dr. Pepper Girl.” She actually posted a video about the essay on TikTok and received over 2 million views, and then she created a video on Youtube about Dr. Pepper getting her into school along with her grades, of course. Brown also requires recommendations, which she got from two teachers, her high school Spanish teacher Bersy Navarro and her chemistry teacher Dr. Rob Bailey as well as a member of the community Rick Lawson who she had worked for, for a short period of time. She had a lot of support from friends and people in the community on her journey to Brown.

We asked her what she was most looking forward to, she speaks about the size of the school and that she never really anticipated the size of the school was going to be a big deal for her. Many of the public colleges in Georgia have large populations. She was mainly looking at going to UGA or Georgia State both have a huge campus and huge population. When she first got to Brown and was touring the campus, their student population is roughly the same size as Cordele. Which is much smaller compared to other schools she was considering. When she got to Providence, she liked that it was the perfect amount of news things to do and city atmosphere but still small enough that she doesn’t feel like she is going to miss out on anything.

We then asked her what she is least looking forward to, she speaks about the weather up in Rhode Island and how it gets much colder than down here in south Georgia. She mentions she is by no means looking forward to the colder weather, but is looking forward to seeing snow for the first time. She also said that the school actually gives her $300 to go towards getting winter clothes. In terms of being away from family she said she probably will not realize how much being away will really affect her until she is gone. She specifically mentions her brothers, and how she won’t have to deal with her brothers, and once she gets there she will miss them.

Morgan was highly involved in 4-H from 5^th grade up until she graduated. She says that 4-H really helped in developing her social life and networking skills, it taught her how to speak to people and how she understands the world. Morgan boasts about the 4-H program in Georgia saying that it is one of if not the best 4-H program. She was involved in the Project SAFE BB team from 5^th to 9^th grade, she got more involved into 4-H in 7^th Grade where she really took advantage of everything they had to offer such as public speaking, and community service. She competed in District Project Achievement and went on to State Congress. During the pandemic she took a bit of a pause and last year was encouraged by a friend to get back into it, and she was able to apply for a National 4-H Ambassador position in which achieved. She peaks on what 4-H is and she mentions that it isn’t all about agriculture, and during her time in 4-H she actually was not involved in anything AG related, it has a lot more to offer than what most people realize. She gives a lot of credit to her long 4-H career for helping on building who she is today and also being a reason as to why she got into Brown.

She is excited to go to Brown. She is the second person in Cordele, Crisp County history to go to Brown University, with the first person being Reggie Nance many years ago. She mentioned that he told her that he did not want to be the last person from Crisp County to go to Brown and she does not want to be the last one either. She strongly encourages others to take the leap, and if you can do something “bug and supreme” then do it. Don’t limit yourself!

We want to wish Morgan the best of luck on her journey to Brown and all the best in her future endeavors.