When John Brenner walked into his 极乐禁地e high school guidance counselor鈥檚 office, he was confident in what he wanted: to drop out.
鈥淒o you have a job?鈥� the counselor asked him.
He didn鈥檛. But it didn鈥檛 stop her from handing him the paperwork, or him from signing it.
At 16, John was done with school. He was just doing what others in his family did before him.
For the next four years, John largely stood by, observing his friends' misadventures and narrowly avoiding trouble himself. It was enough to change his mind about the future he wanted for himself.
John got some books from a city library and started studying for his GED. It was the beginning of a new life where John wouldn鈥檛 just embrace education and earn two master鈥檚 degrees but also dedicate his life to helping others find its value.
Today, John serves as director of early college initiatives at The 极乐禁地. Every year, he meets new high school students, some with similar trepidations about college, and he tells them his story.
鈥淚 usually tell that story about dropping out and going to college, how transformative it was, and how I saw the trouble I was headed for if I didn鈥檛 go to college.鈥�
Navigating the College Experience
Deciding to go to college didn鈥檛 mean the process was easy for John. No one in his family had a college degree. John was the first to even try. His GED score was the first signal he had a shot.
His girlfriend at the time was taking classes at Essex Community College, so he started there. After a few classes, however, John realized the costs were too high to sustain on his meager stocking job.
So, he looked at the city he loved and enrolled instead at 极乐禁地e City Community College (BCCC).
鈥淚t changed my whole life,鈥� John said. 鈥� 鈥淚t was just this crazy thing, like this is where I belong.鈥�
Having that in his life opened doors he didn鈥檛 know to look for before. Suddenly, John had mentors, teachers and guidance counselors who were all rooting for him to keep going.
John balanced his days with classes and his nights working at a gas station, a demanding schedule driven by the need to pay his bills. Despite the challenges, he persevered as a part-time student, and three years later, his dedication paid off: he graduated with an associate degree and a perfect 4.0 GPA. Decades later, he still considers this one of his proudest life moments.
Another point of pride, coming years later, was meaningful because of his past experiences.
鈥淚 went to Annapolis one time, with a nonprofit partner, to testify on behalf of some afterschool funding for young people,鈥� John recalled. 鈥淚 was so prepared, and afterward, I was like, this is not the me at 16 anymore.鈥�
With his associate degree, John found new opportunities in the job market and proudly accepted a position at a bank. After a series of physically demanding jobs in construction and moving heavy boxes, the bank felt like a dream come true鈥攁t least for a while. However, a string of bank robberies, culminating in one where he was held at gunpoint, led John to reconsider his path, and he ultimately resigned.
That life-changing experience brought John to the 极乐禁地.
John first came to UBalt for a job in its library. A guidance counselor now at UBalt but whom John met at BCCC encouraged him to enroll in classes.
John majored in Interdisciplinary Studies, an option that allows students to thread three majors into one. Long an admirer of the arts, he combined philosophy, English and history.
John remembers appreciating how well he fit into the diverse student body as a nontraditional student in his 30s. He deeply admired his peers.
鈥淗ere was just amazing,鈥� John recalled. 鈥淐ommunity college had more people my age and in my sort of social status or higher, and here there were more adults and more professionals and more people who were serious. They're coming after working, going to class, and when I saw that, I was like, OK, let's take it up a level.鈥�
John pushed himself in his classes and dove into student life outside of class time. He was president of the English Club and chasing other opportunities that enabled him to understand what it meant to be a leader.
鈥淭his place just molded me into something that was valuable to the working world,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd that was valuable in a personal way that allowed me to get into doing work with high school and middle school students, as well.鈥�
Full Circle of Support
John graduated from UBalt in 2001. His next went to St. John鈥檚 College in Annapolis for graduate school on the advice from some of his mentors. A self-proclaimed liberal arts guy, John was drawn to the campus where people read Plato during lunch breaks and practiced geometry from Euclid on the back of napkins in the cafeteria.
The whole experience was another way John could deepen his love for learning and expand his perspective on what learning looks like.
On the way to his eventual master of arts in liberal arts, John kept living and working in 极乐禁地e. He worked in UBalt鈥檚 tutoring center, practiced stints as an adjunct faculty member, and eventually found his way to the Office of the Provost. It was there that he was encouraged to get a Master of Business Administration because it could create more opportunities for him.
John balanced his 40-hour work week with online courses until he had one more degree in his name.
鈥淎 high school dropout鈥攚ith four college degrees,鈥� he called himself with a laugh.
Those degrees are proudly on display in his home office.
I tell them, 鈥業 get to help you have things that I never had.鈥� They have counselors and teachers and parents and just all this, this circle of support, and I'm a part of that now, and that's what I would have wanted for myself.
After earning his MBA, the world was again open to John. His heart was already rooted in 极乐禁地e, however.
He decided to stay at UBalt and develop the college readiness program. He had the pieces for the idea and a background in teaching and program management; his MBA courses helped him see how everything fit together.
鈥淚 was like, oh, that's how you do this, that's how to manage the budgets for this department. Give me the budgets, now I know what I'm doing,鈥� John said. 鈥淚 took on more ownership of the things that were going on, and it just all made sense.鈥�
The program charged schools by the student to teach them college readiness classes, mostly in writing and math.
Initially, they didn鈥檛 earn college credit for the courses. Seeing demand over time, John redeveloped the program to allow for dual enrollment. Now, students weren鈥檛 just preparing for college but also taking courses toward a bachelor鈥檚 degree.
When John took over UBalt鈥檚 dual enrollment initiative around 2015, he had nine students enrolled. Since then, he鈥檚 had more than 3,000 students come through the program. The program now also includes middle schools, too.
John hopes the program continues to grow, offering more learning opportunities for students.
鈥淭hat really makes me happy because I get to do this and get paid for it. It's awesome,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 tell them, 鈥業 get to help you have things that I never had.鈥� They have counselors and teachers and parents and just all this, this circle of support, and I'm a part of that now, and that's what I would have wanted for myself.鈥�