Success Stories

Quentin Brackenridge

Biology

Of all the many types of people who make up the Ashford campus community, you would be hard-pressed to find a more inspirational leader than Sophomore Quentin Brackenridge, 18.

"When I first came to Ashford, I knew this was the place for me. I saw a lot of opportunity for myself, and I was going to make a difference."

Brackenridge is the kind of person who creates new opportunities for others that that impact people's lives. "I love to sing and play the piano," he says. "My family and I are musically inclined and we sing at every family gathering." So, on arriving at Ashford, Brackenridge took his love for music and found a way to share it with others. Within his first year at Ashford, he founded the Inspirational Choir, Ashford's very own gospel ensemble.

He also found a way to enhance social interactions between his fellow students. "I realized that we have to stop complaining about what we don't have and work with what we have," says Brackenridge, describing his version of personal responsibility. "I have to be the person to make change happen." With that in mind, he started the Intellectual Young Men of Society (IYMOS), with new chapters growing beyond Ashford to the University of Iowa, Loyola University, and local high schools. He is very proud to have his very own fraternal organization, "which will one day be a great worldwide organization that will change the world."

But that is just the beginning. Brackenridge has no intention of stopping, and his goals for the future are even bigger. Speaking of his life beyond Ashford, he says he plans "to get a Master's Degree in Business Administration and go off to medical school to receive my medical doctorate degree, after which, my plans are to own my own medical practice and give back to the community. My ultimate goal is to become America's #1 Family Practitioner." That is what a university makes possible, and that is what attracts big thinkers like Brackenridge to enroll in Ashford University.