Philanthropy for Humanity: A Diamond in the Rough (Brooke Erickson)

(Brooke Erickson, Fourth of July 2017)

Brooke Erickson is a senior at Frostburg State majoring in Mass Communication with a focus in event planning. She likes crime shows, especially Hawaii Five-O and How to Get Away with Murder. Although Brooke enjoys scary movies, you probably won’t find her in the movie theatre waiting to catch a film on opening week. Instead, she’s more of a stay at home girl that would rather watch a 1990’s or early 2000’s throw-back . The movies Clueless, Mean Girls, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit are three of her favorites. 

Brooke takes pride in owning a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and not an IPhone. Her obstinate opinion in favor of Android over the IPhone is driven by her fear of conformity. Unlike Apple, Brooke claims Android phones are more customizable. Daring to be different, Brooke embraces her individuality to the fullest and is never afraid to voice her opinion. She sees herself as “Always that one friend.”

Giving back is a core value that has molded Brooke into who she is today. At an early age, her passion for philanthropy was sparked by being heavily involved with her church, Mt. Pleasant United Methodist. She ran lemonade stands with her friends to raise money for cancer and contributed to food pantries by collecting cans of food. The cans that she helped collect, along with the other donations, were stored in the church and used to feed members going through rough periods in their life and the homeless. 

Growing up heavily involved in church “made me feel humble but it also made me be like a leader amongst my peers for us to get work done!”, Brooke says. Her career aspiration is to plan corporate events for fundraising and charity. 

Brooke’s Grandfather served in the Navy and her Dad, whom she loves to watch football with, served in the Army. Her family’s involvement in the military is what intensified her tenacious spirit and desire to give back. Her dream job is to work on fundraising events for the Wounded Warrior Project in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Unafraid to take risks, Brooke states “I want to experience life in different ways, so I wouldn’t mind moving to Colorado [to follow my dreams]. It would definitely be a culture change.”

(Brooke outside Lane September 20th, 2017)
for Delta Zeta 's  Destination Elimination)

 Brooke continued to exemplify leadership in her life as the previous Vice President of Delta Zeta Sorority Inc.Now she is a manager at late at lane.  According to Brooke “These positions have helped me grow as a person and through it, I have made a lot of great friends.” As a former VP, she was in charge of retention and recruitment. She heldthis responsibility in the highest regard because it was her job to choose the new members to represent the future of Delta Zeta. As a curent manager at lane, a lot of effort is gone into planning for events like Greek Shows, Saturday Late at Lane's and booking special guests. 

Knowing that this hard work will soon pay off, Brooke dedicates her time fighting for what she believes in. When its all said and done, she hopes her efforts will change the world by inspiring others to uplift one another.

By JJ Jones, ENGL 336