Alex Brinley

Alex Brinley said that when she was younger, she swore up and down that she would never go to an in-state school. “I needed to spread my wings,” she said. “My parents had to force me to go look at Virginia Tech, expecting nothing. It was a rainy, cold day and I tried so hard to hate it. And I couldn’t. That’s when I knew I found the place where I was meant to be.”

Alex resides in the Honors Residential Commons in East Ambler Johnston and is indispensably involved in the community. She is Director of Programming for the HRC, helping to plan events like the Christmas Gala and the HRC Olympics. Alex has also played a significant role in continuing the HRC tradition of Soup Night, in which students and faculty fellows prepare and share homemade soup with the community.

Her nominator wrote, “Through her involvement in the Honors Residential Commons, she has shown how much she embodies Ut Prosim by her service to the community.”

Alex said, “The HRC has shaped me into the college student I am today. I am proud of the fact that I don’t give up and that I get the job done.”

Now a sophomore working towards a degree in Animal and Poultry Science, Alex is a certified veterinary assistant with experience handling livestock, companion animals, and exotics. Passionate about protecting and defending those who can’t defend themselves, she has immersed herself in her chosen field. She is founding President of the Sheep Club at Virginia Tech. She has assisted in research on the effect of heat stress on fertility in dairy cattle. She has been an undergraduate teaching assistant in animal anatomy and physiology. She has interned with a veterinary urgent care business. She has been a livestock handler for the Mount Vernon Ladies Association and an equine volunteer for Days End Farm Horse Rescue. She is a dean’s list student and recipient of the American Society of Animal Science undergraduate scholar recognition award.

Her goal is to do post graduate work at the Virginia–Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine on a mixed track, specialize in emergency and critical care, serve in the Army Veterinary Corps, then retire and become a vet school or undergraduate professor.

Alex said that Ut Prosim doesn’t just mean volunteering. It’s making a difference in someone else’s life. She said, “It’s walking across the Drillfield and giving a simple smile to someone having a rough day. It’s giving your life in defense of another. It’s helping a person understand, it’s teaching, it’s being an ear for the neighbor down the hall. My parents, friends, family showed me this every day. My mom noticing the kids that need a little lift. My dad defending this country and losing a brother in the process. Dr. Pablo Tarazaga, faculty principal, building the Honors Residential Commons into a thriving community where people support each other and have meaningful conversations. I don’t intentionally embrace Ut Prosim, I try to follow their examples and think of others first.”

Alex – for your many contributions to our university community, for your tenacious vow to do what is right, and for exhibiting the spirit of Ut Prosim in all your actions, I am pleased to present the Aspire! Award for EMBRACING UT PROSIM AS A WAY OF LIFE to Alex Brinley.

Written by Sandy Broughton