mini传媒

Carol and Bradley Johnson are a married couple who live in Watertown, South Dakota. They also sponsor a scholarship for a recent Form 6 graduate, coincidentally named Johnson!

The Johnsons recently made the trip to Arusha to celebrate Johnson鈥檚 Form 6 graduation. Thanks to the pandemic, the trip had been almost five years in the planning.

鈥淏efore we left, we would say to people, 鈥楾he Johnsons are meeting Johnson!鈥欌�� Carol laughs.

Because Carol鈥檚 work takes her all over South Dakota, she is a member of the Rapid City Rotary club, while Bradley belongs to the Watertown Rotary club in their hometown, 400 miles away. It was through the Rapid City Ccub that Carol first heard about St Jude鈥檚.

鈥淧at Sutliff (a long-time supporter and Rotarian) shared the story about mini传媒 to our club,鈥� Carol recalls.                                                                                                                                                       

Bradley takes up the story, 鈥淲ell, Carol told me what she knew about the school and asked if we wanted to sponsor a student and of course I said yes right away.鈥�

Since 2020, the Johnsons have been sponsoring Johnson鈥檚 scholarship, sending letters back and forth and learning more about the driven student. However, it was their recent visit which really made an impact on them.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 quite connect, yet,鈥� shares Bradley. 鈥淣ow, coming here, seeing the country and meeting the people has been extraordinary鈥�This has definitely changed my life.鈥�

Sponsorship has been life-changing for Johnson too, who started at St Jude鈥檚 back in 2009 when he was in his first year of primary school.

鈥淚t was great and wonderful to meet Carol and Brad,鈥� he beams, as he stands wearing his yellow graduation sash. 鈥淚t was beautiful to have them at my graduation.鈥�

Carol agrees. 鈥淚t was an amazingly beautiful ceremony,鈥� she says.

To add to the excitement, Johnson was named 鈥楤est in Chemistry鈥� during the ceremony, which he kept secret in order to surprise Brad and Carol.

His secret to winning the highly-coveted award was, 鈥渃ommitment, focus and a positive mind-set.鈥�

But the connection between Johnson and the Johnsons doesn鈥檛 end with Form 6 graduation.

鈥淲e鈥檙e going to make sure we support him through the Beyond St Jude鈥檚 Program,鈥� Brad says.

Soon, Johnson will begin his Community Service Year (CSY) the first part of Beyond St Jude鈥檚 (BSJ), St Jude鈥檚 program for its secondary school graduates. During the CSY, Johnson and his fellow volunteers will share their time, skills and knowledge on campus at St Jude鈥檚 or in local government schools.

Already, Johnson is looking forward to giving back to the community.

鈥淚 am planning to participate in the CSY as a volunteer teacher in a government school where I hope to teach chemistry and mathematics. I want to do this so I can help many more people, especially those students who don鈥檛 have teachers,鈥� he explains.

After the CSY, Johnson plans to study industrial engineering at university and then begin a career which will help boost Tanzania鈥檚 production capabilities, but he also nurtures a strong interest in politics.

鈥淣o matter where he goes, he鈥檚 driven, he鈥檚 bright and he understands the gifts that he鈥檚 been given,鈥� says Bradley.

Thanks to a St Jude鈥檚 scholarship and the generosity of people like Bradley and Carol, Johnson and 106 other future leaders graduated from Form 6 this May. Without a scholarship, it鈥檚 likely that many of these students would have had to leave school early due to financial pressure.

Sponsoring a scholarship is a life-changing gift, perhaps best explained by Bradley.

鈥淲hen you think about how you can change a life, you鈥檙e not just changing one student鈥檚 life, you鈥檙e changing hundreds, thousands of people鈥檚 lives through them.鈥�