Tyler Brown '22 Recruiting Profile

                Art is life!  My life, with all its setbacks, struggles and triumphs has many parallels to a skilled painter's greatest masterpiece.  There’s even a parallel to my ‘Best-in-Show’ portrait, which is currently prominently displayed on my bedroom wall.  

               The painting is adjacent to the ‘thank you’ letter that I received from the Haitian Mission for my contributions and donations.  In 2020, I was looking forward to my summer mission trip to Haiti but Covid and political turmoil derailed those plans.  Despite not being able to go in person, my thoughts are with the children I have come to know through letters and sponsor accounts.  

               As I glance further around my room, my eyes settle on a painting.  The ‘African woman’ portrait that I spent many hours envisioning, recreating, and capturing the beauty and complexity of the woman’s image that was before me.  Aaaaah, the satisfaction of a portrait well done and time well spent.

               Sitting here at my desk, reflecting on how my room is filled with vibrant colors, I can only imagine the satisfaction of my Master Painter as he looks over my life’s story to this point.  A menagerie of colors encompasses my life journey and encapsulates critical moments that most will never be exposed to. The swirls of blue, green, and red come together to create a beautiful mocha and the different textures and colors create an infinitely unique swirl.  The masterpiece has begun, time will reveal and spectators and enthusiasts anxiously await the master painter’s magnum opus.

               The Master Painter delicately dipped the very tip of the paintbrush in midnight black paint - the absence of light - to begin the portrait.  Born at only twenty-nine weeks, tenaciously clinging to life over a very long three months in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit), I, Tyler Paige Brown had arrived, needing a reinvigoration from the Master Painter.  There was a noticeable ‘absence of light’ in my parents’ eyes as they watched their firstborn fight for her life from the various ailments that accompanied her prematurity.  Even after I went home from the hospital, the flickering light was still somewhat dimmed.  Although I had successfully fought for my life in the beginning, other battles would lie ahead that I would need to conquer.  The war had just begun. 

              A stroke of titanium white paint grazes the expansive darkness covering the canvas.  The color white, symbolizing purity and goodness, represents new beginnings.  As a toddler, people came to our home to sit and play with me.  I was assigned tasks such as perfecting vowel sounds, working on reading skills, as well as identifying and associating different objects.  I later found out these people were part of my early intervention team, which included a physical therapist, a speech/language pathologist, an occupational therapist, in addition to a special education teacher.  Through the helpful and conventional methods of the early intervention team, concepts began making sense.  Epiphanies abounded and it was just the beginning of my transformation as my journey continued to unfold. 

             The painter adds more titanium white to the canvas until the midnight black paint is no more.  Hues of red, orange, green, and blue are then added to the canvas, forming a work of art that tells a story about a difficult past and a dynamic future.  The work of art is my life.  I have gone to great lengths to hide my past because many refuse to look beyond the stigma of developmental delays.  As a result, many fail to see me for who I am today. Today, I am Tyler Paige Brown, an honors student, a member of the National Honor Society, Presidents List, Beta Club, and three Teen Advisory Boards. I aspire to become a neurosurgeon, just as my inspiration Dr. Ben Carson. I am a caring, fun-loving teenager that is passionate and committed to my family, friends, and my educational pursuits.  I am the captain of the golf team and single-handedly led my school to the Regional meet.  As part of both the Health Academy and Dual-Enrollment Program, I have a sense of purpose and belonging.  I fear the past repeating itself, so no one outside of my immediate family knows of my auditory processing disorder - as I find it better to thrive in secrecy than to be discouraged by ‘labeling’ that would only serve to overshadow my potential. 

            The Master Painter stops painting as the work is finished for now.  The artist swirls the paintbrush around in water preparing to create tomorrow's story: a story with a bright future and endless possibilities.