Student involvement is this Sun Devil’s passion and future profession
Tyler Brown, an accounting and sports business graduate at ASU, has been involved in nearly every student-led effort on campus you could name. Hailing from Chandler, Ariz., his passion for on-campus involvement informed not only his student experience but also his plans for the future.
“For me my “aha” moment was Change the World 2019,” Brown said.
Change the World is an annual celebration for Sun Devils that allows participants to share ideas, projects and build networks through a massive showcase that takes place at ASU’s Sun Devil Stadium.
As a committee chair for Change the World, Brown was instrumental in launching the inaugural event. He found himself planning parts of the event, helping students share their ideas, serving as an emcee and working with the university to ensure the day was a success.
Brown's favorite part of the event was “running around, working with the different college students. I just love the college atmosphere and working with people on university campuses.”
He was hard at work planning the 2020 event before it was postponed due to COVID-19, but his work still made an impact on his career plans.
“I want to help people find their passions. Change the World 2019 was definitely the moment where I was like, this is what I want to do,” Brown said.
During his time at ASU, Brown had many other roles in on-campus organizations. Brown was the chief of staff for the Programing and Activities Board, the director of content creation for the Inferno Insiders, a front desk attendant for the Student Pavilion and an intern for Sun Devil Athletics.
Out of all Brown’s involvements on campus he said PAB was his favorite. In his role there, he helped plan events for students such as MU After Dark and Devilpalooza. The PAB is what led to Brown’s involvement in Change the World and other organizations on campus.
“That’s kind of where I got my start. That's how I started getting involved and where I found a love for involvement. That’s how I kind of got the connections to do everything else,” Brown said.
“Some people I hope to be friends for life with are in PAB, that one to me is kind of home.”
As he graduated Brown shared some of his reflections and advice for Sun Devils.
ASU grad Tyler Brown
Question: What’s something you learned while at ASU — in the classroom or otherwise — that surprised you or changed your perspective?
Answer: I think for me it was just the opportunity to connect with people. Just the diversity and ability to connect with people from all different walks of life who have experienced different things.
I think going into college obviously ASU has one of the most diverse populations of anywhere you can find and to be able to just connect with so many different people through my job and the different things I got to do, with so many different backgrounds I think for me was the most eye-opening part and most exciting part.
I got to hear so many different stories and learn so much about other people and myself personally. I got to develop my own perspective and opinions on things more than I ever have before because I got to learn.
Q: What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to those still in school?
A: Get involved. I would say for me I’m a huge advocate for involvement in any capacity. Especially somewhere like ASU. There are over a thousand clubs on campus. If you can't find a single one that you are passionate about where there are people around you with similar thinking, you’d be lying to yourself if you said there wasn’t.
There's a club on campus about lettuce, so there is literally anything you could ever want. There is a club out there for it. So I would say getting involved because I think there is so much you can learn and so much that college offers. It’s not just about going to class and going home.
Q: What are your plans after graduation?
A: I am going for my master’s degree in higher education. So I’m going back to ASU actually for my higher degree while also in the process of looking for a full-time job at the university. The plan is to go to grad school at ASU for a couple years, work for the university and after that maybe explore other options, leave Arizona and start something new.
Q: If someone gave you $40 million to solve one problem on our planet, what would you tackle?
A: I would say maybe sustainability. I think that’s a big one for me. To me, I’ve gotten a whole new perspective because I think it’s just mind boggling with the numbers of what we can do and stuff. I think sustainability in both universities but also aquatic and ocean life.
And the other thing I would do is look to the future. What I wanna work on is finding ways to give everybody the opportunity to go to college and making the college experience better.