By Maria Nairn, Gaylord College Class of 2025
When Breann Miller graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in education, she had no idea her career would take a major shift. It was only by chance that she stepped into the world of fundraising.
Miller, a first-generation student from Maine, realized by the end of her fifth year at OU that teaching was not her destined path.
“I had a lot of student loans. And I was like, I actually can’t survive as a teacher and pay for that.”
Reflecting on her college years, particularly her time with AmeriCorps, the US government-run volunteer agency, Miller pondered next steps. In 2014, leveraging her connections from AmeriCorps, Miller was hired as an accountant by the Chesapeake Energy Corporation.
Since she graduated in 2012, Miller has been involved in several local organizations. From Junior League in Oklahoma City to The Sharing Tree in Moore, her focus has always been community engagement and volunteering. This is when her passion for fundraising started to lead into a career.
“I joined Junior League,” she said. “And I started fundraising... And that’s where I kind of realized I liked doing this.”
Junior League has been a part of Miller’s story since January of 2015. She has served as a volunteer, an Advising Mentor, and a Council Member at Large, and has sat on several different committees. Presently, she leads as the Provisional Admissions and Training (PAT) chair. “I put on all the community training to help our members be able to go out as trained volunteers into the community,” Miller said. “Right now, I'm heavily providing mental health-focused training [for members] through the 988 initiative.”
After her time at Chesapeake Energy, Miller began working for Integris Health Foundation as a fundraiser. This work led her to the Oklahoma Hall of Fame and, ultimately, to Gaylord College as the Director of Development.
“I did a tour of Gaylord and I genuinely think if you do not think that the students going through these programs are not taking tangible skills away, [skills] to bring them to the workforce, I just think you're wrong. You can see it, just walking around the building. And then if you listen to students, you can hear it.”
Miller’s hope for her first year at OU has been to connect donors with Gaylord College. Whether it’s through mentorship, volunteering, or philanthropy, she hopes to
build a foundation upon which student experiences at Gaylord can be fully-funded and supported.
“[Donors] are going to want to engage with Gaylord because of the community that was built here. That's why people love it. That’s why I love it.”
Joy Akande, like many other Gaylord College students, has taken initiative during her time so far at the University of Oklahoma. Joy is a current senior studying advertising and is a current co-team lead for Gaylord College Media’s marketing team. She also is a creative lead in Gaylord’s Lindsey + Asp, a student-led advertisement and public relations team that focuses on youth culture. Joy utilizes these organizations to express her love for creating content and showing others what it’s like to be a student at OU.
For many students, the path to higher education is linear. For others, it is winding. For Artra Nelson, a soon-to-be graduate of Gaylord College, this path included a stint in the Navy, a degree in political science, and a growing passion for public relations.
As graduation approaches, Aniketh Koneru, a senior Public Relations major, reflects on his Gaylord College experience. His four years here have been shaped not only by the supportive community of peers and mentors but also the incredible opportunities that he took hold of. With the encouragement of others, Aniketh utilized the Student Experience Fund to elevate his voice to a national level.
