Finalist
Brittany Jowers
Florida Community College at
Jacksonville—Kent Campus
Sophomore in Pre-Pharmacy
3.94 GPA

Great leaders usually don’t just materialize out of nowhere—it takes years of seasoning, growth, experience, and knowledge gained from mentors. It’s no different with Brittany Jowers of Florida Community College at Jacksonville. “I’ve learned from my mentors through watching them over the last three or four years, seeing how they’ve been all inclusive of others’ opinions and been respectful of other personalities,” says Jowers, who as president healed an ailing Student Government Association on the Kent Campus. “That’s one of the main ways I’ve been able to foster a better Student Government at my school. Because I want to involve everyone, that makes them want to serve. They don’t feel their job isn’t important. Every single person, from an officer to a member, is so important.”

Jowers quickly praises SGA Advisor Kelly Warren for inspiring and encouraging her. “Kelly is the person I look up to the most as a mentor,” she says. “She’s taught me to grow as a person. Without her, I couldn’t be as effective.”

Unfortunately, Jowers says the previous SGA officers harmed the group’s image and damaged its respect with administrators and students alike. “The other administration had a different mentality, more self-serving. They said, ‘What can I do for myself to make me look better?’” she says. “We say, ‘What can we do to make SGA look better, so we can restore our reputation?’ We include all the clubs and organizations and keep the faculty and students involved through e-mails, flyers, and posters.”

“She’s by far the best SGA president that I’ve had since I’ve been here, nine years now,” says Warren, who also is the Kent campus’s student activities coordinator and until recent was the state Florida Junior Community College Student Government Association advisor. “Last year, we had a really, really bad year. Brittany was on the fringes as our volunteer coordinator, and she stayed out of the backstabbing and focused on her job. When she came into the presidency, she took the last four members and really turned the group around. She completely gained back the respect of the administrators—our campus president brags about her all the time.

“She has been a really good spokesman on a local and campus level, as well as college-wide committees,” Warren says. “Dr. Wallace [FCCJ’s district president] goes to her—she’s the most on the ball, has the answers, and knows what’s going on.”

Jowers admits that her greatest achievement may be the SGA’s restored reputation. “I’m most proud that our administration respects us, and that we have a good name on campus,” she says. “I can say for certain from the response that the administration is very, very pleased. We’ve served on so many committees, and our turnout with our events is great. We give out surveys to the students and they give us feedback. We’ve increased membership by almost 100 percent by reaching out to the student body.”

One way SGA reached out was through a program with a childcare center on campus. “We go once a month to read to the children,” Jowers says. SGA also sponsored a Halloween trick-or-treat for the kids, encouraging campus administrators, faculty, and staff to dress up and give out candy to the kids. Just by following up consistently, Jowers says SGA built a lasting partnership with the center. “It’s not important how many people we affected, but what we did. The parents of those children are students at FCCJ. We have a parent who through her child learned about what we did and then became more involved in SGA.”

Warren says Jowers’ leadership has meant more participation across the board. “This is the first year that we’ve had every SGA position filled,” she says. “Her biggest strength is in organization and motivation of members.”

Even though Jowers effectively served this year as FJCCSGA’s District IV coordinator, she never intended to run for the job. “I originally ran for the district executive board,” she says. “When the district coordinator had to step down, I was bumped up.”

Some might wonder why a great leader such as Jowers didn’t run for state FJCCSGA president, a job that requires legislative work on a state level. “That’s not my cup of tea,” she says. “My passion is to have constant contact with students.”

Last year, Jowers applied to the Naval Academy, but didn’t get accepted and instead enrolled at FCCJ. “I really can’t tell you why I didn’t get in,” she says. “But now I’m thankful I didn’t—my opportunities have been so much more here.

“Not getting in the Naval Academy was a big life lesson for me,” she says. “I had to look at myself. Did I do my best? Could I have done anything different? Like a lot of people who are perfectionists and achievers, I second-guessed myself a lot. I learned that you just can’t win at everything all the time.

“For me, it’s important to know what my strengths are but more important to know what my weaknesses are,” she says. “One of my faults is when I get busy and have something that must get done, I’m a recluse a little bit. When it’s got to be done, I will do it all by myself. I don’t want to place pressure on others. But I’ve really worked on delegating. Knowing that it’s my weakness has really helped me out. It’s so important to delegate. You can’t possibly lead if you’re leaving out others.”

Every Friday, Jowers volunteers as a receptionist at the Navy Marine Corps Relief Society, an organization that provides emergency financial assistance to families of military men and women. “She showed up two years ago and has been involved ever since,” says Capt. Dave Faraldo, director. “Brittany is the first ‘off-the-street’ student to volunteer here in my 10 years. Typically our volunteers are spouses of active-duty personnel.

“She relates extremely well with the elderly and kids out of high school. Some clients may be 85-years-old or 18,” Faraldo says. “She makes them feel very comfortable about being here.”

Faraldo thinks so much of Jowers that he and his wife trust her to watch their beloved cats while they’re away. “We’ve only let two other people do it,” he says. “Plus, the house was cleaner when we got back than when we left.”

Jowers says it’s critical not only to give to your group, but also to branch out to the community. “It’s your job as a leader to give back to your community. You’re branching out to everyone. My major push has been volunteer service. It’s a passion of mine.”

Recently, Jowers was named first-team, All-USA Academic Team in USA Today’s annual awards. She also earned FJCCSGA’s “Bob Graham Distinguished Service Award.” This glut of recent honors has left Jowers somewhat speechless. “I’m astonished,” she says. “But I’m only as great as the people I look up to. My abilities as a leader are a direct product of them. They’re the ones who’ve helped shape me. But I feel that I’ve honestly tried 100-percent to think of others. I really involved people, and I tried to do what’s best for everybody.”

Jowers didn’t suddenly just show up as a leader—she started slowly. “In high school, I didn’t really feel like I had a lot of qualities that made a good leader. I wasn’t really very active in high school, wasn’t real popular. I was a nerd,” she says. “When I got to FCCJ, I began to realize that it’s not just your grades—they want you to be involved. They want a well-rounded individual. I really want to be a leader. I want to be more influential as a person. When I found that I could excel, I took on more and more. Now, I can’t physically take anything else on.”

“I’ve run into a lot of good student leaders, and she’s in the top one percent in terms of the combination of her leadership ability, interpersonal skills, academics, and stances on student issues,” says Dr. Shouan Pan, campus executive dean. “She argues very forcefully but respectfully. Brittany has charisma. Students rally behind her. She spends tons of hours, works a part-time job, and volunteers in the community. Her influence goes beyond this campus—this person is truly, truly a future leader in the making. This is substance.”

FJCCSGA’s District IV Coordinator Dan Rodkin says Jowers does a phenomenal job in everything she does. “I’ve worked at the University of Florida, the University of South Carolina, and in Houston. She’s among the best, if not the best, I’ve worked with,” says Dan Rodkin, who also is coordinator of student leadership and activities at Santa Fe Community College. “Her determination to succeed is wonderful. She can motivate people she works with. She’s a perfectionist but makes everyone around her better and still finds time to be involved in the community. Most students in SG don’t have time to do community service, but she makes it a priority. That amazes me, that ability to be well-rounded and to excel in three or four areas. I only wish she was at SFCC.”

Rodkin says that while Jowers’ “stamp is on everything,” she’s also successful at delegating. “The entire state recognizes the work she’s done,” he says. “When she called and asked me to write a letter, I told her it was already done—I was just awaiting her phone call. I was just glad to get asked to write a letter. She’s earned all of this. She’s the complete package. I can’t think of anyone who has been a better all-around campus leader.”

After transferring to the UF’s School of Pharmacy this summer, Jowers says she hopes to earn a master’s degree in business. Will she also be a super-leader at UF? “I don’t think I would ever run for SG president at UF, mainly because of the commitment. I’ll be taking 18 to 20 hours per semester, so I won’t have a lot of free time. But you never know,” she says. “I do plan on joining an academic sorority and serving on other committees.”

“I’m most proud that people are happy, that I’ve done my job,” she says. “My SGA is very pleased with our performance this year. We’ve had one of the best years within our district and within FJCCSGA. We had almost 500 people at the state conference. Everybody is happy. They’re pleased with what we’ve done. We’re a cohesive group. I can look back at this last year and say I gave 100 percent of everything I had at all times.”

Jowers understands the importance of leaving a legacy and helping her successors make a successful and easy transition. “We did a scrapbook. We not only had photos, but we detailed what we did, why we did it, and how we did it. I keep extensive notes and files and created a folder for the next president. It has all our agendas, every meeting, and my own personal notes and thoughts. After events, I said, ‘What could I have done differently?’ It was kind of a self-evaluation sheet.

“Also, as the year has gone on, I’ve stepped back a bit,” Jowers says. “In the past couple of weeks, I’ve been given other opportunities for leadership and placed some of them on other people. I hope they’ll be better, that they’ll leave an even greater legacy. I hope that I’ve somehow made a good impact and that I’m leaving a legacy.”

Jowers pays for all of her academic expenses through scholarships she has earned and also works part-time with Citibank to pay for personal costs.

Warren can testify to the impact Jowers has had on campus and on her as advisor. “Because of the problems SGA went through last year, I questioned my ability as an advisor,” she says. “She rejuvenated my confidence in myself as an advisor. She reminded me of why I do what I do. It’s amazing all that she does. She’s just the finest leader that we’ve had.” -WHO

Contact Jowers at bmjowers@yahoo.com.