From the desk of Rod Fletcher, Headmaster:

When it is all said and done, our job at Brook Hill is to “prepare” our students.  Honestly, it’s what parents are ultimately expecting.  Our task is to prepare our students for college and their future.  We want to prepare them academically, spiritually, emotionally, socially, etc.  This is always an encouraging time of year because our alumni arrive home for Christmas break and start providing us feedback.  Inevitably, they tell us over and over again what we long to hear, “I am prepared – thank you Brook Hill.”  Recently, I received an unsolicited email from Timber Garner, a freshman at Texas A&M, saying just that – and frankly, summing up what I hear regularly from our graduates.  Please take the time to read the following email – you will be encouraged and inspired.

Mr. Fletcher and the Brook Hill Family,

Today I am settled in the library for a long day of studying, and as finals start tomorrow and my first semester of college is coming to an end, all I can say is thank you. Thank you, Brook Hill, for preparing me more than I could ever imagine. In preparing to transition to Texas A&M, I knew I was ready and I knew that Brook Hill had prepared me to be successful. However, in my eyes, college was a world of uncertainty, and I was not quite ready to let go of the Brook Hill family I had grown to love so dearly. I was not ready to enter a world where teachers did not necessarily care about how you performed in the classroom, much less how you were faring in your personal and spiritual life. I was not ready to set foot on a campus three times the size of Brook Hill where I did not know anyone and they did not know me. I was not ready to see so many people falling farther and farther away from the Lord. I was not ready to have my future thrown in my face, pressed for time to figure out God’s plan for me. I was not ready for change, and I knew that was exactly what college would bring.

I was wrong. 

I am sitting here today, loving every second of my time here at Texas A&M, and I can confidently say that I was wrong. I knew I was prepared academically for college, I just did not realize the extent of that preparedness. Once I made a few minor adjustments to my normal academic routine, and came to terms with the academic differences that come with college, I was ready to succeed. I am looking to finish my first semester of 16 hours here at A&M with a 4.0, and I have Brook Hill to thank. I came in way ahead of the game, while others were trying to figure out what it means to study. I soon became “that girl” in the classroom who sat on the front row, participated in class, went to office hours, and always had everything done on time. I soon realized that while I was not at Brook Hill or a place even similar to Brook Hill, I was prepared to make whatever place I was in, a place like Brook Hill. I wanted to get to know my teachers, and have them recognize me in class, calling me by name. So I did just that. I can honestly say that all six of my professors know me by name and know my work ethic as well. Those relationships have payed off when I needed the benefit of the doubt, or a little extra help here and there. That is rare in your basic classes at a major university, yet Brook Hill prepared me to make that happen, and it is a blessing that was not revealed to me until now. I have realized that I still have the Brook Hill family whenever I need it, and I have created a Texas A&M family of my own that is very similar to what I had at Brook Hill. I was worried that I would not be able to handle a spiritual environment that was so different from Brook Hill, yet I have found that the Christian community at Texas A&M is not only powerful, but largely growing every day, seriously impacting the university and Bryan/College Station as a whole. Where else can you go to a public university that has a weekly bible study/praise and worship time that meets at places like Kyle Field in order to seat the 12,000 students in attendance? The Lord directed my path, and I am exactly where he wants me. I have the opportunity to witness to so many people everyday whether by my actions or in conversation. While I had that opportunity at Brook Hill, the opportunity at Texas A&M is enormous. God knew I was ready to expand the mission field, so he put me in a place where I could do so. He blessed me with incredible friends and mentors who share the same love that I have for the Lord, and I grow closer to Him every day through those relationships. Most of all, God has shown me that his plan is perfect and that it will come in his perfect timing. He directed me to the Mays Business School for a reason, and though so many constantly ask if I know exactly what my future is going to look like, I’ve been given a peace in not having a response. With a smile and a happy heart, I can tell them that I do not know what I want to do, much less what I look to study within the business school, but that I do know that God has the future already planned out, and that he will direct me when the time comes.

So thank you Brook Hill, for providing an environment that I can now recreate wherever I go. Thank you for molding me all of those years to run after excellence and well-roundedness while running even faster after the Lord. Thank you for investing in me so that I could learn what it means to invest in others. Thank you for always making the Lord the number one, so that I in turn would carry that same concept to a different environment. Thank you for seven great years that will make the next four years just as incredible.

God Bless,

Timber Garner

To hear more about our school and how we prepare students for college, visit us on the web at www.brookhill.org