Cormier in Brief

At Ruffner Fountain, fall 2017

My name is Braden and my pronouns are he/him/his. I came to Longwood as the undergrad class of 2021, and I’m proud to be here. Cormier Highlighted is where you can see a lot of what I am involved with, mostly around my communities, my Goal courses, and my honor’s section or specific classes.

I am a liberal studies major with a concentration in special education, and on the 5 year master’s degree track. I’m not sure exactly what age group I want to teach yet, but I’d like to work with students with emotional and behavioral disorders, possibly in a hospital or specialty school setting.

I’m an over involved student in comparison to most, but I manage it well. I take 7 classes a semester, and I’m not graduating early because of it. What I am doing, however, is picking up skills and hobbies and friends and information that I wouldn’t otherwise have. I’m very fortunate and thankful that I have all the opportunities that I do. Because of Longwood, I’ve picked up a third language (ASL, my second is Spanish which I’ve been learning for 6 years now), learned I enjoy making books, and so much more.

I am involved with Longwood’s office of Citizen Leadership and Social Justice Education (CLSJE), as well as many other programs on campus. I also take Jui Jitsu at Battleground Martial Arts downtown and go to the farmers market on weekends when it is open. I am a member of the Epsilon class of Gamma Rho Lambda, Chi chapter, a multicultural LGBTQ focused sorority.

I am also the creator of PRIDE Pair, and LGBTQ and ally housing match program at Longwood- student run, although many offices around campus know of it. Through PRIDE Pair, I am able to match students with accepting and affirming living mates for the next school year.

braden.butka@live.longwood.edu