Sitting off to the side and dressed comfortably in her gray sweatpants, Brittany Dandy slipped into the crowded room of young journalists in the Dillard University newsroom.

Soft-spoken, but outspoken, the 22-year-old student also slipped into journalism after having earned a degree in media management from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in May 2010.

“A lot of my beliefs make me the journalist I am: blunt, straightforward, truthful, passionate, compassionate, I feel like I show that in a lot of my work,” Dandy said.

In a documentary she produced last fall, this rising journalist shined a light on the homeless community of Greensboro, N.C.

“When you think of the homeless, you think the very poor, very unhappy, wanting a handout; a lot of them aren’t necessarily homeless,” Dandy said. “People choose not to be at home because they don’t want to be a burden to others.”

Telling the stories of those who are unable or unwilling to do so for themselves is why Dandy values journalism.

“She has a way of painting a picture with her words,” said Sanora Mayberry, her older sister.

Dandy credits her persistence and strong sense of self to her family.

“The whole college dream wasn’t just mine; it was ours,” she said of her father.

“He didn’t care if I wanted to be a journalist or a janitor. It was just do it well.” That is exactly how Dandy describes her work.

“I like to be epic,” she said. “I want my work to really stand out. I want you to remember it.”

– Lauren Foreman

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