[Editor's note: This is part 3 of 11 in a series of Aquinas College student profiles being published on the Aquinas website throughout the spring 2012 semester.]

"If you want to change your life it must be effective immediately and done flamboyantly," said AQ senior Brianna Scott when contemplating what she would say to future AQ students. She said that drastic change should be welcomed, and an outer change is sometimes needed, but to always remain the same inside.

Known for her signature dreads (her recent change) and a big smile, the psychology major has been constantly active in the AQ community. Scott has left her footprints all over the campus from organizing a food rally to volunteering in Japan during the summer of 2011.

Scott, who will graduate in May 2012 after achieving the status of super-senior (she blames having taken Tai Chi three times because once just wasn’t enough), said that she knew that she belonged at Aquinas when she opened a pamphlet that read "Open Your mind and Say Ahh." She looked at other colleges but nothing called to her. "So when I came for my first AQDay and I put my foot down, I was just - at home,” she said. “I felt at home already, and I loved the trees. I was just so excited. There's definitely a presence here on campus and you can feel it." It’s something that most Aquinas students can relate to - the metaphysical calling to stay and belong.

Scott admits that as a bi-racial student, and coming from a big city, she had a hard time fitting at first. She found that many students feared walking around by themselves at night, which was all too natural for her, and that even though many people dressed and talked like they were from metropolitan areas, no one else was really willing to start a conversation. Once others realized that she was just wildly outgoing, she gained friends who have helped to shape and change her.

An avid hooper, the Livonia, Michigan native can be seen toting her hula hoop around in warm weather and encouraging others to give it a try. Her enthusiasm bleeds through into all aspects of her life from her love of anime and astrology to her profound spirituality.

"Grinning broadly, she had all her books for the course stacked in front of her and, as I found out later, she'd already read many of them," said Dr. Amy Strand, remembering Scott from both her Women and Environment and I&E classes. "She brought wholehearted energy to whatever topic she was pursuing, whether discussing 'Mountains Beyond Mountains' or researching the complexities of nuclear waste storage." Dr. Strand remembered Scott's drive to be active in bringing awareness to a variety of topics, such as food rights, and to be a driving force for change.

Scott, who is pursuing a dual minor in biology and Japanese, would like to get closer to nature when she is finished at Aquinas. She plans to go off to Anake Outdoor School, a wilderness awareness school, then use a culmination of her skills to either join the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, or teach English in Japan. Her goal is to help people in any way she can. Having contemplated going down the social worker route, Scott decided she would rather change the world with her own hands by using the tools and skills that she has been taught at Aquinas.

"I don’t know where God's going to take me basically," she said. But like her impromptu volunteer trip to Japan this past summer, she knows that she will go where she is needed. "One of the things that I did take back with me was that I can have an impact in the world and Aquinas teaches you the skills necessary," she said discussing her work in Japan. "If you listen and if you open your heart, the campus and the people and the programs that get put on, teach you how, teach you the skills to make a change in the world." She encourages others to take what they have learned to heart and use it to become more open and receptive.

After she has graduated, Scott wants to be remembered for her efforts in helping Aquinas become an inter-faith college, and as having helped stepped up its sustainability. Her interest in creating a secure and safe environment for people of all faiths and walks of life to feel free to express themselves is evident in her willingness to converse to anyone about anything and open herself up to change. She wants Aquinas to touch every student and have every student become part of its community, because sometimes some people may be missed.