Millbrook senior Xavier Brown was voted as one of the 15 Outstanding Seniors. Xavier expressed his gratitude, saying, “I feel really surprised, but really grateful to be recognized as an Outstanding Senior from the class of 2025. I think there are a lot of really great people in my class that also deserve the award, so it’s really humbling to receive that. I was initially surprised because it wasn’t something I was pursuing at first because I was kind of uncomfortable or anxious about the thought of having to stand in front of the whole school, but it really isn’t something that’s too scary when I think about it, I guess.”
Brown has made an impact at Millbrook through his extracurriculars. He is in the IB Equity and Access Committee, the English Honor Society, the Music Honor Society, the Black Student Union, the Asian American Student Union, Culture Club, the Study Club, the Board Game Club, Boy Scouts, and the Triangle Youth Philharmonic. During his freshman and sophomore years, he was in the Triangle Youth String Sinfonia. Additionally, he wrestled his freshman year and ran track his freshman and sophomore years. In addition to his extracurricular activities, Brown managed to work as a cook at Zaxby’s.
From March to May 2022, Brown volunteered at Community Music School as Assistant Violin Teacher and Storage Room Organizer two to three hours per week. It is a non-profit organization that helps low-income families get music lessons for little to no cost. He helped beginner students, ages six to twelve, build their violin skills by assisting the teacher and leading activities. He also organized the school’s sheet music library, instrument storage room, and instrument accessories. Brown also volunteered at Raleigh Youth Council in December, 2022. He helped set up and run a community outreach event for children to get gifts, make crafts, and take pictures with Santa before Christmas. He ran craft stations, organized donated toys, and guided children in completing the crafts.
Brown has accomplished a lot during his time at Millbrook. He was on the A-B Honor Roll his first three years. He won the BSA Popcorn scholarship, in which he sold $2500 in popcorn. Brown has also developed many meaningful relationships.
Junior Micah Ferguson said, “Running with Xavier in Track was a great experience. He and I were like best friends on the team. We were the only black kids on distance teams, so we really bonded. Every single practice, every single day after school, we spent a lot of time together just running, pushing ourselves to be better. Every track meet, we always rode the bus together, so that was always fun. We would text every day, tell each other about our crushes or classes, and everything else going on.” In 2024, Brown and Ferguson performed a piano and violin duet at Winterfest. They intend on performing together again in the upcoming Winterfest. When asked what Brown is like, Ferguson responded with, “Xavier is very creative and talented. When I worked with him, he was a quick learner and easy to work with. He is super smart. He is musically intelligent and emotionally intelligent.”
English teacher Mitra Norowzi grew with Brown. Their first year together was in English 10, this was Norowzi’s first year as a teacher. During his junior year, Brown took Norowzi’s IB English class. Norowzi said, “He is very special to me because as a kind of new and young teacher, you know, he’s one of my first kids that I’ve ever taught. And so my first year teaching English 10 and then my first year teaching IB English. So I got to see him grow as a student, but also I kind of got to grow as a teacher teaching him. So he’s very special to me.”
When Brown first came to Millbrook, he was shy and reserved, but he became more open to things. He said, “Getting involved is my biggest piece of advice that I can give because that’s something that really helped me get out of my shell and meet new people. I found out what I liked and also made new friends. If you’re not involved in anything at school, I won’t say it’s inherently bad, but it really helped me meet different people. I also think meeting diverse people outside of your class is a really good thing to do.”
Brown plans on attending college after high school. Out of all the colleges he applied to, he was accepted to UNC Charlotte, University of Cincinnati, Illinois Institute of Technology, Drexel University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, and James Madison University. He wants to become a civil engineer and a professional orchestral or soloist violinist.
Brown said, “Just staying focused on my future and thinking about the type of life I want to build for myself past college, like in college, past college, and then even like when I’m 70 years old, wanting to retire, something like that. Just thinking about keeping the future not at the forefront of my mind, but keeping that as a point of reference for pretty much everything I do. That just really pushes me because I want to build a successful life for myself and for… children if I decide to have them or adopt children. I would like to have a strong foundation for them. So just keeping the future in mind is what is driving me.”
Brown has made a huge impact both inside and outside the Millbrook Community. As an artist, a student, a leader, and, above all, a great friend, he stands out in every way. He represents what it means to be an Outstanding Senior.
