BreAnna McMillan is one of the 15 student-elected Outstanding Seniors. McMillan is most known for her fervor for volleyball and her sociable personality. She will be attending The University of South Florida, majoring in Biomedical Engineering and continuing her volleyball career.
McMillan has been playing volleyball since she was nine but has always been surrounded by it because her mom also played. When she started through camps, the older kids were a little mean, but she knew she loved this sport and didn’t want to give it up. Her English teacher Ms. Moore said, “BreAnna is super bubbly, a bad day never comes near her. She is always the sunshine of the classroom.” McMillan states that she loves Millbrook volleyball and the people she met here, but she also thoroughly enjoys Triangle Volleyball Club because she gets to interact with people she may have never met without it. McMillan has hit 1000 assists in her volleyball career here at Millbrook.
McMillan spends most of her time on volleyball but is also a part of Millbrook’s Best Buds program and the Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA). Best Buds is the program at Millbrook where students with and without disabilities come together for physical activities, games, community service, and school events. One of McMillan’s fondest memories of Millbrook happened in Best Buds. She says, “We were in the cafeteria, and we were playing games with them like tag and it was so fun because some of them are very competitive and you know I’m pretty competitive. It’s so cool to see how they think and how they do things.”
One of McMillan’s friends, Kayla Moye described her as “energetic, kind, strong, humble, and just overall an amazing person and an amazing friend. BreAnna treats others with so much care and is so helpful to everyone, she is a giver, and it shows any time someone she loves or cares about is in need.” I asked McMillan to describe herself in three words and she chose different, unserious, and compassionate. When her friend Jorjoh Samba was asked if these words were accurate she said, “She is all of the above, definitely unserious!”
The thing that McMillan is most proud of that happened during high school is how she was able to experience it. “I feel like so many people have such a hard high school experience, but I was able to make my experience enjoyable, like I was able to meet certain people and put myself out there.” One thing she is most known for amongst teachers and students is just being herself. She says there were moments where she felt like she wasn’t being herself but she never let it last for too long because “Bre is gonna be Bre.”
Ms. Moore said one of her favorite moments with McMillan was, “BreAnna speaking passionately about her goals of becoming a medical doctor, which I am not sure if a lot of people know, but I know it made my day to know she was passionate, and has her mind focused on her end goal.” McMillan is a star student and is described as “extremely intelligent” by her teachers.
The last thing I asked McMillan was her advice for future Millbrook students. She believes that high school is what you make of it. If you want to do something then do it. If you are depressed and feel like you are in a dark place, try to find a way out, and the people that make you feel better.
Overall from our interview and what her peers had to say about her, I can tell that McMillan is a wonderfully joyful person who shines a light on our school. She is completely deserving of her award and the staff and students at Millbrook are excited to see what she does next!
