Brynn Howard '25 just returned from a 3-game club softball series in Chicago when we spoke. She loves that she can keep up a sport that she has played since she was 8--especially impressive since she is a catcher. The team won all three games and she bat 1000. Knowing Brynn, this is not surprising. She excels in most things she sets her mind to doing.
Brynn came to Notre Dame by way of Jeffersonville, Indiana. A self described old-soul, she attributes much of that to living with her grandparents, Mimi and Grandpa. When asked what made living with her grandparents so great, she shares “Well, they didn’t really care what I did. It sounds bad, but I don't mean it that way. They let me make decisions for myself and that taught me I could make decisions for myself.”
Brynn thought she would parlay a love of student government (high school class president 4 years in a row) into a Political Science major. However, first semester freshman year, about the point many are questioning their pre-med ambitions, Brynn remembered how much she liked her psychology classes in high school. “I realized I liked the physical parts about what is actually happening in the brain. I also realized I'd really like to have Dr. in front of my name.” She met with the Dean of Undergraduate Studies in Neuroscience and the Rev. John A. Zahm, C.S.C. Associate Teaching Professor, Dr. Nancy Michael. The two had an instant connection. “I liked that she was really knowledgeable about Neuroscience, in general, but also really knowledgeable about how to guide and encourage students to choose the best classes for themselves and which path of neuroscience they should pursue.” She is already thinking about future study abroad possibilities in London with Notre Dame’s Neuroscience and Behavior Summer Program.
This summer, Brynn will be a counselor at Camp Sweeney, a camp for children with Type 1 diabetes in Texas. Past counselors include Jahlecia Gregory '20 and Rachel Dinh '22.