Brryan Jackson: "Who do you dare to become?"

Header image for Interrobang article CREDIT: TOM WEHRLE
Brryan Jackson has a miraculous story and will be at Fanshawe on Oct. 18 to speak about HIV/AIDS, mental health and life in general.

A man who beat the odds is coming to Fanshawe to share his story and connect with the audience

Motivational speaker Brryan Jackson is coming to Fanshawe on Oct. 18 to engage with students and give a talk about the insights of life, HIV/AIDS, mental health and the struggle of everyday problems.

Jackson, 25, has unique story, if nothing short of a miracle.

When he was 11 months old, his father, a blood technician, stole HIV tainted blood and knowingly injected it into his son.

The reason behind this was so he didn't have to pay child support, which Jackson said he still cannot wrap his head around.

Five years later, Jackson went from a happy, energetic and playful child who had dreams of becoming a power ranger, whale watcher and underwear model, to then becoming incredibly sick, to being diagnosed with full-blown AIDS, and was not expected to live past a couple months of the diagnosis.

Jackson pushed through and beat the odds of survival, but not without problems along the way, including losing a good portion of his hearing.

“I was angry for the right reasons, but there's really no right way to be angry,” Jackson said.

He was seen as the troubled kid and at one point considered suicide.

“One night I had three knives in front of me [and] I asked myself which one could cut deeper. I [was] tired of feeling like wasted space,” Jackson said.

But before he did anything, he picked up a book close to him that said, “Why so downcast oh my soul, put your hope in God.”

According to Jackson, that quote made him stop and think about hope and what it truly means.

“Life hasn't always been easy and I'm not complaining because I know that everybody goes through their own suffering and trials and their own challenges, but what I am here to tell people is here's what I've gone through personally, but at the end of the day I know you and I and everybody can make it,” Jackson said.

Jackson said hope really stuck out to him, and has been a positive message that has spoken to his life and changed the way he thinks.

“What that's saying is that what I've gone through in life has built me up to the unique person I need to be and I'm a better person because of it. And I've allowed myself to be a better person because of it, not a bitter person,” Jackson said.

Jackson made his first speech when he was 13-years-old, and has gone on to do a number of incredible things such as speaking at the United States Congress three times before the age of 18.

Jackson said he wants to be tangible and have his speeches make people feel authentic.

“I just don't want to be one of those motivational speakers who just comes in and drops a cheesy line, I want to be there to have support [and] to make people know that they matter. I don't want to leave the audience feeling like they don't matter, I want to bring down the platform that everybody thinks is out of reach,” Jackson said.

Jackson is excited to be speaking at Fanshawe for a few reasons, one being the fact that it's a new area where he can build relationships with people.

“That's what I'm looking forward to the most is really getting to interact with the people who are going to show [up] and be present and ready to share life together.” Jackson said the audience can expect to hear a gentleman who is passionate about life and ready to talk about good insights on life, along with the conversation of HIV/AIDS, mental health and the struggles from everyday problems, the latter being something Jackson finds people don't talk enough about.

Jackson feels there's a lot of unanswered questions in life and a good way to have them resolved is through discussion, which then leads to growth.

Jackson uses the line, “Who do you dare to become” as a question in his speech which gives the audience something to reflect on and even communicate with him through his social media pages.

He loves connecting with his audience before and long after his shows are done.

Jackson created the non-profit organization, Hope Is Vital, at age 18, which helps educate people about HIV.

He was also named Diane Sawyer's Person of the Week and won a TeenNick Halo Award.

Kevin Masterson, Fanshawe's events and activities manager, first noticed Jackson at the Canadian Organization of Campus Activities (COCA) conference in the summer and helped bring him to Fanshawe.

Masterson said he and Morganna Sampson, VP Entertainment for Fanshawe (who also attended COCA) said they thought Jackson would be a great fit for Fanshawe.

“We're very excited to have Brryan come to the school,” Masterson said.

“I think a lot of students struggle with all the questions that Brryan did, obviously maybe to a lesser degree. If you see someone who has overcome so much and has turned their life into a real positive outlook, you see that you can overcome stuff too.”

Masterson said Jackson's story is incredible, and it's a great story to help students' self esteem.

“I think it's great for their outlook on life and it tells them that even if they're in a bad spot, that things will get better.”

This is a free event, happening in Forwell Hall at 12 p.m.