Brilliant Brandon

“I love it,” four year senior Brandon Wang immediately replied when asked about his time at Exeter.

For Wang, Exeter has been a home away from home. Coming from a “cut-throat” middle school, he was eager to find more engaging groups of friends when he first stepped on campus. He wanted a group of friends who shared his desire to learn but also had different strengths so they could “come together” in a way he never experienced at his old school.

His dorm, Abbot Hall, is where Wang first began to find those friendships. He views the dorm as one open inseparable community. The students sit together for all meals of the day and keep their doors unlocked, always ready for a friendly chat. Wang recognizes this as the “special” part of Abbot’s culture. He now serves as a proctor and aims to nurture Abbot’s friendly atmosphere in an effort to help the “incredible people he has met at this place.”

“My dorm is what makes Exeter my home,” he said. “I care for it and everyone here. It has been really special to be here for four years and to see how the dorm has grown, and I am thankful that we have a really close group of friends.”

According to lower Franco Santolamazza, Wang has done a great job caring for his dormmates. As a result of Wang’s lively personality, great morale and love for late guitar nights, his room has always been “one of the ‘go-to spots,’ more so than the common room, more so than anyone elses’ room in the dorm. He’s a major cornerstone to Abbot,” Santolamazza said.

Wang’s room isn’t just a place to which his old friends flock. As a proctor, he has made a great effort to reach out to new students and guide them through their first year at Exeter. He is always open to guiding others yet takes caution to avoid a superior tone. Prep Charles Smith explained how Wang has found the perfect balance between mentoring him and acting as his close friend.

“When I first got here, I sort of confined myself to my room for a while,” Smith said. “But Brandon did a great job of reaching out to me and all of the other new Abbot kids. He could have really easily approached us as a mentor or something, being a senior, but he definitely approached getting to know us as a friend and a total equal.”

Wang’s ability to guide others extends into many other areas of his life. On campus, Wang serves as the co-head of several major clubs such as the Democratic Club and the Web Board of The Exonian.

In the Democratic Club, Wang has organized several events on and off campus to help raise awareness of the democratic views during important elections. Through posters and social media, the club has had quite a big impact on the politics of New Hampshire, especially during the presidential election his lower year.

During a typical club meeting, Wang strives to cultivate meaningful discussions that acknowledge both sides of the spectrum of opinions. According to Santolamazza, Wang’s huge presence in the club inspires other members, even new ones, to get more involved.

For anyone who knows Wang, his ability to foster discussion comes naturally. Science instructor Townley Chisholm described the effect Wang had on discussions during one of his classes.

“The warmth and cheerfulness with which he treats other people make a real difference in every class or group of which he is a part,” Chisholm said. “I see a great deal of caring and integrity in Brandon as well as the courage to grasp a thorny topic about which many people just shrug their shoulders. I’m glad he didn’t.”

Similarly, history instructor Michael Golay had Wang in a history class his upper year and also advised him for his senior projects on expression at Exeter. Wang’s insightful and delicate comments made working with him a fun process.

“He had a very thoughtful way of expressing himself,” Golay said. I really enjoyed working with him both in the regular classroom and on the project. It is stimulating to be around [him], intellectually.”

Wang also served as the head of The Exonian’s Web Board, another area where his caring personality came to use. During club meetings, Wang brought the group together, encouraging students to suggest ideas for the new website. At Exeter, Wang developed a strong passion for journalism, especially as it modernizes and adapts to the internet era.

Wang’s myriad of pursuits of modern journalism don’t end on campus—he has worked with and started entire organizations before even graduating high school. Multiple of these involve journalism, and all the concept of non sibi. 

As a prep, he co-founded his first successful non-profit student initiatives platform called Sponsr.Us. “I think it was really important for me to break out of the Exeter bubble and to work with the real world,” Wang said. Sponsr.Us’ efforts have been far-reaching—raising money for laptops in Uganda and funding instruments to create a school orchestra through online crowd funding.

After the success of Sponsr.Us, Brandon embarked by himself to found “The Project for Better Journalism.” The project is a large, team-based non-profit that funds journalism programs in low-income high schools. Since its creation two years ago, it has already successfully impacted ten schools across the country and still provides them with ongoing support.

Each program gave Wang a glimpse into the lives of the less fortunate. He now works hard to break the Exeter bubble. He has revealed to many Exonians some of the overlooked issues of the world.

“Both of these initiatives really helped open my eyes to everything around me,” Wang said. “I was not aware of the vast amount of injustice and sometimes, what I would call unreasonable setbacks.”

On campus, Wang’s passion to fight social inequities stretches to teachers as well. During English instructor William Perdomo’s first upper English class, Wang’s genuine care for human rights comes through in his discussion points.

“I can tell you that he has the student body interest at heart and advocates for the right of a student’s free expression,” Perdomo said. “I respect Brandon’s work ethic, his preparation and tireless inquiry.”

Tireless is the perfect word to describe Wang’s time at Exeter. Even as his senior spring begins, Wang can still be found working on projects in the library or helping clubs in Agora. And when Wang’s not working, he sprawls across his couch and blasts music with his dorm mates—a memory he will miss just as much as Exeter.