Berea’s Eye for Talent
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A Note of Gratitude from Rodney
“The Chinese Bamboo tree takes four years after it is planted to start growing. In its fifth year, it produces an 80-foot tall tree in only eight weeks. Supporting Berea College students is like watering 1,600 Chinese bamboo trees every year. Your trust and support have fueled my motivation to advance on the long filmmaking adventure ahead of me. Thank you for believing in me and supporting other students like me.” – Rodney
This spring, Berea College Film and Painting double-major Rodney will graduate and be off into his vibrant future. Growing up in Kinshasa, the vast capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rodney spent his days bringing his dreams to life through art. From drawing in the sand as a boy to crafting freelance advertisements as a teenager, he has always enjoyed sharing his artistic talents.
This eagerness to share has helped Rodney build lasting friendships that eventually led him to Berea College.
While browsing the U.S. Embassy library, Rodney befriended an American graduate student named Jaydon by offering him a gift—a stone necklace he had made by hand.
Rodney said, “Jaydon told me I was the only person he had met who gave him a gift instead of trying to sell him something. From that day we became very good friends.”
In exchange for Rodney’s friendship, Jaydon offered to help him fulfill his dream—studying art in the United States. That’s when Rodney found Berea College, where your gifts allow students to pursue their passions without the enormous cost of tuition.
Now, after years of rigorous study, winning multiple film and fine art awards—Rodney is ready to graduate and share his art with the wider world!
Please enjoy a few of Rodney’s works of art above, and know that because of your generosity, Rodney was able to create such stunning work without the threat of lingering tuition debt.
Thanks to his hard work and generous friends like you, Rodney is set to graduate in May and fulfill his dream of going to work in the American film industry. But there are many more students out there like Rodney who simply need their chance to shine. Will you give today to give the brilliant minds of tomorrow the same opportunity?