ST. JOSEPH -- St. Joseph-Ogden High School will introduce four new inductees to the St. Joseph-Ogden Hall of Fame during the Spartan football team's Homecoming game against Nokomis. The distinquished group includes 1960 graduate Dee Evans, former three-sport athlete Brandi Carmien Burnett, veteran teacher Kermit Esarey, and The Gary Olson Family
Below is a short biography and highlights about Brandi Burnett provided by the high school.
Brandi Carmien Burnett
Brandi is a 1993 graduate of St. Joseph-Ogden High School. She was a three-sport athlete in volleyball, basketball and softball. She earned 11 total varsity letters during her high school career. In volleyball, her awards included ICC All Conference for two years and All-Area 2nd team for one year. In softball, her awards included ICC All-Conference for three years and All-Area 1st team for two years. Her basketball awards included ICC All-Conference MVP two years, All-Area 1st Team two years, IBCA All-State 3rd Team one year, All-State Special mention one year and Prairie State Games three years where two years she was MVP. She ended her high school career with 1456 points scored and 786 rebounds.
Brandi went on to play basketball at Kankakee Community College for two years. She was a dental assistant and office assistant for two dentists for seven years. She was a pharmacy technician for 12 years. Brandi is currently employed at Gifford State Bank in Gifford in the Risk Management department.
Brandi served on the SJO Fan Club for 8 years while her kids were in high school. She has been married to her husband, Chad for 23 years. Their three children, Abigail, Crayton and Kennedi are all SJO grads. Brandi is blessed to live on her grandparents' farm north of St. Joseph.
Congratulations once again to Brandi Burnett and her family for the induction into the St. Joseph-Ogden High School Hall of Fame.
Steady cash flow comes from steady work. If you want money you have to do something that produces money.
Much of what we want to do in life does not always produce cash. We may experience fun, enjoyment, fulfillment and entertainment but it may not render dollars. Often, much of what we enjoy in life typically costs us money and usually a lot of money.
You may love to play golf and even aspire to make a professional tour. You could spend most of your life and tens of thousands of dollars on green fees, memberships, lessons, travel and more and still never make a dime from playing golf.
You may love movies, theatre and plays and spend years in drama schools and Hollywood and never get a job that pays any money. This story is true for those who dream of making it big in music. I’ve talked to numbers of singers in Nashville, Tennessee who have spent years singing for tips and often for free. They pursued their dream relentlessly and some ended up homeless because while they pursued their dream, dollars were not coming in to support them.
Writers have spent their lives trying to write one great book that someone would notice. Painters often paint their entire lives without much fanfare or few sales. Would be entertainers and artsy folks from all walks of life know that the road to success is filled with disappointments, constant rejection, little to no support and poverty.
I was a weird guy in high school as I aspired to be a full-time minister. Sixteen years old was an odd time in life to start shunning my electric guitar, lose my passion for basketball and aspire to be a minister. It also didn’t do a lot for my dating life either.
My dad thought I was crazy but never said a whole lot. Once he did say, "Why don’t you get a good job and preach on the side?" I thought that was a crazy idea because I knew of too many ministers who had full time careers and seemed to do okay. Thus, I went to school until I was 29 years old to be a full-time minister. The post college degrees that I attended full-time for seven years were enough time for medical school, Law school or whatever but I pursued my calling and followed my heart.
I don’t regret pursuing my dream. I had about 35 years of being an average wage earner as a minister and sometimes did better than average. However, my dad had respectable advice as parent’s usually do. Today I give the same advice. Follow your dream but you need a sawmill on the side for stable cash flow. Church has changed. Many churches are small and can’t afford a full-time minister. Sadly, often ministers and congregations can’t survive in harmony for more than a couple of years so this makes for a very unstable life.
When I say, "you need a sawmill on the side," I mean you need something in your life you can count on. You need a plumber’s license, a teaching certificate, carpentry skills or a business of some kind that renders dollars. Why? You can’t always depend on what you love doing to produce income. It may be what you love to do and you may be terrific at what you do but often you can’t count on it financially.
Find a work that people must have or want very badly. If you are in a work that someone must have then there will be financial rewards. If they want very badly want you have to offer there will be financial rewards. If they want and need it both you are golden.
It may not be your passion but you will generally make enough money from your "sawmill" so you can sing, dance, paint, entertain, write, act or even preach on the side. When you do what you love to do without the constant pressure of needing money then you are free to do it enjoyably without the stress of wondering from where your next meal will come.
My boyfriend, aged 32, embodies the quintessential extrovert—gregarious, enamored with nightlife, and perpetually surrounded by a coterie of approximately twenty friends who reside in close proximity and convene incessantly. Initially, I admired his vivacity and character.
