“To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.” – Henri Bergson
There are times in life when a person is changed. When the veil of security and certainty is lifted and one’s eyes are opened to a world of possibility. For senior captain Jon Branche, the experiences he has encountered throughout his life — especially over the past year — have helped shape him not just as a student-athlete, but as a man looking toward his future.
A native of Schenectady, N.Y., Branche always knew that there was more to the world than just the Capital Region — or the United States for that matter. Attending Rensselaer opened a window of opportunity that he knew he couldn’t pass up; the chance to experience the culture and lifestyles of another country through the study abroad program.
“It was always something that I wanted to do,” explains Branche, a management major. “I wanted to get outside the country and I knew coming in to Rensselaer that the study abroad program was something that I wanted to be a part of.”
In the spring of 2006, with the football pads hung until next season, Branche seized the opportunity to see the world and make a change.
“My choices came down to Bocconi University in Italy and Swinburne University in Australia,” says Branche. “I had heard good reviews from both, but ultimately I chose Swinburne because I thought it’d be a better experience for me.
“I got to live in Melbourne, which is one of the most diverse cities I think there is in the world and attend one of the best schools in Australia as far as management goes to learn from some amazing professors.”
For Branche though, the lessons he learned weren’t always from textbooks and professors. Living in a whole new country and society taught him that often it is necessary to change the way in which we look at ourselves and our own place in the world.
“It’s something you can translate into everyday life,” he explains. “Being there was a true growing experience. You’re forced to adapt to a completely backwards culture in comparison to your own. I think the only thing our countries have in common is that we both speak English and even then there’s room for argument with the different dialect and slang.”
But Branche is quick to add that the difference is what made the journey so great.
“I think it’s a true challenge and a test of character to be forced into a situation where you have to adapt, make new friends, enjoy yourself, and excel in the classroom all while maintaining the commitments you have back at home.”
The classes he took and the friends he made all culminated in an experience that he will hold with him into the future and beyond.
“Being able to interact with not just Australians, but Italians, Germans, Norwegians and the list keeps going … it’s shown me that no matter what there is more than one point of view,
“A lot of people get caught up in the philosophy of thinking that ‘this is the way things are supposed to be, this is what we should be learning, this is the music we should be listening to.’ It’s things that seemed so important once, but now having experienced this journey seem so insignificant.”
The life lessons he learned while studying abroad hit close to home this past summer, when news came that his younger sister had been seriously injured in an automobile accident. A standout athlete in her own right, she was hospitalized with a broken neck and collarbone, fractures to the upper spine and ribs, and a collapsed lung. The news of her accident forced Branche to realize the painful lesson that time is not always on our side.
“It was tough the way it all happened,” explains Branche. “I had to take a day away from practice because it left me so shaken. The accident really opened my eyes to the fact that you’re only here for a certain amount of time and none of us knows when that is.”
Branche credits his football team for helping him keep it all together at a time when things seemed ready to fall apart.
“They stood by me. From my fellow players, to the coaches and staff,” says Branche. “Everybody did what they could to help my family and I during that time and I can’t thank them enough for it.”
From new cultures to unexpected crises, Branche has continued to grow and mature through every new challenge. Now in his final year at Rensselaer, the ESPN the Magazine National Academic All-American will soon put to use the lessons he has learned to face his biggest challenge yet: life after RPI.
“I feel without a doubt that I’m on the right track to fulfill the plan I set out for myself when I chose to come to Rensselaer,” he explains. “There are so many opportunities out there for a management major. I’ve been doing things with finance and entrepreneurship and I’m a real estate agent as well.”
A multiple National All-American tight end becoming the next real estate mogul? It’s more than a possibility for Branche, who has his sights set on the skyscrapers of metropolitan cities across the world.
“Ultimately I’d like to have my own real estate business. I’d like to sell big buildings in major cities around the globe. I don’t want to limit myself to just one thing either and in that respect I am looking into finance markets like Ernst & Young. I want to try to prepare myself as best as possible.”
Branche’s interest in the real estate market stems from a long tradition which has seen an entire side of the family involved in the business. It’s a tradition that he admits he just ‘kind of grew into.’
From school to football and studying abroad to family emergencies, and multiple jobs and aspirations, there’s no shortage of excitement or growth in Branche’s life, and he wouldn’t change it for the world.
“I’m used to being busy 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” explains Branche. “Between class and football it’s hard to not see myself keeping busy in the future. When I graduate, I’ll have a job and possibly my weekends will be free to pursue other endeavors. Anything I can do to network and get myself into a better spot, I want to try no matter how much time it takes to succeed. You can never have enough connections in life.”
Change in the way he’s gotten to experience life has brought a new maturity to Branche. A sense of the world that has opened his eyes to a broad horizon and endless future that long after the days of classes and football games is his for the taking.
“There are a lot of people in the world who get to the same stage in life I am at and they have no idea what they want to do with their lives,” says Branche. “I may not have it all mapped out, but I think the things that have happened to me and around me have created a balanced structure that will only benefit me later on in my life.”
