Community and Connections Season 2 Episode 6 with Brendan M. Thailand

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to community and connections. I'm Drake Watson along
with Jason Garsick, and we are thrilled to be joined
by Brendan Markham today and Higher University alum. And that
makes I guess, I guess two and a half. You know,
however you want to look at that. But Brendan, we're
so glad you could come on this morning. You made it.
You had quite the hike, I understand, yes, so we

(00:22):
really appreciate it. And you've got a lot of stories
to tell. That kind of I guess all tie into
the university and things like that. So I guess to start,
if you could give us a little bit of a
background about who you are, where you're from, and I
guess your life up until the point of going to

(00:43):
Higher University and you went to Eastern correct.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
Yeah, yes, Well a little bit about me. I grew
up in Eastern Kentucky. I was born in Lexington, Kentucky,
but when I was seven, I moved to Eastern Kentucky
with my grandparents and from there, when I was about fourteen,
my mom well, that town down there was only about
two hundred and eighty people with the town I'm from,
so it was really small, but my mom decided to

(01:08):
move to Ohio. She got married and we ended up
in Lancaster, Ale and I graduated from Lancaster High School.
And then I moved to Zanesville Hall for a while
and raised my family there. And then I went through
a weight loss surgery, lost a bunch of weight and

(01:28):
life changes in weight loss as drastic as I had,
I was four hundred and eighty nine pounds at my
highest and I'm like one hundred and fifty pounds, So
it made a big change in my life. Between the
surgeries and then recouping from the surgeries, I actually went
through a divorce during that time too, and job change.

(01:51):
And then when all that happened, one day and during
that weight loss, everybody I was so and everything, everybody
just decided like taking advantage of me.

Speaker 3 (02:05):
My divorce.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
My wife got most everything from that, and what that
they didn't get. People just took a lot of advantage
of me at the time when I was ill. So
when when I was recouping from everything, I thought, man,
there's got to be a way to stand up for
yourself and the rights of others. Are people that go
unseen or unheard, And I was driving by, I'd moved

(02:29):
out here. I lived in Zanesville first, and running from
a guy there in Zanesville, and he offered gave me
an opportunity to buy a house from him here that
he had setting out here in Belmont County. So I
jumped on that opportunity and uh on my way driving
home from Zanesville seeing my kids. One day, I said,
there's got to be some way to help people of
a disadvantage or people that go through bad hard times

(02:51):
like this and and are just bluntly taking advantage of
in a time of need. So I seen a sign
say hi University, and I jumped off the freeway and
I said, I'm going to go back to school. You know,
I'm a non traditional student. And when I got off
the ramp, I ended up at Belmont College. So my

(03:13):
first two years was at Belmont College. I went in
and they had a criminal justice program, and I said,
that's exactly what I want to do, and go into
some type of civil service or something. So I got
into Belmont and my goal was to keep a three
point zero average, and I excelled way further than what

(03:33):
I thought I was going to do. I had a
lot of achievements at Belmont College. They put me on
a lot of spotlights there. And when I got done
with my associates degree, I said, Man, what am I
going to do now? I said, you know, every time
I was going to Belmont College, I seen Ohio University
over and I still have my mindset I'm going to
Ohio University. So I went straight over from my Associates

(03:55):
and signed up at Ohio University.

Speaker 1 (03:58):
And you started to continue with criminal justice when you
went into there.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
Yeah, I still took criminal justice there. I also went
to Police Academy at Eastern Gateway Community College while I
was at university too, and then I graduated from Ohio University.
And but while I was at Ohio University, I had
I had several opportunities there. I really excelled there too

(04:23):
a lot. I did a lot better than what I
thought I was going to in both colleges, making Dean's List,
provost list. I worked with that. Belmont College, I worked
with Kevin flanagain, Belmont County Prosecution's Office, and Belmont County
has been great with me. The State Highway Detroit, I
did some papers through them there. I also got some

(04:46):
interviews with the FBI that I got into, which was
really good. While I was at Belmont Ohio University, Dean
Roe Hall was great with me there. I worked at
the university some on student work program while I was
there too, and how university just kept growing. They had
opportunity to come up to go to Thailand and that

(05:08):
that was That was a fabulous trip. Uh Ohio University
has been was one of the best experience. Actually, I'm
getting ready to go into my masters now, so oh
really it's wonderful.

Speaker 1 (05:18):
Are you doing that through the through Eastern or through Athens.

Speaker 2 (05:22):
I have to take my masters at Athens. That only
because the University Eastern campus is a regional campus. They
don't offer that master's program there. But some of the
things I have university, like I came across the Thailand
trip that was just a fabulous saying to do they

(05:44):
don't have, Like how University Eastern doesn't have the resources
like the Athens campus does really to lead you, so
you kind of had to had to follow your own
footsteps and grants and scholarships has offered. Filled out for
the Gilman Scholarship Award while I was there, wrote several

(06:05):
papers to try to get it even though you even
if you do or didn't get the National Scholarship Ode,
they do award you something for applying.

Speaker 3 (06:12):
So okay, so did this trip to Thailand. Did it
tie into your degree exactly or was it an opportunity
to study abroad?

Speaker 2 (06:21):
It actually was an opportunity to study abroad, and it
tied in with my program. I needed a COMMS forty
one hundred, so it helped with my COMMS forty one hundred.
But also it gave me a better aspect in a
criminal justice field to see a different culture or race,
to understand people from a whole different, you know, another

(06:43):
country compared to just regular Americans. What they would go
through here if they were here. Is basically I put
myself in going through theirs in their country, you know
what I mean. And plus that would give me a
better aspect, like if I had to honor anybody from
there over here and their beliefs and their traditions compared

(07:04):
to ours. But while we were there, we were teaching.
We went over to teach American customs and English to
the Mordoc May Academy, which is an international arts academy
over there, and that was a wonderful experience here. We
spent a week and a half learning the culture and
everything in Thailand, and we went to Chang Mai. We

(07:27):
went to Bangkok afterwards, but we stopped in South Korea
on the way there, and I went through Tokyo on
the way back, which was another experience in both. But
the experience with the students over there, I thought I
was going there to teach them, and we were able
to teach and communicate, and I got fortunate. I had

(07:49):
the best English speaking student they had, and so it
was really great. Her name was Tanam And but while
we were there, I think they taught us more than
we could ever told them, to be honest with you,
they were very, very artistic in music. Actually, the university
just had had them come. They went through, they came

(08:11):
over and visited us here just at the end of spring.
They had traveled back to America and they went to Athens.
I met them in Lancaster. They performed in Lancaster and
they also performed in Athens as well. So I got
to see this sooner I thought over over here again too.
So it was wonderful.

Speaker 1 (08:29):
Yeah, And you think you'd have to imagine that anytime
you're kind of displacing yourself and going in the midst
of some other culture. It's kind of abound to happen
that you're going to learn more than you know. Even
though that you were there to teach, uh, to teach
some folks, you ended up learning more about their culture,
their traditions, their beliefs and everything. How much of an

(08:54):
impact did that have on you? Do you think when
you came back and kind of seeing things in it
different because not only do you see the differences between
Thailand and the United States, but that I think allows
you to see the differences between people in general. And
is that kind of a perspective that you had coming
back and kind of what you use communicating with people

(09:15):
since then?

Speaker 2 (09:16):
It's it's it was one I had before I even left.
That was my that was my sole given purpose. So
I'm big on the the studies of other people, even
though I'm from the Appalachian right of the heart of I.
One of my classes I took was Appalachian sociology class

(09:36):
at Eastern as well, and uh, and I chose that
class just to see what their views on Appalachian was
and and that that was very a very good class.
I like to and that and the religion when I
studied religion and then I seen the ad for Thailand

(09:58):
come up at the Universe. It was posted on a wall.
That's another reason it grove me go so but I like,
I like to know in I guess the study of
people all the way around all the time.

Speaker 1 (10:11):
Yeah, you mentioned Dean Roe Hall just a few moments ago,
and he was kind of a big part of getting
this started. He was this is one of the things
that he really wanted to wanted to see happened. And
you know, we're glad to kind of carry it out.
And it kind of comes full circle when somebody like
you comes on and we talked to and you've got
roots with Ohio, you and mentioning Dean Roe Hall, it's

(10:32):
kind of a kind of a cool thing. And especially
your your opportunity to Thailand. I think with all of
that kind of in the past, what is your perspective
if you had to summarize it on what Ohio University,
whether it's the Eastern branch or any of the branches Zanesville, Lancaster,
Southern and the kind of opportunities that they can provide

(10:53):
to people in life, whether they be a traditional student
straight out of high school or non traditional such as
yourself or anybody. I mean, you have to imagine that,
you know, it's something that, as you said, I feel like,
can kind of turn your life around and really help
you out in a big way.

Speaker 2 (11:09):
Oh Ohio University is definitely it is. It's more than
welcoming at all the universities, even at Athens. Like you said,
I had to deal with or I had to encounter
with some of the teachers in Athens and some of
the teachers in Lancaster. They were a combined group going

(11:31):
to Thailand. So, and it's been very welcoming at Ohio
University on all the aspects. Uh, the Eastern campus goes.
I think the Eastern campus goes kind of notice being
a regional campus out here kind of hidding a little bit.
But uh, the school overall, I couldn't even talk hard

(11:53):
about it. It's been it's been great. They they've been
wonderful to me. Why I've been there?

Speaker 3 (11:58):
So how long were you even island?

Speaker 2 (12:01):
We were in Thailand for about two weeks.

Speaker 3 (12:02):
Okay, what would you say to anyone listening to this
podcast about maybe they're thinking about wanting to go abroad
and maybe they're they got hesitancy, they've never been out
of the country. What what what insights would you provide
to them.

Speaker 2 (12:15):
I'll be honest with you, I've never I've never flown
commercially before in my life. I've flown up private, but
both times I did was flight flight lessons I took
on my own. So the overall experience of traveling and
studying abroad is more than wonderful. Actually, I thought about
going into international studies even since then because of it.

Speaker 3 (12:37):
And uh and.

Speaker 2 (12:39):
I can't even to take a trip like that too.
If you get the chance or opportunity to do so,
I would not turn it down again. I would. I
would definitely go. It's amazing experience.

Speaker 3 (12:52):
In what ways did you have to prepare? Like, did
you already have your passport and place.

Speaker 2 (12:57):
I'd never traveled before?

Speaker 1 (12:59):
The university help you out with that? I mean, yeah,
they do.

Speaker 2 (13:02):
They give you a reimbursement on it, but you pretty
much gotta follow the steps with with they they lead
you and give you the directions in what to do.
So I've never had a passport before, how to do that?
Then they they prepare us. We have, we took some
classes before we went. I had some meetings and stuff.
We had to learn some basic tie how to speak

(13:26):
and in some of the foods and the food allergens
and warnings of the way things are over there compared
to here. Like over here restaurants have dish washing machines
and dishwashers. Over there, they're washing them out of tubs
on the streets. So you've got to prepare yourself. Some
people don't take to the food and as well as others.

(13:49):
Some people's a little more gut strong than others are,
and sometimes people might feel a little fluish or sick
or something like that. They prepared us for jet lag
because it was a fourteen hour flight on one of them,
an eight hour on another one. So when we got there,
we were literally a day ahead from here, so we

(14:11):
were twenty four hours ahead of what time it was here.
So basically like we never left time travel a little bit.

Speaker 1 (14:18):
Yeah, have you have you traveled since that or wanted
to travel since then? I mean maybe not to Asia,
but to you know, has that opened your your I
guess mind to even if you haven't, I mean, have
you been wanting to travel since then?

Speaker 2 (14:31):
Yes? I can't get it off my mind. Actually Thailand.
I've talked about going back even but Thailand was a
very warming country. I mean they were they very welcoming.
Animosity is low over there. And for no traffic laws
over I can't believe they don't have road rage even
any people versus. It's amazing, but it's made me one. Actually,

(14:52):
I really thought about going into international studies and with
my master's degree, and I spoke with one of my
instructors over the about it that I had that went
to Thailand, Ohio University Athens about it even so, and
I still communicate with them, the group that went to Thailand.
We have classes where they have more studies on stuff

(15:13):
and movies that we go and watch sometimes when we
meet up. They have actually a club for international studies.

Speaker 1 (15:22):
Now, how old were you when you when you went
to Oue for the first time and then when you
went on that trip.

Speaker 2 (15:27):
Oh, when I got to Oue, I was the first time.
I was forty nine. I went on a trip when
I was fifty.

Speaker 1 (15:33):
So and do you think the the now have you?
Have you traveled like that before then? Or No?

Speaker 2 (15:43):
I never, I'd never traveled, never traveled well. I traveled
to the United States a lot I managed. I managed
a trucking company for years, so I have my class
a CEO. So I've traveled all over the country, but
I'd never been, you know, over any type of world.

Speaker 1 (16:01):
Okay, and do you think I mean, I guess this
doesn't really apply to you, but I think somebody who's
a little bit younger in let's say the position that
you are in, and they have an opportunity to travel
and study abroad. I mean, how important do you think
it is for somebody like that to have that experience
to to kind of add to their perspective as they

(16:24):
go about life. I mean, is that something that you
think is important?

Speaker 2 (16:26):
Yes, very much so. And the biggest thing is with
the younger culture is that we need to understand too
that there's there's a lot of safety risk and you
really got to keep your mind in the right frame
when you're traveling to other countries like that. There's just
there's crimes and stuff over there that happened that isn't

(16:48):
going to be normal to them or they're not going
to recognize because of their their age at that point.

Speaker 3 (16:55):
You know.

Speaker 2 (16:55):
I mean, I'm unfortunately, like me, I am a non
traditional student. I've lived years, I've seen a lot of
things and there's a lot that they haven't, so you
definitely want to keep safety awareness.

Speaker 1 (17:08):
I think that's that's pretty good advice, especially for anybody
who is kind of in that eighteen to twenty two
twenty three age range in their potentially they have an
opportunity to travel abroad through the university or in general.
I think that's a good yeah, piece of advice.

Speaker 2 (17:26):
We were there during We were there during New Year's
and Chang Mai. Oh really, so it's like being at
the Big Apple, you know, I mean on New Year's
so you can only imagine. And there's people from every country.
It's warm there in the winter, so's it's definitely the
place where everybody goes. People a lot of people from
Australia come up. And so it was more than pact.

Speaker 3 (17:50):
Yeah, you took a few classes while you were in
this in Thailand or just one, just one it was
my comms for you one in directly with your time there, or.

Speaker 2 (18:03):
Yes it did. The class was pretty much based around
our experiences with learning communication and being able to communicate
to others. So and which is good within the field
I'm going into with criminal justice. So it panned out.
I was I was the only only criminal justice person

(18:24):
in the class, So I don't know what all everybody
else was.

Speaker 3 (18:27):
You don't know what other majors were, Not all of.

Speaker 2 (18:29):
Them they were. They were kind of sporadic, all the
different majors.

Speaker 1 (18:35):
How long ago was this your trip?

Speaker 2 (18:38):
I just got back in January this.

Speaker 1 (18:40):
Year, Okay, so you're still okay.

Speaker 2 (18:43):
We left December twenty twenty four and came back January
twenty twenty five.

Speaker 1 (18:49):
And this, I think, for the sake of whoever's listening,
we're recording in July of twenty five, and this probably
will be out around February. I would say January February
or of twenty six. But I mean, just in that
short amount of time, how I mean, what is how's
life been to you since then?

Speaker 2 (19:08):
I guess, Oh, it's been fabulous. Actually, I just got
custy of my son, full custy of my fourteen year
old show, and now I'm learning a whole new life experience.
It's been visitations for years, but now he come to
live with Dad, so I'm learning something all new with
that raising a teenager now. But it's been a great

(19:32):
experiencement We've went on vacation this year and just taking
a break this summer from school before I get started back,
and I'm going not just be starting myself, and we'll
have to be overseeing him in school as well. And
I'm still working. I'll work at Sargashoot Detention Center, so

(19:53):
in Belmont County, which some of my internship led me
there with the Ohio University. So I worked my internship
with the Belmont County Juvenal Probation Office. And also I
did some of my work out in Flushing with Chief League,
the Chief of Police and Flushing UH to get some

(20:16):
of my community engagement and stuff I got over with
in some other classes, but my internships. But just just
working now and raising my son. I guess school starts back.

Speaker 3 (20:30):
It sounds like you had a lot of valuable internship
opportunities in your program. You went to a variety of
different groups within by one county. Yeah, how how was that?
In formation of your degree? You know where it's brought
to you today.

Speaker 2 (20:49):
I'll be honest with you, Beaumont County has been the
best opportunity I've ever had between Ohio University and Belmont
County itself. And like I said, earlier. I liked the
study of people. So my internship with Kevin Flanagan and
the prosecutors through back college and and led me into,

(21:09):
you know, the adult life and the things that go
on in the in the justice field as well as UH.
Then turning around at Ohio University and taking an internship
through UH Sargus and the Juvenile Probation Office gave me
an aspect on the younger, younger people's lives, and with
me being non traditional, it kind of fits in with

(21:30):
my entire life. You know, growing up it was just
me and my mom, and I was in a broken
home and everything. So I understand how some of the
youth UH and what they're going through, you know what
I mean, and and some of the life challenges I've
had throughout my life. I understand what you know, the
adults have been through. But to get an overall perspective
from the courts view and the and Probation office with

(21:54):
juveniles and everything and tying it all together, I think,
I think is what really.

Speaker 3 (22:01):
Help help me.

Speaker 2 (22:05):
Douce as well as I did in school. I mean,
I just I can't believe I achieved as well as
I did and have and I just keep waiting for
the next opportunity to open up, you know, I mean,
she work goes from there.

Speaker 1 (22:18):
Another thing we talk about is is and we've talked
about higher university, you know, at great length so far,
but just the community around Belmont County, as you said,
in general, the opportunities within the community, the people that
you meet. I mean, I've always we always try to,
you know, speak well of the of the community. And

(22:39):
one of the things that I hold in the highest
of regards is the is the people of the community,
and you know, how the relationships that are built and
the connections that are made and all of those things.
And I mean that's some of the things that that
you experienced when you're when you're in Belmont County or
anywhere in the area as well.

Speaker 2 (22:56):
Yeah, Belmont County. Like I said, I've been in books
for four years. So most of my most of my
encounters have been with people that I've worked with in
my internships, you know, or at the college, or at
my job, or or basically Walmart, you know, going to
grocery shopping. But I haven't had much time to intertwine

(23:19):
with individual people on a normal relationship basis. But everything
that Belmont County itself has had to offer is I
can't even talk more highly about it. So Belmont County
has been a great place for me this far.

Speaker 1 (23:38):
Yeah, it's a good place to good place to be,
and I think there's a lot of folks you don't
have similar things to say about about the area in general, Jason,
you have anything, I don't think so well, if it
was great, there's nothing else that you have to add, Brendan.

Speaker 2 (23:59):
Nothing really on my end. You guys got anything else
you your notice?

Speaker 3 (24:03):
No, I enjoyed hearing a bunch of trips at the
Highlands your experience there. Yeah, so that was really really
awesome to hear. You know, when I was in school,
I wanted to study abroad, but never never took the opportunity.

Speaker 2 (24:13):
I'm telling you that once again, if you get that opportunity,
if anybody out there gets that opportunity, even though you're
at a regional campus, they have it to offer. You
don't see it as much through the regional campuses. It's
not promoted as much as it would be at the
main campus. But the opportunities are there, and the fundings

(24:37):
there too to help with the cost. I mean, there's
scholarships that you can apply for, and that's the biggest
thing because it is costly some of the trips. But
there's scholarships that you can apply for and you get
scholarship money for even just applying, you know, I mean,
even if you don't actually receive the full amount, you

(24:58):
get something towards the call and in the university pays
back like your passport fees and this and that. So
it's definitely something if if, if somebody's out there wants
to do it. Me being non traditional, have in my
own house and everything it helped out and having my
own finances compared to most students that don't. But the
opportunity toes there if you just apply it.

Speaker 1 (25:23):
Well, we're grateful for the opportunity to speak with you today.
This has been great and we hope everyone listening and
enjoyed it as much as we did. For we really
appreciate your time for for Brendan Markham, Jason garcon Come,
Drake Watson saying thanks for listening to community and connections
and have a great day.