“I just love making people feel good about this new place. If I can be that first positive person for them here at Morningside, then that makes my day. 

I’m Braden Dinkla and I am from Winterside, Iowa. I’m a sophomore, and my major is Elementary Education. I chose Elementary Ed because My mom was a teacher, so I always grew up in the classroom. My junior year, I helped as an unpaid associate, and then my senior year, I was a para for fifth and sixth graders. 

I chose Morningside after my first visit. I visited a bunch of other places, but the culture and the family environment was like no other school. Every person that I met was smiling and saying hi. And then ultimately, what kind of sold it was the coaching staff.

I love basketball. I’ve played basketball since I was in first grade, so it’s always been a massive part of my life. And I just love everything that it teaches you off the court. It was always the dream to play in college. When I was in high school, I realized that dream was attainable, so I just worked really, really hard, and then this opportunity at Morningside came. 

I love all the guys. I know a lot of teams say that they’re like a family, but truthfully it is. Everybody’s looking out for one another. If you ever need something, all those guys are always there, even the coaching staff. Our coaches are absolutely incredible. My favorite memory would be when we were in Kansas City for the national tournament last year, staying in all the hotels, just making a bunch of memories, and walking around downtown Kansas City.

This was my first year on Woo Crew, and then I work in admissions. I loved being on Woo Crew. Same thing with admissions, giving the tours. I just love being that positive person for people, making Morningside a positive experience. 

I attend FCA, and then also Sunnybrook Church. My sister is adopted from China. She has scoliosis and spina bifida. She’s had countless surgeries with her back, and through all that, my faith was that constant. I struggled with things at times, but everything just kind of turned to my faith. Coming to college, it was kind of like the first chance I had to grow my faith by myself. It was my choice, so the first thing I went to was United on a Tuesday night, just me and all my friends. I love it being my choice, and I love just being able to grow my faith, and I hope that’s something that others can see. 

Put yourself out there. Take the risk and do the thing that your whole life you’ve been saying you’ve wanted to do. You now have the freedom. Go talk to these people, you can get out of your shell and find yourself. And then slow down and enjoy it. A lot of the time it’s easy to bounce here to there, but just slow down and enjoy the moment.”

Brayden Dinkla, building community and positivity