A Muchacho named Zachry

There’s more to senior Zachry Brown than meets the eye, and that’s saying something, given that Brown stands 6 feet 8 inches tall. A world traveler before he ever set foot on campus, he brought his interest for all things international to Texas A&M University, where he has double majored in International Studies and Spanish. And, he carried that same interest to a small community on the Texas border, returning with a renewed purpose for a life in public service.

Brown spent the 2004 fall semester conducting research on Texas colonias, working closely with his advisor, Dr. Marlynn May, a distinguished lecturer in landscape architecture. In Rio Bravo, a colonia 11 miles south of Laredo, Texas, Brown lived with a local family and volunteered in the local community center. There, Brown saw the extreme poverty faced by the area, which has no paved roads or basic services like water and electricity. “Rio Bravo is a community with weekly shootings, gang violence, narcotics, and human smuggling,” he said. “But [it is] also a place of deep pride, solidarity, and neighborly support.”

This neighborly support helped Brown to feel welcomed.“I became part of the community,” he said. “I made friends, I met grandparents, and I attended carne asadas on the weekends.” By interviewing a variety of people, from single mothers to retired carpenters to undocumented workers, Brown established relationships with the people he met and with whom he worked. “Somewhere along the way,” he said, “the anglo grandote became the muchacho named Zachry.”

Owing to his belief in public service, Brown is considering graduate studies in law and public policy. He said he plans to pursue work in economic policy and international development issues, themes he will address regardless of the career path he chooses.