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Bryan Bland Goes for the Gold
by Tim Taylor
Move over Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee, because here comes Bryan Bland. Bland just won gold and silver medals in Tae Kwon Do at the North Carolina Amateur Athletic Union championships, putting him in line to compete at the national championships this summer in Greensboro.
Bryan grew up in a rough neighborhood of Annapolis, Maryland, where a karate studio opened up about five minutes from his house.
"My father signed me and my brother up for classes when I was ten years old. He was very supportive and came to all of our matches. He did not miss one, but our mother -- that was a different story. She did not like fighting and did not want to see her children fighting, no matter what kind of fighting it was." Bryan said that in his first years of Tae Kwon Do, his brother Curtis Bland was his training partner and influenced him to be the best that he can be in all aspects of life. Then it was time for him to go to college.
Bryan came to Mars Hill College looking for a brand new start. He wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and come to a small place where he could find himself and make his mark, and a mark he will leave. Besides being a good student first, he is captain of the track team, which won conference this year. He was elected Homecoming King for 2001, and he is president of the Athletic Advisory board. Bryan is also a member of the Campus Activity Board, a member of Delta Kappa Theta fraternity, and he is the campus instructor of the kickboxing class.
Bryan's Tae Kwon Do career does not stop there. In addition to winning the North Carolina state championship medals - the gold in "form" and silver in "fighting'' -- he traveled to Georgia last month and won gold in "form", and bronze in "fighting" in the state championships there. He is aiming to take more medals at the national championships this summer so that he can be in line to represent the United States in the next Olympics.
Doing Double
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Bryan graduates on May 11. "After I finish school I want to become a teacher of biology in a high school," he said, "because I feel that kids these days are too involved in violence and watching MTV. Kids at that age are more impressionable and need role models, besides the ones on TV, that will give them a good perspective on life. I hope that I can be that person that these kids look up to."
Reflecting on his life so far, he says, "I want to honor Jesus and The Lord our Father for giving me these talents and abilities to share and hopefully make a difference in someone else's life."
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