Many of the people who come to UTM are from local high schools, such as Brandon Dodds, a UTM alumnus and native of Dyer County. Born and raised in West Tennessee, he is now doing his part to help improve the place he calls home.
Dodds graduated from Dyer County in 1992 and graduated from UTM in 1997 after double majoring in History and Biology.
“I had a great experience at Martin,” said Dodds.
“I went to Dyer County High School and there was about 20 of us who came up here. … [We all] played football [and] rushed the same fraternity [Alpha Tau Omega], so we really had a good time, learned a lot and made lasting friendships.”
Dodds finally made the big move to Memphis in 1997 to attend the Southern College of Optometry, where he graduated in 2001.
“Memphis was a big transition. … I lived with a fellow [Alpha Tau Omega], who went to Dyer County, who was going to physical therapy school at UT Memphis. We lived in the medical district and it was a pretty rough neighborhood … We were grilling out one night and got shot at. Somebody just drove by and started shooting at us,” said Dodds.
Three years after he graduated from the Southern College of Optometry, Dodds launched his own practice, Dodds Eyecare, in Newbern, Tenn.
“It’s very satisfying,” said Dodds. “We like to help people see, that’s why we do it. We’ve grown pretty much every year. … The biggest struggle [for] a small business owner is taxes and government regulation. ”
In 2008, after seeing how President Bush was handling the current problems in the Middle East, Dodds published his first book, “Victory Dance.”
“At the time, we were really floundering our policy in Iraq,” said Dodds. “The military conquest was fairly easy because we have one of the finest militaries in the world. But as far as nation building, we went in there and didn’t really understand the people and what they wanted.”
In “Victory Dance,” Dodds explains how a better understanding of Iraq and the installment of a constitutional monarch would have greatly aided the U.S. while trying to rebuild Iraq.
After he became concerned with the possibility of Obamacare becoming a reality, Dodds ran for Governor in 2010. Although he was not elected, he will use the experience he gained during his upcoming run for State Senate in the 27th District, which is comprised of Dyer, Crockett, Lauderdale, Lake and Madison counties. Dodds is running on the Republican ticket after running as an Independent in the race for Governor.
Dodds currently serving in the position of a County Commissioner in Dyer County.
His wife, April Baker Dodds, is also a native of Dyer County and a UTM alumna. The two met in high school where she was a cheerleader and he played football. After dating from the time she was a junior in high school and he was a freshman at UTM, the two married when Baker graduated from UTM in 1998 with a biology degree.
Once married, she joined Dodds in Memphis where he had just completed his first year of optometry school. They then relocated to Mud Island, which they felt was much safer.
“We’d often hear gunshots,” said Dodds, recounting his time in Memphis.
“We were on the 10th floor, so, the first thing we’d always do was to look over and see what was going on. I guess [we were] being stupid. Most people’s instincts would be to get down when they heard gunshots, but we always looked over the balcony to see if someone was getting shot or chased.”
The couple lives in Newbern where they are raising their three sons: Cole, Bo and Clay.
Dodds has never forgotten or stopped caring about where he came from and that includes UTM and its current students.
“Find something you like you really like to do. Life’s too short to do something you don’t like to do. You’re usually more successful if you believe in something and don’t be afraid to follow your dreams. You may fail, but if you don’t follow your dreams, you automatically fail,” Dodds said.
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