Meet Brittany Grindle

Brittany Grindle was born in Cincinnati and moved to Overland Park, Kansas, when she was 11. As a first-generation, Pell-eligible student, she began her college journey at Johnson County Community College before transferring to the University of Missouri-Kansas City, earning her BA in Political Science and MA in Education Administration. During her time in college, Brittany studied abroad in Germany (Summer ’17), Portugal (Winter ’19), and the Netherlands (Spring ’20), thanks to financial aid such as the Gilman Scholarship. She was also active on campus as a JCCC Model UN team member and as a Study Abroad Ambassador at UMKC. After graduating, Brittany joined the Kansas State College Advising Corps as a hybrid college adviser. In this role, she worked with high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors during their transition from secondary to post-secondary education and helped them explore college majors and career options.

Brittany excited to work with UC students because interacting with students directly and helping them achieve their goals are among the main reasons why working in higher education was her aspiration. Seeing a student experience a “win” feels like a win of her own. She is also excited to be working with students who have an interest in serving others as health care professionals.

Brittany believes the purpose of advising is to help students of all backgrounds succeed both academically and personally in their education and future careers. She aims to teach her advisees about their degree plans to see the bigger picture of how all courses, extracurriculars, and campus resources contribute to persistence, graduation, and career readiness. Her advising philosophy centers on the Proactive Advising model, which Brittany shows through her continuous efforts to engage with students throughout the year.

I am very fortunate to say that traveling is what I do in my spare time, especially during extended breaks. Exploring the world to experience different cultures while also learning about history from different lenses are experiences that I will always treasure. So far, I have been to 14 different countries across North America, Asia, and Europe and I have studied abroad in Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal. My favorite experience traveling was when I visited Tokyo, Japan with my father in 2023. I can’t wait to re-visit Japan and add new countries to my itinerary in the future. 

I am a huge fan of video games, especially Pokémon and other JRPGs, and it’s very common for me to spend any free time I have playing my Nintendo Switch. My interest in video games stems from my childhood, as I remember playing Backyard Baseball on the GameCube with my dad and Pokémon with my mother. I guess I never grew out of my video game phase, but that’s alright with me. It’s relaxing to be able to sit down, turn on my Switch, and be transported away to another world. If a student is ever looking for a relaxing experience, I always recommend Stardew Valley. Who doesn’t want a game where you get to raise chickens while designing a farm in the way that brings you joy?