Westside senior driven to succeed by trying circumstances

After a season-ending football loss during his junior year, Westside High School’s Brannen Nesbitt shared a bit of his struggle with teammates.

Nesbitt, who is set to graduate this week, had spent part of the year living in a car.

“He stood up and he was trying to encourage them,” Principal Julia Daniely said. “That’s when he gave his testimony of what he was going through.”

The Seminoles had just lost a first-round home game to Dodge County, but that was nothing compared with what Nesbitt had faced. After some difficulties at home, Nesbitt and his father were sleeping in a 2012 Dodge Avenger, and he explained that was why he had missed some practice time.

“They were shocked,” Nesbitt said.

Not only that, but his teammates stepped up, some offering him places to stay until the situation was sorted out. Nesbitt still drives the car, although he and his father no longer have to sleep in it, and he said the ordeal made him stronger.

“I can tell the next person that may be going through something similar, ‘It’s going to be all right,’ ” he said.

Describing Nesbitt as a leader, Daniely said you’d never know from his effort or attitude at school that Nesbitt had gone through hard times. He always seemed to take care of his appearance and was “very positive, very humble” during the school day.

“He doesn’t conform to the ways of teenagers that we see,” she said. “He’s just an all-around good guy.”

Nesbitt, a defensive back, was once recruited by schools such as Georgia Tech, and while his grades are fine, he said he’s had trouble getting the required test scores. He said he’s worked on his academics continually, but he wasn’t able to get to the scores he needed to to play for the Yellow Jackets.

“That was probably one of the biggest struggles of this year,” he said, noting that it was still a good year.

Now, his goal is to get into the University of West Georgia. He hasn’t given up on playing football again, but that’s not his main focus.

“The one thing that comes to my mind right now is education,” he said. “If football does come into play, I’ll be glad to do that.”

This story was originally published May 20, 2016 at 2:59 PM with the headline "Westside senior driven to succeed by trying circumstances."