I believe in the human touch, which cultivates sympathy with my fellow men and mutual helpfulness and brings happiness for all.

Brittany Ransom considered Georgia Tech. She considered Vanderbilt. She chose Auburn because someone went the extra mile.

She’d come from Huntsville for an informal visit. She was wandering around Shelby Center. She heard “hello.”

“I think he was a chemical engineering major,” she said. “He said, ‘I know no one is around to give campus tours right now, but I can give you one if you want.’ I left thinking, wow, Auburn really wants to see you succeed.”

For three years, that’s what Ransom has done. The mechanical engineering junior has landed more student organization leadership positions than you can count.

She’s currently vice president of the Auburn student chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers, and the president of the Auburn chapter of the National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges Scholars Program.

But Ransom isn’t just padding her portfolio for kudos. She’s doing it to put herself in a position to go the extra mile — or miles.

“The buildings around us make us who we are,” she said. “I’ve heard of hospitals in other nations so poorly made that people sometimes get worse when they’re in the hospital. To be able to reinvent infrastructure there could  really save an entire community.”