When Brianna St. Lawrence-Brody graduated from Great Falls College in May 2020, there was no walk across the stage, no pinning ceremony and no triumphant moment with her family cheering from the audience.
The COVID-19 pandemic had changed everything.
Like thousands of graduates across the country, St. Lawrence-Brody received her graduation materials in the mail. The milestone she had spent years working toward felt to her like it disappeared into the uncertainty of a world shut down by a global health crisis.
Six years later, St. Lawrence-Brody is being recognized on one of the largest stages imaginable.
St. Lawrence-Brody, a school nurse at Longfellow Elementary School, nurse at Benefis Health System and technical sergeant in the Montana Air National Guard who works as a command post controller assigned to the 120th Airlift Wing, recently earned one of the U.S. Air Force’s top honors, becoming one of just 12 service members selected as a 2026 Total Force Air Force Outstanding Airman of the Year. Among the winners, she was the only member of the Guard selected.
It is an extraordinary achievement for anyone. It is perhaps even more remarkable for someone who began nursing school as a mother of four who wasn’t sure she belonged in college.
“I was petrified,” St. Lawrence-Brody said. “I had thought about going to nursing school for five years before I started. College seemed very intimidating to me.”
A leap of faith
Before enrolling at Great Falls College, St. Lawrence-Brody spent a decade working at a local birth center, assisting mothers through some of life’s most significant moments.
She loved the work, but she eventually realized she had reached the limits of what she could accomplish without additional credentials.
As a wife, mother and working professional, she needed a pathway that fit her family’s life and budget.
She found it at Great Falls College.
“The affordability was a huge factor,” she said. “But the education was bar none.”
She credits faculty members such as instructor Kaylene Strutz with helping shape her future.
“They have a passion for empowering their students,” she said. “You learned what the heart of nursing was. They taught you to see patients holistically, and that became the foundation for how I wanted to move my career forward.”
For St. Lawrence-Brody, Great Falls College did more than prepare her for a profession. It helped her discover capabilities she didn’t know she possessed.
“The years were going to go by whether I did it or not,” she said. “Turns out it showed me I was capable of more than I was giving myself credit for.”
Strutz remembers her from her first days in the program.
“She wasn’t afraid to say, ‘I don’t understand this yet,’” Strutz said of her former student. “She pushed us to help her understand, and in doing that, she helped the rest of the class understand too.”
A nurse in a historic moment
St. Lawrence graduated in May 2020 at age 39.
By July, she was working at Benefis Health System.
As a newly licensed nurse, she found herself caring for patients during one of the most challenging periods in modern health care history.
It took a tremendous toll on her as it tested her confidence and strengthened her resolve.
Because so much of her early nursing career was consumed by pandemic care, she often felt like a novice as things slowly turned back to a normal she had never experienced. She learned to ask questions, seek guidance and advocate for herself and her patients.
“You don’t know what you don’t know,” she said. “That taught me how important education is and how important it is to help other people understand what’s happening to them.”
Those lessons continue to influence her work today.
Serving students, families and community
After gaining experience at Benefis, St. Lawrence-Brody accepted a position as school nurse at Longfellow Elementary School.
It quickly became more than a job.
She discovered a passion for helping children and families navigate health challenges while providing education and support at Longfellow.
“There are families that don’t get the education (about healthcare) they deserve,” she said. “It’s not because they’re unintelligent. They just haven’t been given the time of day. Being able to help families understand and coordinate care has given me a new purpose.”
Heather Hoyer, superintendent of Great Falls Public Schools, praised St. Lawrence-Brody’s work at Longfellow.
“(She) helps students be healthy, supported and ready to learn,” Hoyer said. “Her compassionate care and partnership with families provide parents with confidence and security, knowing their children are in caring, capable hands at school. What she does, and the skill and passion with which she does it, directly impacts student achievement.”
Now starting her third school year at Longfellow, St. Lawrence-Brody continues to work part time at Benefis.
She sees each role as complementary.
One keeps her connected to hospital nursing. The other allows her to build relationships that can make a lasting difference in the lives of children and their families.
Answering another call to serve
Most people might consider nursing a significant enough challenge.
For St. Lawrence-Brody, it became the foundation for something more.
Shortly after earning her degree, she joined the Montana Air National Guard at age 39, an unusually late age for enlistment.
Part of her motivation was practical. She wanted the opportunity to eventually pass educational benefits to her children after she benefitted from receiving them through her husband who also serves.
But there was something deeper.
“I just felt really compelled to do it,” she said. “I didn’t feel like I had another goal after graduating nursing school. It was something that challenged me. It was a little bit of, ‘Can I do this at 39?’”
The answer? With distinction.
Military service exposed her to experiences far beyond what she encounters in civilian nursing. During a deployment to Germany in 2024, she worked alongside active-duty personnel and supported operations connected to missions throughout Africa.
On her flight home, she helped respond to an in-flight medical emergency as the only medical professional aboard the aircraft.
Combined with her performance throughout the year, those experiences became part of a nomination package that advanced through multiple levels of Air Force competition.
What began as a local nomination eventually became national recognition.
“When they told me I had won, I thought it would stop at the wing level,” she said. “Then it kept progressing.”
The award culminated in a congratulatory phone call from Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte and recognition as one of the Air Force’s top enlisted members.
“Service is at the heart of who we are as Montanans,” Gianforte said in a media release from his office before St. Lawrence-Brody was promoted to technical sergeant. “I am proud to announce one of our very own, Staff Sgt. St. Lawrence-Brody, was selected as one of 12 airmen across the country honored to receive one of the highest honors in the Air Force. Brianna represents the best of Montana through her hard work, determination, leadership and an unwavering dedication to her community.”
The award also depicted the service mindset the Montana National Guard hopes to see in its airmen.
“Staff Sgt. St. Lawrence-Brody’s selection is an extraordinary achievement and a proud moment for the Montana National Guard,” said Brig. Gen. Trent Gibson, adjutant general of Montana in a story on the Air Force’s website. “Whether caring for students as a school nurse or serving our nation in uniform, Brianna exemplifies the professionalism, integrity and selfless service that define our organization. She represents the very best of the Montana National Guard, and we are incredibly proud to see her recognized on the Air Force’s biggest stage.”
The power of possibility
For St. Lawrence-Brody, the journey from uncertain student to nationally recognized airman has never been about accolades.
Instead, it is about showing others what is possible.
That includes the students she serves as a school nurse and the four children who watched their mother return to college while raising a family.
“I worried it would affect my kids negatively,” she said. “Instead, I think it taught them resilience. It taught them that even if something seems scary or different, it’s possible.”
Her oldest son, Xander, recently chose a military path of his own and is currently going through basic training.
The example set by their mother has left a lasting impression on all four children.
“I hope it gave them permission to dream bigger,” she said.
It is also a lesson she hopes current Great Falls College students embrace.
Whether students are pursuing nursing, skilled trades, a transfer path to a four-year education or another career path, St. Lawrence-Brody believes community colleges play a vital role in helping people discover what they are capable of becoming.
“Great Falls College offered compassion and support when life happened,” she said. “I want people to know that college is possible. Whatever your dream is, it’s possible.”
Her own story stands as proof, and the decision to walk through the doors of Great Falls College and believe despite her doubts played a big role in her journey.
“I had to get comfortable being uncomfortable,” she said.
Strutz summed up her pride in her former student.
“The award is evidence of her amazing ability, evidence of her drive and evidence of her continually giving and giving and giving to make the world a better place,” she said. “She is going to change the world.”