Unlocking Potential: A Chat About First-Generation Students with Micah Johnson

Hello, and welcome to Tuesday's with Morris. I'm your host Adam Morrisey. I'm excited to have a conversation about the potential of people with someone who knows it very well, and that's Micah Johnson, the associate director of the empower me first program at University of Miami, which provides academic advocacy, general advising, and resources to support underrepresented and first generation students How's it going today, Micah? Hey. Doing well. Doing well. Glad to be here with you, Adam. Yeah. Appreciate you making the time. You know, Micah, I was curious to learn, you know, obviously, we we've known each other for a while, and I followed some of your your story and progress in this space. But I was curious, why is it this movement around improving the experience for first generation students so important to you. Yeah, Adam. That's a good question, man. I think when you choose a career path in higher education. You kinda don't necessarily know where that'll take you. I mean, depending on the type institutions you work at or the types of roles you're looking for, you can follow-up on a role like this. And so with me, I started out as a as a hall director, many people probably were, like, I was an RA when I was in college. And I think that was, like, the bug that bit me going into no higher ed. But to backtrack, I was a journalism major. And, you know, I was first gen. At that time, hindsight hindsight's twenty twenty. And know what that meant to be first gen, right, being the first in your family to go to college and and all of the things that you did know and the guidance that you needed along the way. And so I think that takes me into this RA role going into someone convinced me that higher ed had a career path for me and that I was great with people. And then, you know, we fast forward. I start to navigate Okay. What aspects of higher ed do I like? Student affairs. And then, you know, I think you just start to go down this trailblazing this path, right, that you you know, nobody's ever went down that path, but recommendations allow you to you know, cut the weeds through that pathway veer off over here. And I think as I began to gain confidence in my professional goals and and started to really, like, affirm myself. Like, these are my skills. These are things that I'm passionate about. I fell upon this idea of FirstGen and being able to support FirstGen students. And at that moment, I was just looking for another job in higher ed leaving SMU and a friend sent this role to me. First Jen associate advisor associate director at the University of Miami. It's at that time I wasn't necessarily looking for a first gen role, but understanding, like, this is an identity that I resonate with and that my experience has kinda informed the way that I'm boobing, the way that I give myself grace on this journey. So getting in this role being able to help students and young men and women from all over the country navigate some of those earlier years with more guidance than I ever had in my first you know, ten years of my professional career and college collegiate career. I'd really help them get off to a great start. And I think that's something I've been able to doing this role and it's it's also helped me grow as I'm still on that same journey that they're on just at a different phase. Yeah. So that's super cool to hear. When I think so interesting about the first gen and I'm excited to learn more about what some of these things that they experience. There's just so much we can learn from what makes an individual successful in a new environment, and how we can take that to so many different places. So what are some things that first generation students experience that maybe other parts of the student body don't? Yes. I was thinking about it at prior to the meeting, and I was thinking about, like, it's, like, taking a boat to another like, your hope is that, you know, you're welcomed with open arms, everything you thought was gonna be on that island that you go to, all the resources, all the support. You just hope that those things will be there so that way. When you get there, you're able to benefit from the fruits of that space and then bring that back to your community. Right? And so I think as a first gen person, you will be the first person in your family to take may you might actually be that first. You might not actually be the first person to take the boat. But you're expectations that you'll be the first one to successfully go over and make a living and benefit from the fruits. Because with first gen, you might have had a parent that went to college before you. And and wasn't able to complete that. You might have family member that went to military or into the workforce and trades, but the collegiate experience is so challenging because you have so many components associated to. You have the academic success part. You have the sense of belonging of finding your community getting involved in other leadership roles, we all understand, like, it's not you know, a student that's four point o with no leadership experiences. Not gonna probably be as enticing for a company than the student maybe with a three eight. That was a president of a student organization. Involved in had student worker positions on campus. And so, really, some of the challenges or some of the experiences are them trying to figure out how to navigate this new land. Sometimes that looks like an assimilation where, you know, they think that they have to conform immediately to the culture, how things what the word on the street is about engaging with that institution and kind of forgetting some of the values that they might have had instilled with them some of that grit, some of that belief that they had when they come in. And so we call that kinda important Right? Students might suffer from impostor syndrome, but also just some some actually do thrive. In that new challenge. Right? I mean, as a first gen student, I didn't necessarily know all the pathways, but I was very resilient. Yeah. When you were speaking, I was thinking about I had a a guess a couple months ago that was an author and a professor, and he does he compares the road of entrepreneurship to the age of discovery. So kind of the concept that these, you know, in today's world, entrepreneurs raise money and go out in these exhibitions and to be unknown. Similarly, like the explorers like Columbus or John Cabot, they would raise money from royalty and go on these missions and have no idea what they were gonna find. So very high risk, very high reward, a lot of rich experiences along the way. When you think about, like, the population of FirstGen, how how diverse is that group? You know, I'd imagine there's there'd be people with similar experiences but there's probably a bunch of reasons why a a person's first gen. Oh, for sure. There's a very various reasons, and I was thinking also with that treasure that you spoke on. You know, you have students that are actually coming in where their parents might not have went to college, but they were entrepreneurs. And they had money. And so this their their child will be the first one to benefit from both of them being able to get them in the right programs in life. Middle school. Right? Doing some of those summer camps, things that you can do when you are financially you know, you come from a family with a financial background. And then you have students that might not you know, they might be coming from your inner city schools that, you know, didn't necessarily have the STEM programs available for them to maximize so that they could be prepared for, you know, a research institution like the University of Miami. Right? We have students that are coming in wanting to be premed. Right? They're from, you know, overtown, my which is a a predominantly black community in in Miami, but they don't necessarily have take they haven't taken calculus. They haven't taken chemistry. And so now they're behind when they get on campus. Doesn't mean you can't catch up, but it's gonna be a lot of investment of time. And so I've seen you know, racially diverse. You have your so many different, you know, actually graphically, socioeconomically, but I also think, like, you know, A lot of these students are coming from low income. If certain schools have the definition of first gen being anybody who domestically is the first to go to college. So you might have folks who have who come from other countries where their parents maybe have had college degrees from another country, they'll be the first one in their family to graduate from college here in America. And as you know, United States of America had continues to bring in a lot of international individuals, families, and their children are gonna be the first ones to benefit from our amazing educational system. You were talking earlier about this process of assimilation. I remember in my freshman year in college writing class, there was a problem to describe a scenario where you didn't feel like you fit. So for some of these folks, I imagine, they can feel like a little bit of an outsider. But there would also be an incredible urge to assimilate. Like, what encouragement and guidance do they get to stay connected to their roots roots while also assimilating into a new culture and environment. For sure. Yeah. I'll I'll just say let's say Kathy. I won't put her name out there, but a student named Kathy. And Kathy transferred in from the University of Florida Probably some bad blood there. Yeah. Yeah. Probably a little bad blood, you know. But, you know, she found out that the University of Miami had some of the resources plus being closer to home. Right? Some students go out and they think that the college every college that you go to first might not be your finishing college. And I think that's another thing that FirstGen students And, I mean, students in general, like, if if this culture doesn't fit, then it it's okay to move just like we move for culture fits in the professional world. But I think Cathy struggled with being involved in because she didn't get all the STEM courses in high school. And then also, she couldn't find her community on campus. And so I think one of the things that I do is when students set up appointments with me, which students are able that are first gen all have access to me. They get a weekly newsletter from my office, and they're able to set up appointments between, you know, ten to four windows Monday through Friday. And so this student, Kathy, will set up a meeting with me, and we talk about some of those challenges and barriers. And we really just sit down and map out resources that they can utilize And many times, they're surprised they're like, oh, I didn't know that we had that here. And so now I have a choice. I can either affirm them and say, hey, reach out to this person or I can help go the extra mile and be like, well, let me do this email to introduce you to this person. Now the challenge for you is to set up a meeting and make that start building that relationship. And so I think I call it a little bit of intrusive advising structure strategy that I have where I'm like, you know, look, it's not gonna all fall in your lap, but you have to go and seek these resources. A lot of times, I I give students they example of this is the last place probably in your life where all the resources are gonna be within walking distance. That you need on a college campus. Right? You need something for financial aid. You can walk over to the financial aid office. If you need therapy and counseling, there's a counseling center on campus. If you need student worker position. There's a student employment office. You need advising or mentorship. You can you can go to that office. And so I'm saying, I always tell them it's best of practice going and getting the help that you need now in this collegiate safe space. Before you go out into the real world. Those are habits that you wanna build. And so I think having those conversations and being available for multiple you know, meetings which some students meet with me and my team biweekly just to do biweekly check ins to status check on small wins so that we can gain that momentum for bigger wins. And I think it's just building that culture of momentum and culture of small wins lead to bigger wins are things that I feel like are have been very helpful with helping our students. You you get an opportunity to address, like, the the broader population, like, a whole group a first gen students at the beginning of the year? Oh, for sure. Yes. We have orientation for them to start the year I'm actually building out an academy right now for targeting first year first gen students so that once they come in their first semester, they join this academy, and they they're able to kind of go through some workshops. So that way, we're not waiting till they are in urgent care. Right? Accademic urgent care. We're we're to put the lay the foundation of preventative measures to empower them early so that they know how to get connected. They know where the resources are and they're confident. Enough to reach out to them. And then we also November eighth is National First Jenday celebration. And so every year we host formal event where we are able to celebrate, you know, the trailblazer spirit of first gen students. And we're able to bring in a keynote speaker allow first gen students to mix and mingle. We have a student organization that we created last year for them to be able to just hang out and get to know each other on a personal level so that you know, if you haven't made friends yet, you can start making friends through the first gen student org. So we we we're working on and we have a lot of outreach opportunities at in place, peer mentors. We have a mentorship program where we match our first gen students with staff and faculty members that wanna mentor. And so those are a lot of the active, you know, I think, growth oriented practices that we utilize over here in Army first. When you when you're speaking to a new class of of students, like, what is the one thing you you want them to take away from your address. If there was one thing. If there's one thing, you can't do it alone. You don't want to do it alone. Right? I think community is I I push community community community all day. And so I think for them, it's use us before you need us. Right? So that way, when you need us, it's no question that, you know, you are confident enough to we built the trust and earned your trust enough to where you can actually help us help you find the solution. Right? I think we call it empower me first because we wanted to empower them to take this experience into their own hands. Right? We we don't want them to because we're not gonna be there with them forever. They're here for four years. So we want to, you know, help them mature as fast as possible. And part of that is learning how to ask for help and knowing that you can't do it alone. At least efficient. Do you guys do you guys have, like, success metrics that you guys track for the the the cohort that kinda drives their outlook and their potential in their college career and and beyond? So as a office, we don't, but those are some of the things that I've been working on this summer. I've been pulling charts on students that are meeting with me versus students that aren't meeting with me, what are the GPA averages, you know, And then also trying to assess more for and this is why one of the metrics for success is them sharing their story. And so the more that they share their story with us, the more we'll be able to kind of have those examples for other students like, hey. Let me connect you with this student who failed to collect filled calculus their first semester here, and and they're now getting ready to apply for for for med school. And so having those types of qualitative, you know, measures so that we can share that story and then that can empower other first year students, but also really looking at the data, like, I was just looking at data the other day about what parts of the year are most students setting up meetings with our office. Right? And is it for personal support or academic support? And then looking at the notes and really saying, okay. There's a lot of students studying it within the school of the the the math school. Right? So then now we can try to create stronger pipeline between the math faculty to say, look, our first gen students are struggling over here. Let's try to put some programs in place to better support them or let them know, like, hey, there's some help here for them to accomplish whatever it is that they need to accomplish within that department. And so I think that is what we're trying to do. We're building infrastructure, we're we're needing to look at some measures so that we can make more data driven decisions. And be more effective and efficient with our time and our presence with the students we don't wanna do a lot behind the computers. We wanna be engaged with them. We want them to see us, see our faces, hear our stories, and I think that's just part of what we're trying to encourage him. Like, the community is gonna need to see your face. The community is gonna need to see you involved and invested when you graduate from here. Right? Because there's gonna be another cohort of young men and women coming in after you. And so we wanna be able to know that we could tap on you to empower the next generation. Yeah. I think there's so much wisdom in that the idea of knowing your story and knowing where you are in your story, it's so so powerful. You think about I I asked I had a conversation with with a with a professor that was saying, and I was like, hey, one thing I missed when I was in school is like, there's nothing they could have said to prepare me for how competitive the real world is. And I was like, how do you how do you go about empowering students to be prepared for that? And he goes, well, we want them to know their story, we want them to know their values because those are the things they're gonna lean on in times of uncertainty. And and I love what you're saying too about recognizing that, like, hey, you have an individual story, but you're also part of a bigger story and you're gonna have a place an opportunity. You don't have to go it alone. You're gonna have an opportunity to learn from some people that have done it before, and you're gonna hear their story. And if they can do it, you can do it too. Then you're gonna get a chance to be a source of inspiration and usher the next group in past the torch. Yeah. And that that that is as energizing as I try to lay it for them. Right? I and, you know, I just received an email maybe thirty minutes ago about a student at one student, Kathy, who transferred in, and she'd been struggling in her chemistry courses. She's been struggling in her math courses trying to catch up so that she can graduate within, you know, a certain window of goals that she set. Right? And so she can go to pre so she can go to medical school and this email was really just her expressing that these meetings have been helpful and also looking at her grades this semester. This is it was a pretty pretty good semester. And I'm really proud of her, so I can't wait to just reengage and say, hey. One semester down and, like, you know, that mine and he right now, Jimmy Butler is saying, you know, we got five more games to go. Right. So it's, like, there's another challenge after this challenge, so I don't want you to you know, just go buy all the fireworks and pop you know, blow up all the balloons and celebrate, but understand that you still have more challenges and goals that you said that you wanna accomplish, and I'm a hold you today. Do you guys have much opportunity inter interact with first gen high school students that are evaluating whether college is right for them. And the reason I ask is because you hear all the time that higher ed's changing, health care costs are going up, people wonder about the future of certain educational use institutions, and people are wondering if this idea of the traditional college experience is right for them? How do you see those conversations impacting this group of first gen potential first generation college students when they're in high school. Oh, for sure. I think there are you know, especially in places like Florida and, you know, other sit states that are with some of the legislation, like, you know, it's gonna create some barriers for our students that maybe come from communities that have historically been disenfranchised. Right? And so I think we are you know, I'm on the advisory board for an organization called Breakthrough Miami, which is summer program for the youth of the Miami Dade area. And so I think there are some philanthropic, nonprofit efforts that are going out through the University of Miami that I'm I'm learning and actively becoming more participatory in. I work with our admissions office where we are creating marketing materials and and just finding new ways to engage with them because, like I was saying, if you don't come from a specific type of school or community where your your school is matching your school experience and high school is matching the demands and the requirements of colleges so that you can graduate within four to five years. Right? Prestigious institutions that have the top programs continue to raise their tuition and fees. It's gonna take a combination of you having that preparation in high school and some philanthropic support to really gain access to some of the premier programs here in our country. And so that's that's what we're trying to do more of. My myself personally, outside of my work, I try to get connected to nonprofits and organizations and some of my other friends and colleagues that are in some of the high schools and middle schools in the city. But those are those are the things that are very, very important is letting them know what is the road to like, what is what do I know about the road to get here? And then we can empower you in here, but I want you to hear it coming here. And then also, I'll be speaking I'm, like, guest speaker for this signing day event through a a nonprofit organization called Capital League down here next weekend. There will be some these young men that are maybe graduating from high school that are are going to college, some of them choosing military, and then some of them choosing to go into the professional field. And so really just encouraging them that no one of those pathways are bad. Right? It's it's your choice. And how do you maximize that choice? I have my best friend went went to college left after a year and is having a very successful career in the air force while also now having his master's. While also taking promotions with the air force. And so you can do that too. Right? And you have some amazing entrepreneurs that never attain to college degree. So I think, like, we talked about more. The story ability to share the stories of successes through all avenues, is important, allowing folks to know what options they have on the table so that they can make a choice. What I think so exciting about this is, you know, when I hear you talk about story and values and mentorship and small wins leading to big wins and navigating decisions, crafting certain messaging to serve an audience. Like this has everything and nothing to do with being a first generation student. So I'd be curious what you think we can learn for our lives and other organizations, what those groups can learn from from the first gens? Oh, yeah. I think You can learn a lot just from the passion and the resilience. Right? I think one thing about our first gen students, they're so excited to be involved. They're so excited to learn new things. And when you're when you engage with them, if you earn their trust, they're so malleable. Right? I think that's so powerful because you can help mold you know, their futures. Because, you know, they're looking at where they come from, potentially, as an asset. I mean, as you know, not as an asset. And so if you're able to tell them, like, everything that they've gone through is an asset to this point, to why they're being in this moment. And now they have the power to transform the, you know, the next generation of their family, the legacy of their family. I think those students are very, very important in the journey of, you know, our country, our world because they're you know, I think sometimes with our students that are maybe I've seen it a lot, but students might be legacies at the University of Miami. There's an level of privilege when you know the pathway. There's a level of privilege when you already know that you have connection over here or over there or that this place has always been told that this is yours or your family says, hey, we pay that school. They need to do whatever you know, we, you know, we pay their bills. Right? But when you have somebody who's grateful to be in a position, the amount of service that you can you know, the amount of service that they are willing to to give can be so dynamic to a institution, a company, a community if we set them on the right foundation of understanding those core values. Yeah. I I love what you're saying around humility and a beginner's mindset. And, you know, as you were saying that I was thinking, you know, there's so many books like Malcolm Vladwell's outliers about early bloomers, I've inspired to look into some books about late bloomers. Because I think, you know, I'm reading a book right now about a a guy named Ken Hirsch. It's a a biographies from he's in in Dallas. He's at he's the oil energy investor turned philanthropists, and his book's called the slow tortoise. Which I think there's a lot of wisdom in there. On that topic, are there any reading recommendations that you recommend as students? When they come in, like, to get, like, when you where you're talking about instilling values or ideas. Like, what are you recommending? Oh, yeah. Hi. See what you're doing. Let's go. Yep. Very good. Yeah. So the alchemist, man. This is one of my one of my top books. So Last year, I had some extra funding in my budget. And so I just bought, like, as many alchemist books, and it was my top book. Right? When I when I really started understanding what I was learning, like, outside of just being a college age student was was when my mentor gave me that book. And I was like, I'm really learning. Like, I'm not just learning because it's required in a classroom. I'm I'm reading books that are recommended to me. And so this This book talks all about journeys. Right? Finding your purpose. Right? Like, you might be a part of a family and their your family has done this for forever. That does not mean that you can pimp you can't pivot. Or, you know, you you can't do your own calling. Right? What do you when you dream at night, what is it that is? You know? Shows that you should be doing. And then also, I have another good book here that I work I partner really well with this public speaker who does a lot of first gen speaking, Raquel Bartoli. And she actually published this book called success habits. So this is a student's guide to succeeding in school, work, and life. And so I always get these two books out to students who I'm just connecting with, like, as like a a peace treaty, a peace offering. Right? Like, let me give you something when you leave here that I think can be an amazing tool for you, and I think it's been well received by our students. Yeah. I I the alchemist is one of my favorites. It's, like, so foundational. So many light bulbs going up. But I thought things interesting about it is when I read it, like, the first time at, like, you know, early twenties, I I had one takeaway that it was, like, this guy going after his purpose. And then when I read it, like, five or six years later, I was like, man, it it actually is also the opposite. It's it's this beautiful unfolding of a purpose finding a person. So, like, this kind of the way I was looking at the direction of flow is a little different. Man, and it's a book you can read almost at any pivotal moment in your life and you'll you'll get a different message. So I'm sure in in five years you read it, you're gonna see something else in there. And that's what I've loved about that book and having it as a a mainstay and kinda like my resources to share with folks. Excellent. Well, you've been very gracious with your time today, Michael. What's the best way for people to keep up with you and the work you're doing? Yeah. Please follow me on LinkedIn I'm trying to be more active on LinkedIn and being more involved. I'm working on. Starting to do more public speaking, so I'm open to, you know, speaking to communities Not just about first gen experiences, but about folks in the power of story, the power of telling your story, and just kinda being a resilient leader. So I'm just trying to just share more stories and and and serve in the community as much as I possibly can. So follow me on LinkedIn. Let's connect. And Appreciate it, Mike. I and I can speak from firsthand experience some of the stories you've shared. Have picked me up on hard days and really inspired me. So thanks for coming on this show, Micah. And that means and thank you so much, Adam.