Name:
Nicholas Nick Edward Johnston
Position Title or Student Involvements:
Assistant Professor, Hospitality Management, School of Human Environmental Sciences, Bumpers College, University of Arkansas
What degrees have you obtained or are working on?
BA – Political Science – Texas Tech MS – Hospitality Management – Texas Tech PhD – Hospitality Administration – Texas Tech
What does it mean to you to be a first-generation student/graduate?
It means a lot! I broke the chains and found success!
Why is being a first-generation student/graduate important to you?
I am proud to carve a new path for my immediate family and to be a source of generational change. It is important to show my children and others that anything is possible.
What piece of advice would you give to first-generation students?
Don’t give up, ask for help, and expect to be uncomfortable. It was not until after I began graduate school before I learned about first-generation and the impact it has on success. I thought my struggles were because I was not smart enough for college or that college wasn’t for people like me. I was wrong but it took a long time to realize why I held those thoughts. I encourage students to believe in themselves and engage in self-reflection. If you are struggling, ask yourself why. Ask others for help too. Then follow through! Be ready to be uncomfortable too… many of the things I learned/habits formed early in life had to be unlearned. The good habits I was learning in college felt wrong or out of place. Unlearning bad/poor habits made simple (school-related) tasks much more difficult. I had to learn to live with that discomfort as a part of the process of change.
Is there anything else you would like to share about yourself that you feel is important for people to know about you?
My family is poor and most family members have not completed college. I also struggle with ADD/ADHD and never excelled before college. My experiences before college led me to believe that I was not made for school. later I discovered, that I did not have the tools or training for success. My learning disabilities and stereotypes held me back more so than my cognitive ability. Once I set clear goals and believed in myself, I have excelled beyond my (and many others) expectations.