September 17, 2024 • 53 mins
In this episode of "Surviving and Thriving After High School," we welcome Michael Agyeman, a law grad student with a rich background in community and family. Michael shares his journey from growing up in various cities to pursuing a career in law. He discusses the importance of community, family roots, as well as the challenges and rewards of his educational path. Get insights into how he navigates life’s transitions and his advice for those looking to enter the legal field.
Michael also delves into his personal experiences with internships, the role of faith in overcoming challenges, and the importance of preparation and adaptability. Whether you're a recent high school graduate or someone contemplating a career change, this episode offers valuable lessons on making informed decisions and staying resilient through life's twists and turns.
Topics:
- Personal journey and background
- Influence of family and community
- Experiences moving
- Initial interest in law
- Goals
- Importance of mentorship
- Faith communities
- Adaptability and resilience
- Technology shaping interpersonal relationships
- Encouragement for young people
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
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Music.
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Thank you for joining us today on Surviving and Thriving After High School.
You've survived high school.
Now what? This incredible world that we live in is filled with choices,
and we're here to help you navigate that path.
Today, we have an absolutely amazing guest that I've known for quite some time.
His name is Michael Agyeman, and he is going to be taking us on the path of
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law and showing us what that experience has been like for him.
He's currently in grad school. Cool. So everyone, if you're at home,
I want you to put your hands together and welcome Michael.
So Michael, can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you prepared yourself for law?
You know, when I think of life, right, I think in one aspect,
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one word to describe my life so far has been community.
So when I look back in my upbringing, my parents were in grad school when I was a baby.
So being raised by my grandparents was a different factor when really the relationship,
when we call our mother and father mommy and daddy, I also share that with my grandparents.
So between having my parents deal with school and then come and see me when
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they had the time and opportunity to, I also built a bond with the network of
people around me growing up in New York.
So growing up in the Bronx, it was almost like family was everybody I could
have seen in public. There's still family members I haven't seen,
too, but just the amount of people that help pour into the family,
it comes down to eventually move to Chicago.
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And then we have more family members there. Then my dad finished his school.
So mom graduated in New York and up in Buffalo.
Moved to Chicago so my dad could finish. Whole new set of family members I've
never met. Amazing cousins.
Another network of a community right there that you need to to grow up.
So we go through, I think, two years in Chicago and we finally end up in Fayetteville.
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And then we go to a whole new school. And I think looking back at my parents'
decision to from living in the Bronx, New York, then living in Chicago,
Illinois, then going to a place like Fayette County.
We're in like the greater Atlanta region, if we consider that.
But then if we also just consider Fayette, I mean, how many people from another
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state really see Fayette as a good place to raise a family?
Like that's stuff that you really have to take your time and look into because
one, my parents moved us to Georgia, but my siblings and I were in New York for a vacation too.
So they made all of this happen to the point where we take a flight to New York,
but we don't take a flight coming back to Chicago. We're in Atlanta. Yeah.
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So just that whole aspect of what my parents did in bringing us to Fayette and
then bringing me into a new school that opened up maybe within that one to two year span too.
My parents really did take their time in looking up what would be a good area.
I couldn't really ask for a different pathway in terms of coming up and being
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raised in New York and still considering that to be home at the end of the day.
I mean, we took vacations back and forth when I was a kid. kid, that's still home.
Then you move to Chicago where you've met a whole new identity that you've attached yourself to.
I still have kids that I went to school with that I sometimes think of,
what if I might meet your child one day in life and I can give back?
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I might be able to figure out that your name might be related to somebody who
I might've went to school with. It'd be a different experience.
That's so awesome. I had no idea about your background.
We met at youth group and I've known him since I was in seventh grade or maybe sixth grade, yeah.
So I've known you for about seven years now.
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That's some time. Yeah, like it's crazy to think about. This is cool to find this out about you.
I had no idea that your family moved so much, but with that,
I'm just curious now, you love that experience of having all those different types of community.
Do you have any family members here in Fayetteville or was that just like something
that your mom and dad decided after they researched it, we're going to move
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to Fayetteville to raise our family and now it's up to y'all.
They definitely took the action of, we're going to move here.
We're going to situate ourselves here.
The children will be good to be raised here. And then you start seeing when
we first moved to Georgia, we find out, because Atlanta is a big community and
it's diverse, we have our family's culture, our Ghanaian culture.
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We have people who are Ghanaian that we can find within the Atlanta area and outward too.
So then we first go to a Ghanaian church. And that's an experience in itself,
too, where that community of Ghanaians from the parents to the children,
you've already situated yourselves to where that connection has already been
built and it's already had the groundwork for a foundation.
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So you have those people that you can still go back to.
But then you also have it to where, like my uncle, my dad's younger brother,
he lives here in Georgia now.
He still goes back to Ghana, too. So that's a good thing.
We've had my grandma on my dad's side. They didn't get a chance to meet her
until I was older because I was raised with my mom's side of my grandparents.
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So seeing her for, I think, it could have been a full semester. I mean, like six months.
You're seeing more and more people, friends-wise of family members,
thinking of coming here.
But in terms of like bloodline relatives, that's where everybody has gotten
to that point in age where they've got themselves situated. They've got their family situated.
They've picked the areas they want to pick. So their experience is not like Fayette.
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Yeah. I could definitely understand that. If you're listening at home and wondering
about Fayette County, we have a lot of pasture land in Fayette County,
and it's not as city for sure as New York.
We don't really have, even in Atlanta, just the packed streets.
They get packed around nighttime or something when something's going on.
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But during the day, it's rather easy to get around. So that's the one thing
in terms of New York life to Atlanta, Georgia life.
That's the only complaint you can have about Atlanta is that those timeframes, traffic.
So now I'm curious, because your family moved you here,
thinking about your future family, are you thinking like maybe you might want
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to raise your future kids possibly in Fayette County or even the state of Georgia?
Or are you thinking somewhere else that you've been?
I think I have a problem. And my problem is this.
You move a kid early in life and it could be different outcomes.
But here's two outcomes I've pondered. Could I have been that kid who the minute
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I've settled down after moving a lot, doesn't want to move anymore?
That's fine for people who don't like moving because you move once.
Cool. You move two times, then it's like you start to want to figure out,
do I even want to, like, can't I just stay where I'm at? And it's weird because
my moving memories haven't been made to feel negative.
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It's always been new chapter. Even the reset process.
I think I can't be too selfish and exclude the fact that I moved when I was a kid.
So my sister, she's older than me by about seven years.
So her moving experience during like middle school and high school when I'm
still a kid is way different because I'm not shy, but I guess I have to make
friends because it's like you don't want to be that one person who doesn't want to socialize.
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And it's always weird to look at people and not want to figure out,
well, we can't keep staring at each other forever.
Like, somebody's going to have to open their mouth. That's why we have them. So I like moving.
That's why even an undergrad, just moving to the different apartment communities, I liked it.
I mean, just the packing up and preparing for it and everything.
I'm moved into my new place in Mississippi right now.
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But even then, I haven't finished everything. And I'm not even rushing it right
now because thankfully school hasn't started up. So I still have that adjustment
of just I'm knowing that I'm coming into my place and I'm making my place.
But I might want to move again.
I'm not sure. I like the Fayette aspect, that kind of community.
I definitely advise if everybody could have the opportunity to look up a place
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like Fayette, wherever state they want to be in and settle down in.
Fayette might be able to bring me back. It's always possible.
But I might also want to venture out to another state.
I completely understand that. One of my good friends, she's been traveling the world here lately.
It's kind of crazy because I'll look on her Instagram and one day she'll be
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in Scotland, the next day it's Paris, France.
And I'm like, what? How are you just all over the place?
And it's cool to watch. So, yeah, I'm so glad that you enjoy the whole moving
process and that sort of thing and that you're able to just adapt to the new situations.
And that is one thing that is awesome about Michael is that he is just a complete
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and total leader wherever he goes.
He will go out and he will seek out people like he was talking about and just
find community, make community.
And I have no doubt that that's from the way that your parents raised you and
the whole entire moving process as well because I distinctly remember when I
got into youth group, Michael came over to all of the incoming,
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like I guess you could call him freshmen.
I don't even know what it would be at that point, but he would come and mentor us.
He would just walk us through and be like, okay, you know, like welcome to the
youth group. This is what it's like. Come sit with me, that sort of thing.
And then he would also say like, how can I be praying for you?
And then he would grab each kid individually and just take them outside of the
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hallway and be like, are you going through any struggles? You know,
like, how can I be praying for you?
What's something that I can do to help you through anything that you're going through?
And it really touched a lot of kids' hearts and it really touched mine.
So I really appreciate you doing that, man. And I certainly hope that it's been
continued on through the legacy of Michael here at the church,
but everybody's got to love Michael here.
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So now that you've told us a little bit about your background as a person, what got you into law?
So I mentioned the idea of my grandma raising me, my grandma and my grandpa
raising me. So those were my older sister too.
And I have memories of being with grandma and big sis and we're watching Judge Judy.
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And as a young kid growing into just seeing how her character was on screen
and the different people she interacted with in the cases, I mean,
a TV show like that would attract anybody to be like, you know what?
That does sound a little bit ridiculous. Like maybe like you start formulating
opinions and ideas and then you kind of see how within that setting law is being served.
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And it looks nice, but then curiosity kicks in. Then it's like we don't even
know between looking up a Google search to figure out Judge Judy,
her side of law is different than a courtroom experience because it's a certain type.
I looked it up when I was a kid. It said arbitration, but that's too big of a word right there.
What does arbitration mean and it's like
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it still can proceed like a court proceeding
but different rules in place different kind of
atmosphere so whenever I see TV judges that
was another aspect of life I didn't even think about too it's something that
you think of and you want to figure out what about this that I'm seeing is applicable
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for life then law then you start learning okay there's law firms there's courtrooms
there's Oh, the police officers are also in the courtroom.
Also, they're deputies and they're solicitor general or district attorneys.
So you start looking these things up and then you start with a curious mind.
So as a kid and you see your big sister's interested and your grandma's interested
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and you watch TV with them.
So it's not like you're interested in anything beyond what you're being allowed to see.
You start trying to figure out, is this something that I want my life to be
involved with and in what aspect? And that's what kind of brought me to law,
just being exposed at an early age, having conversation, seeing family members interested too.
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And then you try and figure out later on, what impact can I have where I can give back?
And it's something that I feel comfortable with because it's a sad thing when
you can't learn new something every day.
Then it's almost like, is it just a simulation of life?
Like, am I just repeating the next day or am I getting something that's advantageous?
Am I really getting something out of a similar setting, but a different day?
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Nice, man. Yeah, I'm so glad that you would share that and how you were inspired
by something as simple as Judge Judy, just watching it with your family.
And I feel like that's something that lots of people can do is they can trace
something back to, you know, I have this really positive memory of doing something with my family.
And that's what got me into this. and that's awesome that Judge Judy was able
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to inspire you and that you did your own research.
That is amazing. Like how old were you when you were searching these things
up and just being like, okay, what is arbitration?
Because you know, that is a big word. Like, wow.
Whenever used to probably came up big, maybe it was like in the early 2007s
to 10s, around that age frame when I have the opportunity to,
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like our family has a home laptop.
So you can turn on the computer then you're on YouTube on a computer.
So it's like my generation of growing up on the internet was whatever information
they were able to publish, however many people contributed to that, it really did help out.
But it's like you can learn only so much from just being presented with the image and the words.
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You need another kind of learning too. But even then, too, to that point of
Judge Judy, I got to add, it's definitely my background to a family when it
comes down to law because my family, they didn't start here in the States.
So my grandparents, they moved to New York from Ghana.
My parents, they moved to the States, my mom in New York, my dad in Illinois
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for school. So there are reasons for even coming to the States,
too, is a big reason why I'm not in Ghana right now. Honestly,
I could have been born in Ghana.
I could have been like my sibling where I'm starting a whole new place.
My whole new place was what I still call home, New York. So I also think to
the point of I have a connection that's also unique to we think of immigration.
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Immigration is a big aspect of law, too, where it's like my parents came here.
Then they got themselves citizenship just after getting their education situated here.
So the process of realizing all of this stuff impacts you, you touch different
stories with that, too, because other people can understand.
Oh, I dealt with the immigration office. My family had to go through this.
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It's not common, but it's definitely common for those who it applies to.
So when it comes down to like seeing a Judge Judy on TV, then you start looking
things up online, then you realize, hold on.
You're telling me this actually affected my family, too, in an aspect that it's
not in my face, but the only way it can be available is if we're able to go
through it the right way.
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That's so cool that you're able to make those connections with other people
because, like you're saying, you have a connection to people that I wouldn't have.
You're able to say, like, my family dealt with this, and you would be able to
help someone who could be going through the immigration process as well and their family.
So that's absolutely amazing, in my opinion. And I love how God gives us these
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little unique things like Michael gets this, Coleman gets that, and this one gets that,
you know, like it's fun to see how he's designed all of us to work together
and help each other in community.
And I also want to pivot back to Judge Judy and how you were saying there's
all those different types of law.
I was curious, you've shared with me about goals before.
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So are there any goals that you're trying to attain right now as far as law goes?
And if so, like in what areas of law are you interested in?
So with the exposure that I've gotten after going through a courthouse internship,
that's when I had to start thinking more.
So what areas of law specifically do I feel comfortable in?
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Because like I can use this analogy of when I had to figure out if I wanted
to like go through the medical pathway.
And then I realized, well, the health care, the health care also has a lot of
laws to it. I didn't grow up understanding that.
How does health and law come together?
Auto accident cases, medical malpractice. So then I started getting interested
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in medical malpractice because realizing that, for one, doctors need representation.
The hospitals need representation.
There's a lot of things that need to be passed legally to make sure everything is sound.
So you start thinking of those aspects of that's why lawyers are involved.
Good. So then it's like, can I figure out a pathway to involve myself in that?
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So that's what brought me to my last year in Kennesaw.
I had to get an internship and I had been looking and I got an opportunity to
work for a personal injury attorney who was mainly a criminal defense attorney,
but he also had his other side of the office doing auto accident cases.
Medical malpractice cases.
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So then I get that exposure, like that interest of medical malpractice and personal
injury cases and civil law cases.
So like, if you were to think of a corporate accident, I want to sue somebody
that side of that civil law.
So it's like, he gave me the exposure that I was looking for.
That's what he could have promised me. He couldn't promise me much and he definitely
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couldn't promise me a bankroll of money, but it was exposure.
So I start thinking of like health, like the person, because that same aspect
of medical malpractice and all of that's dealing with the body,
the person, like those are the areas of life that I feel like they're more personal for me too. So.
Also, I've thought about it and I still keep an open mindset to other areas
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of law, but from health law and all that surrounds from personal injury cases
and all that surrounds to those have been the avenues I've seen I've invested more time into.
But like, even though I knew internship to learning about different paperwork
that have to get processed from a secure transaction to bankruptcy,
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I mean, I'm getting exposure. So I'm not going to keep a closed mindset.
That'd be disadvantageous. But I've definitely seen how I've kind of moved around within time.
The fact that you're so intentional about everything in your life is just incredible
to me because you had that interest and then you realized that you needed to shift that a little bit.
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And then you thought, okay, well, how do these two things combine?
And then you found how to combine them. That was just so cool to me that God
gifted you with that sort of insight to where you can just look at something
and go, okay, this is the next step. That's the next step. Yep.
So I'm just curious, with grad school, how has that prepared you to address these goals?
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When you go into a grad school setting, it's the principles of life,
it's the morale, it's how you've grown up also dictates what you put back out.
Now, so I can't even imagine a foundation that wasn't Christ-led,
that my family, like I can't imagine that, but I see the similarities.
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So I do see those families that the children might not have had Christ in their
life, but they're in-laws.
So you can also see that there are some responsibilities that those within those
fields, although there are differences between the people, you can see intricately,
okay, they were raised this way, that was similar to me.
So you start understanding that you need a good background.
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I don't think anybody that I've met in grad school didn't have some sort of structure.
And see, like the structure for me for law school, I knew, I think it was January.
So December of 22 is when I got my acceptances to the schools that I applied
for that had wanted me back.
I'm glad that that happened. So, January, I start, I think really after that
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December to January time frame, I realized my mindset now has to go ahead and
start shifting towards being prepared for law school.
Because, no, you can't prepare for law school, but you can start molding your
life in an aspect that you know, if I can make some structure into what I need
to do now before the situation arises.
It's better to prepare for it.
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And it took me to understanding, okay, my mom used to wake me up at 5 o'clock
in the morning. I started waking up at 3 o'clock and 4 o'clock in the morning.
Okay, we can do devotion at this time. Now I got to fit in. I do the early morning workouts.
I torture myself going to the gym in the morning because I realized that's an
investment in my life that I needed for me.
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Then I fit in the Lord to that too. Then I have to fit in.
Now how does school and preparing for school fit into that? Because you definitely need that.
Then you have school. So then not just in that school year of just,
okay, I know what I have to do.
No, I have to be intentional in terms of what I need to do within these certain time frames.
And no schedule can be perfect to where you follow it down to the T.
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But what you can do is still have that structure of, I know what this time is allocated for.
So even if I don't manage it correctly, whatever time I might have,
especially where it's free time, I got to pour back into what I've lost time on too.
So it's preparing for what you need to take care of and staying consistent.
And the consistency in that can be difficult because I preach on not wanting
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to do too much if I get mentally drained.
If I have to get mentally drained to the point where I can't do anything that
is productive, I had to learn that about me.
Like, all right, break time. Nah, I can go ahead and go to sleep. Wake up early.
Definitely squeeze a workout in or not. I mean, those things are just luxuries at that point too.
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But it's like you start fitting things in where they can be fit in because it's all sacrifice.
You can't get it perfect too. There's some nights you might not get sleep.
So what are you going to do within this schedule? Then I look at my calendar.
Yeah, it's a lot of structure. It's a lot of routine, a lot of consistency.
High school helps you out a little bit. college definitely puts you into a where
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do you want to fit in within what you want to do but then that law school that's
It's something else. You got to want it for you. Sadly, you meet those that
things might come natural, but how long can that last?
You can be gifted educationally, but if you don't have interest in what you
want to do, what's the drive?
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Even those who don't stick out long. I mean, I don't always blame them because
I also have to think of what did they go through in life to get them to the
point where they just, they dropped out, but I'm here.
They had their reasons. They had their story.
So you got to stay strong on those. faith.
For sure. Yes. Oh yeah. There have been countless times where it's been just
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faith that's been driving me through.
It's like, okay, Lord, I know you want me to do this.
So I'm just going to trust you to get me through physics. And you know,
like that was my thing this past year was like, anytime my friends would text
me, I would be like, that's awesome.
And then they'd be like, why did it take you so long to respond?
And then I'd be like, I was doing physics for like the the past six hours.
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But you know, like, yeah, I would definitely agree with you on like scheduling out your day.
That is so important. Like, especially you have to set aside that time for the
Lord and even just like the routine of things, even though you can't keep that
perfect schedule, like you were saying,
you need to try and at least get into a flow of how things are going to go.
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And honestly, what I would recommend is when you get to college,
just change your schedule, like change the flow of things.
Like what are like five ways that I can improve myself?
And like you were saying, your mom got you up at five, you're going to get up
at two or three now and you're going to figure out what it's like to not get
any sleep during the night and just have those days where it's go, go, go, go, go.
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And then eventually, you know, you will have that free time because you're working
ahead, you're working hard and doing all of that. I think that that's some great
insight. So thank you for sharing that with us.
I'm also curious. We've talked a lot about the internships and that sort of
thing and how high school prepared you, how college prepared you.
What would you give as a piece of advice for someone who wants an internship
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with a law firm or if they're wanting to intern like you did with Jason Thompson in the court?
So how would you recommend someone going about that?
What steps can they be taking to kind of prepare themselves for that?
And how can they make the most of that internship?
I think the only way I could really answer that question and get my perspective on this too.
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So to give some context, I started at, I can't recall what age,
it must have been for sure high school, where I started pondering,
how do people get into positions that they're in?
Then you start learning about those who have been in a certain area.
So mind you, I give background to understand that my family moved around a lot,
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but they didn't originate in the States.
They were in Ghana for the most part. So a lot of roots were made in Ghana.
A lot of connections were made in Ghana, then Great Britain.
We have relatives there too.
So whatever roots were done there, they've been on longer than my parents have
been in a certain area for a long time too. So I start learning.
People have family friends and those family friends open those doors.
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And then you start allowing for a community to foster where your child is interested
in this. My child's interested in this.
Go ahead and put them in. Or it's just my son is in this stage of life.
My daughter's in this stage of life.
Can they go here and learn under your wing? And then you understand that aspect
of that's an area where those who that applies for, it works out.
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They still got to do the work. Don't get me wrong. The grades still have to apply.
And even if they don't apply, that's networking in itself, in their community itself too.
So you have that aspect of life. My aspect of life has been different because
I've had to understand I got to do work.
I have to make sure I put in work so that not only am I putting work in school,
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but how am I trying to put myself out there as difficult as it is? That's why I say I'm shy.
But really, it might just be life to the point of I got to talk to people.
Then I got to go into a room with people. And it's like, it might not seem that
I feel shy, but it's like a saying in my culture, too. It's like,
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you don't make me feel shy.
That saying is something that drives me to make sure I talk.
Because if I don't talk, maybe I just want to relax. Maybe I just want to see
how things are being played. But for the most part, you got to do a lot of groundwork.
So you start putting yourself out there to talk to people.
And a lot of it's also preparation, too, because to the point that my plans
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are only my plans as long as the Lord sees fit.
It, if I wasn't meant to be in law, then for sure the Lord would have told me
in ways that only he can control at that point too.
Even though I might be quote unquote smart, the only way I even know if I'm
supposed to go through a certain chapter or journey is if I'm able to go through it.
And I'm able to figure out what to do when I'm in those scenarios too. So,
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I had a lot of networking. I had to, in essence, also build my school resume
too, because like I used to work from middle school through a little bit of undergrad.
Working with a food program for kids within this Georgia, greater and outer
Atlanta region to feeding kids for those in areas where they didn't have food
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provided as much as they could have been provided,
especially in areas where the schools would have stepped in.
But now that summertime is here, they're not able to. too. They might not have the funding to.
So I also poured into that aspect, too, where then we're creating a bigger network.
Then we're branching out, too. Then you get more exposure to different areas.
Oh, I've been to this city.
(28:32):
Oh, we're going to this city. Like our church had an event that we did yearly.
I think it was in Clarkston, Georgia.
Those were areas that I was feeding kids in. So just going into areas that are
familiar because I had a different for connection with it too.
It's the same purpose and drive
that motivates for what I want to do in terms of who I interact with.
(28:52):
So like my internship now, this internship is different than my other internship
experiences because I've done paperwork.
I've done legal work where I've had to be on the ground. I've gotten courtroom exposure.
It's at a different point in life. So it's still needed for sure.
So now I want to see, I've seen the courtroom. I've seen the behind the scenes
with the attorney's office.
(29:13):
Now this chapter in life, this internship has been about learning the attorneys
that are now practicing and how did they come up with their law pathway?
Not every situation has been handed to people to where you can say, oh, they had it perfect.
No, there was a lot of work that needs to be done behind the scenes.
So this internship has provided me an opportunity to be comfortable in a new
(29:37):
setting where it's like, now I get to talk to them.
You have to see my face. If I smile at you and I say hi, you want to not say
hi back? Like, you're going to respond.
So it's like, now I get a chance to start growing relationships where it's like,
I really look for guidance.
I want to figure out about you. Maybe I don't practice the law that you practice,
but at least I'm in a connection where it's like, I can definitely refer back
(30:00):
to this person. I can definitely think of this experience.
I can definitely think of a memory that attaches itself, that it's like being a resource.
If I can figure out something that it can help you out on, why wouldn't I?
It's because I've already tapped into that side of life. So it all flows well
too. So yeah, it's a lot of putting yourself out there. And that's the uncomfortable thing too.
Because if you don't have that aspect of your community, might not be for the
(30:24):
pathway of life you want to go into, but they're in that certain aspect, that aspect is good.
But if you need something else, you got to go for it. And that's the uncomfortable
grunt work that is a challenge.
And once you get through that challenge, talk about rewarding.
It's always cool to see how the Lord will test you and then he'll just reward
you right afterwards with something that you were never expecting.
(30:47):
And I'm so glad that you would share that about the internships specifically,
because you know, at times internships can be taxing.
You're being treated as if you're an employee, but you're not,
sometimes not, technically getting paid for it.
Whereas otherwise, in some cases, were you ever working just for courtroom exposure
or was it always like a paid gig? The courtroom internship in high school was unpaid.
(31:12):
But at that point in life, at home, my gas is paid for by my parents.
They worry about school to the point where it's like, even though I worked during
the summer times, it was only summer time.
So I've had friends who worked during the school year. My parents didn't want
me to do that because they were so education heavy from the grandparents and
the parents before them, too. It's like, focus on school.
(31:34):
We'll take care of the necessities. So I go to undergrad. I get a paid internship
and I'm also getting support too.
But why is the economy getting more expensive?
That can be another conversation for another day. But you start understanding that.
As much as you're blessed with the money that you have, you got to manage it well.
Then you got to understand not all of this money can lead to good things too.
(31:57):
So the internship that I've had, it started from unpaid to paid.
But even then, when it comes down to the payment, this whole life of me trying
to get into the law pathways and investment.
So even if I don't get paid, there's some internships that depending on what
the opportunity is, if it's unpaid,
well, I better start saving up now so that when I get into that area,
(32:18):
I'm not surprised when the world's expensive and now I got to pay for stuff
and I'm not getting money back.
There's more money coming out than coming in. You have to start that work early.
Otherwise, you get the unfortunate, I wasn't ready. I didn't know what to do. Start now. No.
Yes, it's always better to be
prepared for something than to have it come along and just surprise you.
(32:40):
What has been your greatest challenge throughout this whole entire process of
going to law school and then you're also in grad school?
So you've had a lot more experience than a lot of us that have just graduated high school.
What's something that you can recommend? Was there ever a challenge that happened
to you to where you wish you could go back in time and you could tell yourself,
(33:03):
Michael, you should have done this.
What's a challenge like that that's ever happened? Or have you avoided that somehow?
It definitely challenges. I mean, I can make my challenges as small as I go
through a summer law class.
And then within that, I have a relationship,
right? Then I get out of a relationship. Then I have an exam.
(33:25):
And those challenges are there too, starting in a new community,
trying to get yourself situated in a place where you can start feeling comfortable
for that next chapter in your life, having a relationship that was cultivated
that things have changed.
So you have to move in a different direction too. That's a challenge in itself
too, just having to navigate how life looks after that.
I don't belabor myself or stress too much because I've learned over time.
(33:50):
I think it might have been, I point towards ninth grade.
That would be that one year where it's like, that's a fresh year.
That's ninth grade. That's a, you're a freshman.
Things are new for you. So that was the one year where I had to understand stress
to get to that point in life where mentally I had to understand my stress wasn't mine I could control.
And see, I sometimes have to review life because I sit back and even if I'm quiet,
(34:13):
I'm still thinking about a lot of things one thing I think of is
why at a certain point in life I get
the opportunity to get baptized then boom emotional spiritual
warfare is going on where it's like I can move in this aspect but then there
might be some things that I'm too vulnerable to but those vulnerabilities as
much as anybody can have their vulnerabilities why is mine getting attacked
(34:35):
too much why is it where I can be good and then boom out of nowhere devil why you trying
to play with me right now like you you're interrupting my peace and
my sanity to the point where it's like I know I can't go
through this alone too so the stress of challenges
have been relieved because I had to give it up
to the only man who could take care of it I can go to family
(34:57):
I can go to friends I can stretch myself out so
much to where those investments in life can be brought back to me in certain
aspects but I wouldn't fault any man or any woman for not helping me at a certain
place of life from me being selfish for my needs when really there's somebody
who's already wanted that to be done. They've already wanted that conversation.
(35:19):
I can go to somebody. I can open that door up because now I realize,
why am I being shut out emotionally?
When the Lord never told, Jesus never said I had to shut myself away from him.
Why would the Father want me to come to him? Because I got to go through those
things in life. And it looks different for other people. Other people go through other things.
But for me, like ninth grade was defining enough for it to be,
(35:43):
I have to let go of those things I can't control.
Whatever my triggers would have been to stress me out, I had to let the Lord
take over that too. So challenges in life, I had to go through that to understand
any event can be a challenge of some sort.
It can be a ripple. It can be an obstacle to go through.
Where's the confidence to be able to understand this isn't where I stop in life.
(36:06):
So I definitely have to go through it. Now, how do I go through it and who is backing me up?
That's why my faith is a lot stronger to be able to not want to stress.
There are stressful situations. There are some times where my heart might beat
too fast because it's like, oh, I'm thinking of this aspect of life.
And it's so unknown because the unknown is also scary, too.
(36:26):
But it's scary when you take God out of it, when you take the Lord out of what
you want to go through in life.
Otherwise, why go through a challenge that the Lord is opening your door to
if all you want to do is complain and not want to go through the challenge?
That's why everybody's life story is important. So challenges,
there are a lot of things that I've gone through on a day-to-day or whether
(36:48):
it be a month-to-month where I can give a full recap and I could point anything being a challenge.
It's more so how I got through them for me to not even think of them as challenges,
but little obstacles, little ripples in the pathway because at the end of the
day, we got to keep going.
So if I stop in one aspect, I've shortchanged myself. self.
I'm so glad that you would share that. I definitely believe that now there is
(37:13):
a serious issue with our generation and mental health.
And I'm glad that you would address that. I personally believe that the Lord
is the only one that can take away from you those anxieties.
And as you're saying, you know, he took those from you in ninth grade.
You just gave it all to him.
And I met you after ninth grade. So for the whole entire time that I have known
(37:34):
Michael, he has been this solid
man of God that is just able to lead and cultivate shepherds for Christ.
You have made up leaders from the youth group, and I'm sure you're doing that
at college and grad school.
Clearly, you've done that your whole entire life. Even when I see you interact
(37:56):
with Ivan, it's cool to see how you're shepherding him too.
Just in the little interactions that I see between you two, you're always like,
Like, this is my brother.
I'm taking care of him. And it's cool to see that sort of familial love between them.
It's always incredible for me to see that, how much a sibling can love another
sibling. Because, you know, there are those siblings that do not get along.
(38:17):
Oh yeah, we don't get along too at points in time too. But that's life and that's love.
And see, like one thing that's weird about me that I can say is there's two types of people.
There's a person that shows love and there's a person that tells you love.
And see, the person that tells you love, there are those in life who have had
to deal with being told vocally love.
And then it doesn't really get reciprocated. And then that heartbreak is another
(38:39):
kind of heartbreak where it's like, I needed that.
I didn't get it. But I've been shown love through my parents not having to tell
me they love me because they've also shown me the aspect of love.
And when they tell me they love me, for me, I say I'm weird because I don't
even need to be told that you love me because anybody can show me love in a
different aspect. respect, but it's how I receive that love too.
(39:02):
So when I see somebody do something good for me, it's a blessing. What?
You love me like that? So whatever my life mission is too, I preach on the kids
are the future because it's a scary time where we start unraveling what has
been understood to be misunderstood now.
It gets to a point where there are a lot of things that That could have happened,
(39:25):
that should have happened, and
would have happened, but where we are right now is such a readjustment.
It's almost like how much readjusting does one need to do till they realize
they weren't all aligned and things were just being aligned for them.
So you have to root yourself with the Lord, with Jesus Christ,
because even those who do have good structure too, you're on the best team.
(39:49):
You're not losing out on anything with him. What you lose out in might be too
worldly. Then at that point, figure out if you really want the world things
or if you really want the afterlife, the things after, the blessings after.
It's a lot of things that have to go down.
Now and beforehand and you gotta
hone in what you can hone in on i'm so glad
(40:11):
that you would share that specifically as well one of
the best pieces of advice that i was ever given was
by my acting coach tom scott he told me decide now what you will and won't do
because there will be a point in time where the devil will try and tempt you
and it'll be with something that you want you know whether it be you're not
willing to say this now but then you get offered two million dollars for a contract and then,
(40:35):
you know, saying it doesn't really seem so bad anymore.
But, you know, you got to ground yourself before like that goes back to the
whole entire thing about preparation.
If you can prepare yourself and prepare yourself for Christ specifically,
then he will reward that.
It may not seem like it in the moment, but he will reward you in some way,
(40:55):
form or fashion that is so much better than you could have ever imagined.
And the world may not see it is the thing.
Lots of times they will not see how he has blessed you and rewarded you.
It's just something personal between you and him.
But that goes back to also what you were saying with the showing the love.
God does tell us that he loves us in the Bible, but more so he shows us that
(41:19):
he loves us through everything that he did, sacrificing his one and only son
and offering us that path of redemption because we were like the prodigal son.
Son, we did not deserve anything, yet he was willing to go out and show us love
in that capacity. It's just absolutely incredible.
And I had never heard it shared that way, but are you sure you're not meant
(41:41):
to be a preacher, Michael?
Like, wow, that's awesome. I'm so happy that you would share that.
Moving on to the next question, I'm just kind of curious, you've had this whole
entire major experience of life and all of these things that we've cultivated
in these questions, but I'm also curious,
if you could describe it all in one word, what would that word be?
(42:04):
There's always a different answer I might come up with. I think for today,
I can definitely see life being adaptable because it gets to the point for me
in life where what I read in the Bible and what I learn and what I have to pray on,
there's one aspect of receiving that information.
(42:24):
But then the next step is also applying the information and see how that information
applied. applied, it really does matter.
And it depends on how you take care of those actions.
Will it also, you see the benefits and the fruits of that labor,
whether it's an instant thing or whether it's a long-term, okay,
I got to see it play out later on to plant a seed.
(42:46):
We learned that in church too, planting a seed. And those seeds depends on when
that fruit will bloom later on too.
So it's to the point where my life has to be adaptable.
Plus, side note, have we even thought about who in
the hospital babies we were born with on that day
and like have we even thought about where is that little
kid or little boy girl that was with me in the you know
(43:08):
i'm saying like so it's things like that where it's like adaptable whoever
i interact with wherever i'm at in life if i can't learn to adjust well then
i should be left behind because at that point i haven't opened myself up to
be able to move and branch out in different ways too so i don't think i I could
go through with saying one word
(43:28):
that describes me without pointing towards that word. Yes, absolutely.
You are definitely very adaptable. You just walk into any situation and you're like, absolutely.
I think how I've lived life is more so, yes, we can be selfish in an aspect
of we also have to think about us.
But I think how I've lived life through my actions, I haven't lived only for me too.
(43:50):
And how I've seen that is how my family has cultivated that too. So when it comes down to.
Having a life where my schedule isn't always something I can control,
where I know I might be pulled in one direction.
I sadly cancel plans that I try to make because my life also revolves around
family too and what the family needs and serving them and making sure I have
(44:11):
to take care of things that for sure don't want to be in trouble legally.
So I have to make sure I take care of certain obligations where I'm on the right track.
So even like in friendships too, I view friendships as like this.
We might not know what everybody's fully going through
because we don't wake up together we don't sleep together we don't eat together
all the time too so you got to give a little bit of grace and space to understand
(44:34):
we got to go through our journeys and when we're needed should be when a friend
is there this podcast is another platform that if we think mainstream media,
there are those who don't get a chance to really hear a message and for those
who receive a message how they receive it is different.
And like in life, when I might've received a message, how it applies for me,
(44:58):
depending on what I'm going through in life, might be a different reaction than
somebody else and what they need out of that message too. So.
There's that aspect of what do you do after high school? Oh, yeah.
And it's like, even then, I mentioned how I prepared and how my life has been
cultivated to where things like this, conceptually, I was able to think of it.
(45:18):
But really, I could have also been in the same predicament, too,
of I don't even know what I want to do at all to the point that the world has too much to offer.
There's a lot of things that you can do. But one thing I advocated for students
out of high school, and I'm talking about graduate high school first, for sure.
The second thing is, though, you got to plan for what you want to expose yourself
(45:42):
to, because I had the opportunity to be exposed to the areas of a career I wanted
to get into. And that career would be for life.
So it's like a lot of kids do need exposure. And like I know growing up, we had career day.
It's a different experience. You're getting to see these kids and their parents
and they have their parents have jobs that are cool.
(46:03):
And I don't know if they do that that much anymore, because it used to be something
growing up where like you heard about it a lot.
And then when you experienced it or like if you saw it on TV,
those things where it's like people do need exposure.
And sadly, you might not get that exposure opportunity from like a family connection.
It's something where you got to reach out and it's something you do have to
(46:25):
be like, you know what, that might be where I have to be selfish,
but you got to pray on that.
Then you have to understand what can I do in my setting to get what I want out
of life and is this what I do want out of life and will I be able to go through it?
Or is it something that I'm thinking in the moment, but something has to happen
in life for me to be redirected to?
(46:45):
So a lot of this has to be purposeful. I mean, we live life free.
We're not in bondage as much until we put ourselves in bondage where we start
are engulfing ourselves into doing too many extracurriculars because there's
a lot of things that we can do to lead ourselves away from the Lord.
And so for the kids that do get to that point where they're not sure what they
want to do, they need exposure too. And I feel like.
(47:09):
I got to go on a little rant. It bothers me a little bit. Absolutely.
Because I think of like the older kids, right? Especially not the ones that
the older kid is a sibling of somebody too.
I think of just the older kids that go through school and whatnot.
I used to wonder, why didn't I hear this from this kind of person?
From somebody who was in a grade above me too. I mean, we talked to those around us.
(47:32):
And thankfully in the youth group, I was able to talk to those in high school.
And when I got to high school, they would interact with people from church, too.
And it was good because they fostered that community that's like,
OK, I can feel comfortable in a space.
But there's a lot of things that you also can learn from older people that I
feel like if the older people within a certain similar setting can't pour back
(47:54):
into the kids in their similar setting that are younger than them,
too, you almost do a disservice.
I mean, you're not obligated, but wouldn't you want to be informed of some things?
Wouldn't you want to start learning some things? Wouldn't you want to be talked
to about certain things before an event happens that you're like,
I wish I learned this lesson?
Sometimes you don't need to learn the lesson if somebody else went through it.
(48:17):
So when you think about what I want to do for my next chapter of life,
I also put a challenge to the kids, too.
The kids who want that challenge will accept the challenge of,
let me make sure I get out of life what I want to make sure I get out of life,
start investing my time, I start researching and everything, too.
So you definitely got to put yourself out there, too. But it's a challenge that
(48:39):
goes back to the older generation.
I haven't seen it as a parent. And like even when I went to undergrad,
I would have hoped that those who went to Kennesaw before me,
I could have heard more and I did hear and I did act too, and that was good too.
But then I think of others who have people who went to their school, they might not hear too.
(49:01):
So even though I might've took my own action in a way I wanted to see fit,
I think it's also good to pour back in general and make sure you have those
connections where you learn from others too.
And you start figuring out if that aspect of an answer for life might also apply for my life.
It's definitely something where I really think this new generation,
(49:22):
the technology kids, I mean, the iPad babies too, that's something else too.
But it has to be where you can't look at somebody and not think,
are they going to be something for future that will be fruitful and they will make an impact?
I mean, is this something where you look at somebody in your life and you ignore
nor that aspect of your circumstance just because you think things are good.
(49:46):
I mean, don't get me wrong.
It's one thing to share the word. It's another thing to share the word with
somebody that you've cultivated a relationship with too.
So the young generation, you want to reach out because if you don't reach out now,
You don't want to put yourself in scenarios where it's like,
I wish I knew because I have to look back at you and figure out what part of
your life did you not want to learn before?
(50:08):
What part did you not open that door to cultivate in a relationship?
I mean, if we micromanage somebody's life and just look into how they channel
through life, it's never late.
But you can always see where things can be tweaked because not anything that
you do isn't changeable, isn't something that you can make another decision for too.
There's always room for growth and that's why. Why? So with how much stuff there
(50:31):
is out there, too, and how much the Internet has expanded,
all of it is advantageous if you learn how to make it advantageous instead of
just diving into it, but learning about it, learning about that diving board.
See, that diving board looks cool when you see somebody jumping on it like the Olympics.
What? I see somebody jumping three, four times, fly up high.
(50:54):
But you definitely want to get on it first without looking at it.
You definitely want to look at the water and see the distancing,
then fear and everything.
But then it's like, hold on. I can do it too. Let me go ahead and make sure
I understand it before I get into it.
And then once I get into it, I'm there. I got to get off somehow.
Can't go back down those stairs. It might be more tiring. I should have just fell off to begin with.
(51:15):
So it's like a lot of things in life that aren't done with a purpose.
There's a lot of unknown.
So like how my plans in life might've been able to come.
It only comes if the Lord wants it to come. My plans could have changed at any
point in time, especially COVID changed a lot of things for me too.
So there's a lot of things that if you don't prepare for it,
(51:36):
especially if you don't react to prepare for when things do happen to,
and you don't adjust to it, you do get a sense of being left back.
If our generation doesn't just really man up and just get out there and say,
you know what, someone's got to share it.
And, you know, if you ever do a job, the best way to do it is to just do it yourself.
(51:58):
Don't give it to someone else, you know, like you got to do it yourself.
So if the Lord sends you something and says, you need to do this,
you got to get out there and do it.
He has clearly called you to law and, you know, you're able to shepherd and
foster, or I'm sure the other students that are in the classes with you.
And I'm sure that when you get into a courtroom, that people will see a light
(52:20):
in you and they'll see a difference in you. And I'm so happy for that.
And I cannot wait to see how the Lord blesses you in your career.
So Michael, thank you so much for coming on the podcast and sharing.
I'm sure that you have given back to the community and that there will be countless
(52:40):
things that happen because of this.
Whether it be someone say, you know what, I never realized that I could combine
those two things with law or someone saying, I really do need to start preparing
more for my college life, my adult life and having kids and that sort of thing.
I need to be really intentional about that and how they're going to adapt to those new situations.
(53:02):
Thank you so much for coming on and sharing that with us. It's always comfortable
being back home. It's always a good thing being back home. So thank you.
Music.
Music.
(00:08):
Thank you for joining us today on Surviving and Thriving After High School.
You've survived high school.
Now what? This incredible world that we live in is filled with choices,
and we're here to help you navigate that path.
Today, we have an absolutely amazing guest that I've known for quite some time.
His name is Michael Agyeman, and he is going to be taking us on the path of
(00:30):
law and showing us what that experience has been like for him.
He's currently in grad school. Cool. So everyone, if you're at home,
I want you to put your hands together and welcome Michael.
So Michael, can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you prepared yourself for law?
You know, when I think of life, right, I think in one aspect,
(00:50):
one word to describe my life so far has been community.
So when I look back in my upbringing, my parents were in grad school when I was a baby.
So being raised by my grandparents was a different factor when really the relationship,
when we call our mother and father mommy and daddy, I also share that with my grandparents.
So between having my parents deal with school and then come and see me when
(01:13):
they had the time and opportunity to, I also built a bond with the network of
people around me growing up in New York.
So growing up in the Bronx, it was almost like family was everybody I could
have seen in public. There's still family members I haven't seen,
too, but just the amount of people that help pour into the family,
it comes down to eventually move to Chicago.
(01:35):
And then we have more family members there. Then my dad finished his school.
So mom graduated in New York and up in Buffalo.
Moved to Chicago so my dad could finish. Whole new set of family members I've
never met. Amazing cousins.
Another network of a community right there that you need to to grow up.
So we go through, I think, two years in Chicago and we finally end up in Fayetteville.
(02:01):
And then we go to a whole new school. And I think looking back at my parents'
decision to from living in the Bronx, New York, then living in Chicago,
Illinois, then going to a place like Fayette County.
We're in like the greater Atlanta region, if we consider that.
But then if we also just consider Fayette, I mean, how many people from another
(02:23):
state really see Fayette as a good place to raise a family?
Like that's stuff that you really have to take your time and look into because
one, my parents moved us to Georgia, but my siblings and I were in New York for a vacation too.
So they made all of this happen to the point where we take a flight to New York,
but we don't take a flight coming back to Chicago. We're in Atlanta. Yeah.
(02:46):
So just that whole aspect of what my parents did in bringing us to Fayette and
then bringing me into a new school that opened up maybe within that one to two year span too.
My parents really did take their time in looking up what would be a good area.
I couldn't really ask for a different pathway in terms of coming up and being
(03:08):
raised in New York and still considering that to be home at the end of the day.
I mean, we took vacations back and forth when I was a kid. kid, that's still home.
Then you move to Chicago where you've met a whole new identity that you've attached yourself to.
I still have kids that I went to school with that I sometimes think of,
what if I might meet your child one day in life and I can give back?
(03:30):
I might be able to figure out that your name might be related to somebody who
I might've went to school with. It'd be a different experience.
That's so awesome. I had no idea about your background.
We met at youth group and I've known him since I was in seventh grade or maybe sixth grade, yeah.
So I've known you for about seven years now.
(03:51):
That's some time. Yeah, like it's crazy to think about. This is cool to find this out about you.
I had no idea that your family moved so much, but with that,
I'm just curious now, you love that experience of having all those different types of community.
Do you have any family members here in Fayetteville or was that just like something
that your mom and dad decided after they researched it, we're going to move
(04:15):
to Fayetteville to raise our family and now it's up to y'all.
They definitely took the action of, we're going to move here.
We're going to situate ourselves here.
The children will be good to be raised here. And then you start seeing when
we first moved to Georgia, we find out, because Atlanta is a big community and
it's diverse, we have our family's culture, our Ghanaian culture.
(04:37):
We have people who are Ghanaian that we can find within the Atlanta area and outward too.
So then we first go to a Ghanaian church. And that's an experience in itself,
too, where that community of Ghanaians from the parents to the children,
you've already situated yourselves to where that connection has already been
built and it's already had the groundwork for a foundation.
(04:58):
So you have those people that you can still go back to.
But then you also have it to where, like my uncle, my dad's younger brother,
he lives here in Georgia now.
He still goes back to Ghana, too. So that's a good thing.
We've had my grandma on my dad's side. They didn't get a chance to meet her
until I was older because I was raised with my mom's side of my grandparents.
(05:20):
So seeing her for, I think, it could have been a full semester. I mean, like six months.
You're seeing more and more people, friends-wise of family members,
thinking of coming here.
But in terms of like bloodline relatives, that's where everybody has gotten
to that point in age where they've got themselves situated. They've got their family situated.
They've picked the areas they want to pick. So their experience is not like Fayette.
(05:43):
Yeah. I could definitely understand that. If you're listening at home and wondering
about Fayette County, we have a lot of pasture land in Fayette County,
and it's not as city for sure as New York.
We don't really have, even in Atlanta, just the packed streets.
They get packed around nighttime or something when something's going on.
(06:07):
But during the day, it's rather easy to get around. So that's the one thing
in terms of New York life to Atlanta, Georgia life.
That's the only complaint you can have about Atlanta is that those timeframes, traffic.
So now I'm curious, because your family moved you here,
thinking about your future family, are you thinking like maybe you might want
(06:30):
to raise your future kids possibly in Fayette County or even the state of Georgia?
Or are you thinking somewhere else that you've been?
I think I have a problem. And my problem is this.
You move a kid early in life and it could be different outcomes.
But here's two outcomes I've pondered. Could I have been that kid who the minute
(06:51):
I've settled down after moving a lot, doesn't want to move anymore?
That's fine for people who don't like moving because you move once.
Cool. You move two times, then it's like you start to want to figure out,
do I even want to, like, can't I just stay where I'm at? And it's weird because
my moving memories haven't been made to feel negative.
(07:11):
It's always been new chapter. Even the reset process.
I think I can't be too selfish and exclude the fact that I moved when I was a kid.
So my sister, she's older than me by about seven years.
So her moving experience during like middle school and high school when I'm
still a kid is way different because I'm not shy, but I guess I have to make
friends because it's like you don't want to be that one person who doesn't want to socialize.
(07:35):
And it's always weird to look at people and not want to figure out,
well, we can't keep staring at each other forever.
Like, somebody's going to have to open their mouth. That's why we have them. So I like moving.
That's why even an undergrad, just moving to the different apartment communities, I liked it.
I mean, just the packing up and preparing for it and everything.
I'm moved into my new place in Mississippi right now.
(07:58):
But even then, I haven't finished everything. And I'm not even rushing it right
now because thankfully school hasn't started up. So I still have that adjustment
of just I'm knowing that I'm coming into my place and I'm making my place.
But I might want to move again.
I'm not sure. I like the Fayette aspect, that kind of community.
I definitely advise if everybody could have the opportunity to look up a place
(08:20):
like Fayette, wherever state they want to be in and settle down in.
Fayette might be able to bring me back. It's always possible.
But I might also want to venture out to another state.
I completely understand that. One of my good friends, she's been traveling the world here lately.
It's kind of crazy because I'll look on her Instagram and one day she'll be
(08:41):
in Scotland, the next day it's Paris, France.
And I'm like, what? How are you just all over the place?
And it's cool to watch. So, yeah, I'm so glad that you enjoy the whole moving
process and that sort of thing and that you're able to just adapt to the new situations.
And that is one thing that is awesome about Michael is that he is just a complete
(09:02):
and total leader wherever he goes.
He will go out and he will seek out people like he was talking about and just
find community, make community.
And I have no doubt that that's from the way that your parents raised you and
the whole entire moving process as well because I distinctly remember when I
got into youth group, Michael came over to all of the incoming,
(09:23):
like I guess you could call him freshmen.
I don't even know what it would be at that point, but he would come and mentor us.
He would just walk us through and be like, okay, you know, like welcome to the
youth group. This is what it's like. Come sit with me, that sort of thing.
And then he would also say like, how can I be praying for you?
And then he would grab each kid individually and just take them outside of the
(09:43):
hallway and be like, are you going through any struggles? You know,
like, how can I be praying for you?
What's something that I can do to help you through anything that you're going through?
And it really touched a lot of kids' hearts and it really touched mine.
So I really appreciate you doing that, man. And I certainly hope that it's been
continued on through the legacy of Michael here at the church,
but everybody's got to love Michael here.
(10:06):
So now that you've told us a little bit about your background as a person, what got you into law?
So I mentioned the idea of my grandma raising me, my grandma and my grandpa
raising me. So those were my older sister too.
And I have memories of being with grandma and big sis and we're watching Judge Judy.
(10:27):
And as a young kid growing into just seeing how her character was on screen
and the different people she interacted with in the cases, I mean,
a TV show like that would attract anybody to be like, you know what?
That does sound a little bit ridiculous. Like maybe like you start formulating
opinions and ideas and then you kind of see how within that setting law is being served.
(10:50):
And it looks nice, but then curiosity kicks in. Then it's like we don't even
know between looking up a Google search to figure out Judge Judy,
her side of law is different than a courtroom experience because it's a certain type.
I looked it up when I was a kid. It said arbitration, but that's too big of a word right there.
What does arbitration mean and it's like
(11:12):
it still can proceed like a court proceeding
but different rules in place different kind of
atmosphere so whenever I see TV judges that
was another aspect of life I didn't even think about too it's something that
you think of and you want to figure out what about this that I'm seeing is applicable
(11:33):
for life then law then you start learning okay there's law firms there's courtrooms
there's Oh, the police officers are also in the courtroom.
Also, they're deputies and they're solicitor general or district attorneys.
So you start looking these things up and then you start with a curious mind.
So as a kid and you see your big sister's interested and your grandma's interested
(11:54):
and you watch TV with them.
So it's not like you're interested in anything beyond what you're being allowed to see.
You start trying to figure out, is this something that I want my life to be
involved with and in what aspect? And that's what kind of brought me to law,
just being exposed at an early age, having conversation, seeing family members interested too.
(12:17):
And then you try and figure out later on, what impact can I have where I can give back?
And it's something that I feel comfortable with because it's a sad thing when
you can't learn new something every day.
Then it's almost like, is it just a simulation of life?
Like, am I just repeating the next day or am I getting something that's advantageous?
Am I really getting something out of a similar setting, but a different day?
(12:41):
Nice, man. Yeah, I'm so glad that you would share that and how you were inspired
by something as simple as Judge Judy, just watching it with your family.
And I feel like that's something that lots of people can do is they can trace
something back to, you know, I have this really positive memory of doing something with my family.
And that's what got me into this. and that's awesome that Judge Judy was able
(13:05):
to inspire you and that you did your own research.
That is amazing. Like how old were you when you were searching these things
up and just being like, okay, what is arbitration?
Because you know, that is a big word. Like, wow.
Whenever used to probably came up big, maybe it was like in the early 2007s
to 10s, around that age frame when I have the opportunity to,
(13:26):
like our family has a home laptop.
So you can turn on the computer then you're on YouTube on a computer.
So it's like my generation of growing up on the internet was whatever information
they were able to publish, however many people contributed to that, it really did help out.
But it's like you can learn only so much from just being presented with the image and the words.
(13:49):
You need another kind of learning too. But even then, too, to that point of
Judge Judy, I got to add, it's definitely my background to a family when it
comes down to law because my family, they didn't start here in the States.
So my grandparents, they moved to New York from Ghana.
My parents, they moved to the States, my mom in New York, my dad in Illinois
(14:12):
for school. So there are reasons for even coming to the States,
too, is a big reason why I'm not in Ghana right now. Honestly,
I could have been born in Ghana.
I could have been like my sibling where I'm starting a whole new place.
My whole new place was what I still call home, New York. So I also think to
the point of I have a connection that's also unique to we think of immigration.
(14:35):
Immigration is a big aspect of law, too, where it's like my parents came here.
Then they got themselves citizenship just after getting their education situated here.
So the process of realizing all of this stuff impacts you, you touch different
stories with that, too, because other people can understand.
Oh, I dealt with the immigration office. My family had to go through this.
(14:56):
It's not common, but it's definitely common for those who it applies to.
So when it comes down to like seeing a Judge Judy on TV, then you start looking
things up online, then you realize, hold on.
You're telling me this actually affected my family, too, in an aspect that it's
not in my face, but the only way it can be available is if we're able to go
through it the right way.
(15:18):
That's so cool that you're able to make those connections with other people
because, like you're saying, you have a connection to people that I wouldn't have.
You're able to say, like, my family dealt with this, and you would be able to
help someone who could be going through the immigration process as well and their family.
So that's absolutely amazing, in my opinion. And I love how God gives us these
(15:39):
little unique things like Michael gets this, Coleman gets that, and this one gets that,
you know, like it's fun to see how he's designed all of us to work together
and help each other in community.
And I also want to pivot back to Judge Judy and how you were saying there's
all those different types of law.
I was curious, you've shared with me about goals before.
(16:02):
So are there any goals that you're trying to attain right now as far as law goes?
And if so, like in what areas of law are you interested in?
So with the exposure that I've gotten after going through a courthouse internship,
that's when I had to start thinking more.
So what areas of law specifically do I feel comfortable in?
(16:24):
Because like I can use this analogy of when I had to figure out if I wanted
to like go through the medical pathway.
And then I realized, well, the health care, the health care also has a lot of
laws to it. I didn't grow up understanding that.
How does health and law come together?
Auto accident cases, medical malpractice. So then I started getting interested
(16:45):
in medical malpractice because realizing that, for one, doctors need representation.
The hospitals need representation.
There's a lot of things that need to be passed legally to make sure everything is sound.
So you start thinking of those aspects of that's why lawyers are involved.
Good. So then it's like, can I figure out a pathway to involve myself in that?
(17:05):
So that's what brought me to my last year in Kennesaw.
I had to get an internship and I had been looking and I got an opportunity to
work for a personal injury attorney who was mainly a criminal defense attorney,
but he also had his other side of the office doing auto accident cases.
Medical malpractice cases.
(17:26):
So then I get that exposure, like that interest of medical malpractice and personal
injury cases and civil law cases.
So like, if you were to think of a corporate accident, I want to sue somebody
that side of that civil law.
So it's like, he gave me the exposure that I was looking for.
That's what he could have promised me. He couldn't promise me much and he definitely
(17:47):
couldn't promise me a bankroll of money, but it was exposure.
So I start thinking of like health, like the person, because that same aspect
of medical malpractice and all of that's dealing with the body,
the person, like those are the areas of life that I feel like they're more personal for me too. So.
Also, I've thought about it and I still keep an open mindset to other areas
(18:09):
of law, but from health law and all that surrounds from personal injury cases
and all that surrounds to those have been the avenues I've seen I've invested more time into.
But like, even though I knew internship to learning about different paperwork
that have to get processed from a secure transaction to bankruptcy,
(18:29):
I mean, I'm getting exposure. So I'm not going to keep a closed mindset.
That'd be disadvantageous. But I've definitely seen how I've kind of moved around within time.
The fact that you're so intentional about everything in your life is just incredible
to me because you had that interest and then you realized that you needed to shift that a little bit.
(18:52):
And then you thought, okay, well, how do these two things combine?
And then you found how to combine them. That was just so cool to me that God
gifted you with that sort of insight to where you can just look at something
and go, okay, this is the next step. That's the next step. Yep.
So I'm just curious, with grad school, how has that prepared you to address these goals?
(19:17):
When you go into a grad school setting, it's the principles of life,
it's the morale, it's how you've grown up also dictates what you put back out.
Now, so I can't even imagine a foundation that wasn't Christ-led,
that my family, like I can't imagine that, but I see the similarities.
(19:38):
So I do see those families that the children might not have had Christ in their
life, but they're in-laws.
So you can also see that there are some responsibilities that those within those
fields, although there are differences between the people, you can see intricately,
okay, they were raised this way, that was similar to me.
So you start understanding that you need a good background.
(20:02):
I don't think anybody that I've met in grad school didn't have some sort of structure.
And see, like the structure for me for law school, I knew, I think it was January.
So December of 22 is when I got my acceptances to the schools that I applied
for that had wanted me back.
I'm glad that that happened. So, January, I start, I think really after that
(20:26):
December to January time frame, I realized my mindset now has to go ahead and
start shifting towards being prepared for law school.
Because, no, you can't prepare for law school, but you can start molding your
life in an aspect that you know, if I can make some structure into what I need
to do now before the situation arises.
It's better to prepare for it.
(20:48):
And it took me to understanding, okay, my mom used to wake me up at 5 o'clock
in the morning. I started waking up at 3 o'clock and 4 o'clock in the morning.
Okay, we can do devotion at this time. Now I got to fit in. I do the early morning workouts.
I torture myself going to the gym in the morning because I realized that's an
investment in my life that I needed for me.
(21:09):
Then I fit in the Lord to that too. Then I have to fit in.
Now how does school and preparing for school fit into that? Because you definitely need that.
Then you have school. So then not just in that school year of just,
okay, I know what I have to do.
No, I have to be intentional in terms of what I need to do within these certain time frames.
And no schedule can be perfect to where you follow it down to the T.
(21:32):
But what you can do is still have that structure of, I know what this time is allocated for.
So even if I don't manage it correctly, whatever time I might have,
especially where it's free time, I got to pour back into what I've lost time on too.
So it's preparing for what you need to take care of and staying consistent.
And the consistency in that can be difficult because I preach on not wanting
(21:56):
to do too much if I get mentally drained.
If I have to get mentally drained to the point where I can't do anything that
is productive, I had to learn that about me.
Like, all right, break time. Nah, I can go ahead and go to sleep. Wake up early.
Definitely squeeze a workout in or not. I mean, those things are just luxuries at that point too.
(22:17):
But it's like you start fitting things in where they can be fit in because it's all sacrifice.
You can't get it perfect too. There's some nights you might not get sleep.
So what are you going to do within this schedule? Then I look at my calendar.
Yeah, it's a lot of structure. It's a lot of routine, a lot of consistency.
High school helps you out a little bit. college definitely puts you into a where
(22:38):
do you want to fit in within what you want to do but then that law school that's
It's something else. You got to want it for you. Sadly, you meet those that
things might come natural, but how long can that last?
You can be gifted educationally, but if you don't have interest in what you
want to do, what's the drive?
(22:59):
Even those who don't stick out long. I mean, I don't always blame them because
I also have to think of what did they go through in life to get them to the
point where they just, they dropped out, but I'm here.
They had their reasons. They had their story.
So you got to stay strong on those. faith.
For sure. Yes. Oh yeah. There have been countless times where it's been just
(23:19):
faith that's been driving me through.
It's like, okay, Lord, I know you want me to do this.
So I'm just going to trust you to get me through physics. And you know,
like that was my thing this past year was like, anytime my friends would text
me, I would be like, that's awesome.
And then they'd be like, why did it take you so long to respond?
And then I'd be like, I was doing physics for like the the past six hours.
(23:40):
But you know, like, yeah, I would definitely agree with you on like scheduling out your day.
That is so important. Like, especially you have to set aside that time for the
Lord and even just like the routine of things, even though you can't keep that
perfect schedule, like you were saying,
you need to try and at least get into a flow of how things are going to go.
(24:03):
And honestly, what I would recommend is when you get to college,
just change your schedule, like change the flow of things.
Like what are like five ways that I can improve myself?
And like you were saying, your mom got you up at five, you're going to get up
at two or three now and you're going to figure out what it's like to not get
any sleep during the night and just have those days where it's go, go, go, go, go.
(24:25):
And then eventually, you know, you will have that free time because you're working
ahead, you're working hard and doing all of that. I think that that's some great
insight. So thank you for sharing that with us.
I'm also curious. We've talked a lot about the internships and that sort of
thing and how high school prepared you, how college prepared you.
What would you give as a piece of advice for someone who wants an internship
(24:49):
with a law firm or if they're wanting to intern like you did with Jason Thompson in the court?
So how would you recommend someone going about that?
What steps can they be taking to kind of prepare themselves for that?
And how can they make the most of that internship?
I think the only way I could really answer that question and get my perspective on this too.
(25:11):
So to give some context, I started at, I can't recall what age,
it must have been for sure high school, where I started pondering,
how do people get into positions that they're in?
Then you start learning about those who have been in a certain area.
So mind you, I give background to understand that my family moved around a lot,
(25:32):
but they didn't originate in the States.
They were in Ghana for the most part. So a lot of roots were made in Ghana.
A lot of connections were made in Ghana, then Great Britain.
We have relatives there too.
So whatever roots were done there, they've been on longer than my parents have
been in a certain area for a long time too. So I start learning.
People have family friends and those family friends open those doors.
(25:56):
And then you start allowing for a community to foster where your child is interested
in this. My child's interested in this.
Go ahead and put them in. Or it's just my son is in this stage of life.
My daughter's in this stage of life.
Can they go here and learn under your wing? And then you understand that aspect
of that's an area where those who that applies for, it works out.
(26:20):
They still got to do the work. Don't get me wrong. The grades still have to apply.
And even if they don't apply, that's networking in itself, in their community itself too.
So you have that aspect of life. My aspect of life has been different because
I've had to understand I got to do work.
I have to make sure I put in work so that not only am I putting work in school,
(26:42):
but how am I trying to put myself out there as difficult as it is? That's why I say I'm shy.
But really, it might just be life to the point of I got to talk to people.
Then I got to go into a room with people. And it's like, it might not seem that
I feel shy, but it's like a saying in my culture, too. It's like,
(27:02):
you don't make me feel shy.
That saying is something that drives me to make sure I talk.
Because if I don't talk, maybe I just want to relax. Maybe I just want to see
how things are being played. But for the most part, you got to do a lot of groundwork.
So you start putting yourself out there to talk to people.
And a lot of it's also preparation, too, because to the point that my plans
(27:26):
are only my plans as long as the Lord sees fit.
It, if I wasn't meant to be in law, then for sure the Lord would have told me
in ways that only he can control at that point too.
Even though I might be quote unquote smart, the only way I even know if I'm
supposed to go through a certain chapter or journey is if I'm able to go through it.
And I'm able to figure out what to do when I'm in those scenarios too. So,
(27:50):
I had a lot of networking. I had to, in essence, also build my school resume
too, because like I used to work from middle school through a little bit of undergrad.
Working with a food program for kids within this Georgia, greater and outer
Atlanta region to feeding kids for those in areas where they didn't have food
(28:11):
provided as much as they could have been provided,
especially in areas where the schools would have stepped in.
But now that summertime is here, they're not able to. too. They might not have the funding to.
So I also poured into that aspect, too, where then we're creating a bigger network.
Then we're branching out, too. Then you get more exposure to different areas.
Oh, I've been to this city.
(28:32):
Oh, we're going to this city. Like our church had an event that we did yearly.
I think it was in Clarkston, Georgia.
Those were areas that I was feeding kids in. So just going into areas that are
familiar because I had a different for connection with it too.
It's the same purpose and drive
that motivates for what I want to do in terms of who I interact with.
(28:52):
So like my internship now, this internship is different than my other internship
experiences because I've done paperwork.
I've done legal work where I've had to be on the ground. I've gotten courtroom exposure.
It's at a different point in life. So it's still needed for sure.
So now I want to see, I've seen the courtroom. I've seen the behind the scenes
with the attorney's office.
(29:13):
Now this chapter in life, this internship has been about learning the attorneys
that are now practicing and how did they come up with their law pathway?
Not every situation has been handed to people to where you can say, oh, they had it perfect.
No, there was a lot of work that needs to be done behind the scenes.
So this internship has provided me an opportunity to be comfortable in a new
(29:37):
setting where it's like, now I get to talk to them.
You have to see my face. If I smile at you and I say hi, you want to not say
hi back? Like, you're going to respond.
So it's like, now I get a chance to start growing relationships where it's like,
I really look for guidance.
I want to figure out about you. Maybe I don't practice the law that you practice,
but at least I'm in a connection where it's like, I can definitely refer back
(30:00):
to this person. I can definitely think of this experience.
I can definitely think of a memory that attaches itself, that it's like being a resource.
If I can figure out something that it can help you out on, why wouldn't I?
It's because I've already tapped into that side of life. So it all flows well
too. So yeah, it's a lot of putting yourself out there. And that's the uncomfortable thing too.
Because if you don't have that aspect of your community, might not be for the
(30:24):
pathway of life you want to go into, but they're in that certain aspect, that aspect is good.
But if you need something else, you got to go for it. And that's the uncomfortable
grunt work that is a challenge.
And once you get through that challenge, talk about rewarding.
It's always cool to see how the Lord will test you and then he'll just reward
you right afterwards with something that you were never expecting.
(30:47):
And I'm so glad that you would share that about the internships specifically,
because you know, at times internships can be taxing.
You're being treated as if you're an employee, but you're not,
sometimes not, technically getting paid for it.
Whereas otherwise, in some cases, were you ever working just for courtroom exposure
or was it always like a paid gig? The courtroom internship in high school was unpaid.
(31:12):
But at that point in life, at home, my gas is paid for by my parents.
They worry about school to the point where it's like, even though I worked during
the summer times, it was only summer time.
So I've had friends who worked during the school year. My parents didn't want
me to do that because they were so education heavy from the grandparents and
the parents before them, too. It's like, focus on school.
(31:34):
We'll take care of the necessities. So I go to undergrad. I get a paid internship
and I'm also getting support too.
But why is the economy getting more expensive?
That can be another conversation for another day. But you start understanding that.
As much as you're blessed with the money that you have, you got to manage it well.
Then you got to understand not all of this money can lead to good things too.
(31:57):
So the internship that I've had, it started from unpaid to paid.
But even then, when it comes down to the payment, this whole life of me trying
to get into the law pathways and investment.
So even if I don't get paid, there's some internships that depending on what
the opportunity is, if it's unpaid,
well, I better start saving up now so that when I get into that area,
(32:18):
I'm not surprised when the world's expensive and now I got to pay for stuff
and I'm not getting money back.
There's more money coming out than coming in. You have to start that work early.
Otherwise, you get the unfortunate, I wasn't ready. I didn't know what to do. Start now. No.
Yes, it's always better to be
prepared for something than to have it come along and just surprise you.
(32:40):
What has been your greatest challenge throughout this whole entire process of
going to law school and then you're also in grad school?
So you've had a lot more experience than a lot of us that have just graduated high school.
What's something that you can recommend? Was there ever a challenge that happened
to you to where you wish you could go back in time and you could tell yourself,
(33:03):
Michael, you should have done this.
What's a challenge like that that's ever happened? Or have you avoided that somehow?
It definitely challenges. I mean, I can make my challenges as small as I go
through a summer law class.
And then within that, I have a relationship,
right? Then I get out of a relationship. Then I have an exam.
(33:25):
And those challenges are there too, starting in a new community,
trying to get yourself situated in a place where you can start feeling comfortable
for that next chapter in your life, having a relationship that was cultivated
that things have changed.
So you have to move in a different direction too. That's a challenge in itself
too, just having to navigate how life looks after that.
I don't belabor myself or stress too much because I've learned over time.
(33:50):
I think it might have been, I point towards ninth grade.
That would be that one year where it's like, that's a fresh year.
That's ninth grade. That's a, you're a freshman.
Things are new for you. So that was the one year where I had to understand stress
to get to that point in life where mentally I had to understand my stress wasn't mine I could control.
And see, I sometimes have to review life because I sit back and even if I'm quiet,
(34:13):
I'm still thinking about a lot of things one thing I think of is
why at a certain point in life I get
the opportunity to get baptized then boom emotional spiritual
warfare is going on where it's like I can move in this aspect but then there
might be some things that I'm too vulnerable to but those vulnerabilities as
much as anybody can have their vulnerabilities why is mine getting attacked
(34:35):
too much why is it where I can be good and then boom out of nowhere devil why you trying
to play with me right now like you you're interrupting my peace and
my sanity to the point where it's like I know I can't go
through this alone too so the stress of challenges
have been relieved because I had to give it up
to the only man who could take care of it I can go to family
(34:57):
I can go to friends I can stretch myself out so
much to where those investments in life can be brought back to me in certain
aspects but I wouldn't fault any man or any woman for not helping me at a certain
place of life from me being selfish for my needs when really there's somebody
who's already wanted that to be done. They've already wanted that conversation.
(35:19):
I can go to somebody. I can open that door up because now I realize,
why am I being shut out emotionally?
When the Lord never told, Jesus never said I had to shut myself away from him.
Why would the Father want me to come to him? Because I got to go through those
things in life. And it looks different for other people. Other people go through other things.
But for me, like ninth grade was defining enough for it to be,
(35:43):
I have to let go of those things I can't control.
Whatever my triggers would have been to stress me out, I had to let the Lord
take over that too. So challenges in life, I had to go through that to understand
any event can be a challenge of some sort.
It can be a ripple. It can be an obstacle to go through.
Where's the confidence to be able to understand this isn't where I stop in life.
(36:06):
So I definitely have to go through it. Now, how do I go through it and who is backing me up?
That's why my faith is a lot stronger to be able to not want to stress.
There are stressful situations. There are some times where my heart might beat
too fast because it's like, oh, I'm thinking of this aspect of life.
And it's so unknown because the unknown is also scary, too.
(36:26):
But it's scary when you take God out of it, when you take the Lord out of what
you want to go through in life.
Otherwise, why go through a challenge that the Lord is opening your door to
if all you want to do is complain and not want to go through the challenge?
That's why everybody's life story is important. So challenges,
there are a lot of things that I've gone through on a day-to-day or whether
(36:48):
it be a month-to-month where I can give a full recap and I could point anything being a challenge.
It's more so how I got through them for me to not even think of them as challenges,
but little obstacles, little ripples in the pathway because at the end of the
day, we got to keep going.
So if I stop in one aspect, I've shortchanged myself. self.
I'm so glad that you would share that. I definitely believe that now there is
(37:13):
a serious issue with our generation and mental health.
And I'm glad that you would address that. I personally believe that the Lord
is the only one that can take away from you those anxieties.
And as you're saying, you know, he took those from you in ninth grade.
You just gave it all to him.
And I met you after ninth grade. So for the whole entire time that I have known
(37:34):
Michael, he has been this solid
man of God that is just able to lead and cultivate shepherds for Christ.
You have made up leaders from the youth group, and I'm sure you're doing that
at college and grad school.
Clearly, you've done that your whole entire life. Even when I see you interact
(37:56):
with Ivan, it's cool to see how you're shepherding him too.
Just in the little interactions that I see between you two, you're always like,
Like, this is my brother.
I'm taking care of him. And it's cool to see that sort of familial love between them.
It's always incredible for me to see that, how much a sibling can love another
sibling. Because, you know, there are those siblings that do not get along.
(38:17):
Oh yeah, we don't get along too at points in time too. But that's life and that's love.
And see, like one thing that's weird about me that I can say is there's two types of people.
There's a person that shows love and there's a person that tells you love.
And see, the person that tells you love, there are those in life who have had
to deal with being told vocally love.
And then it doesn't really get reciprocated. And then that heartbreak is another
(38:39):
kind of heartbreak where it's like, I needed that.
I didn't get it. But I've been shown love through my parents not having to tell
me they love me because they've also shown me the aspect of love.
And when they tell me they love me, for me, I say I'm weird because I don't
even need to be told that you love me because anybody can show me love in a
different aspect. respect, but it's how I receive that love too.
(39:02):
So when I see somebody do something good for me, it's a blessing. What?
You love me like that? So whatever my life mission is too, I preach on the kids
are the future because it's a scary time where we start unraveling what has
been understood to be misunderstood now.
It gets to a point where there are a lot of things that That could have happened,
(39:25):
that should have happened, and
would have happened, but where we are right now is such a readjustment.
It's almost like how much readjusting does one need to do till they realize
they weren't all aligned and things were just being aligned for them.
So you have to root yourself with the Lord, with Jesus Christ,
because even those who do have good structure too, you're on the best team.
(39:49):
You're not losing out on anything with him. What you lose out in might be too
worldly. Then at that point, figure out if you really want the world things
or if you really want the afterlife, the things after, the blessings after.
It's a lot of things that have to go down.
Now and beforehand and you gotta
hone in what you can hone in on i'm so glad
(40:11):
that you would share that specifically as well one of
the best pieces of advice that i was ever given was
by my acting coach tom scott he told me decide now what you will and won't do
because there will be a point in time where the devil will try and tempt you
and it'll be with something that you want you know whether it be you're not
willing to say this now but then you get offered two million dollars for a contract and then,
(40:35):
you know, saying it doesn't really seem so bad anymore.
But, you know, you got to ground yourself before like that goes back to the
whole entire thing about preparation.
If you can prepare yourself and prepare yourself for Christ specifically,
then he will reward that.
It may not seem like it in the moment, but he will reward you in some way,
(40:55):
form or fashion that is so much better than you could have ever imagined.
And the world may not see it is the thing.
Lots of times they will not see how he has blessed you and rewarded you.
It's just something personal between you and him.
But that goes back to also what you were saying with the showing the love.
God does tell us that he loves us in the Bible, but more so he shows us that
(41:19):
he loves us through everything that he did, sacrificing his one and only son
and offering us that path of redemption because we were like the prodigal son.
Son, we did not deserve anything, yet he was willing to go out and show us love
in that capacity. It's just absolutely incredible.
And I had never heard it shared that way, but are you sure you're not meant
(41:41):
to be a preacher, Michael?
Like, wow, that's awesome. I'm so happy that you would share that.
Moving on to the next question, I'm just kind of curious, you've had this whole
entire major experience of life and all of these things that we've cultivated
in these questions, but I'm also curious,
if you could describe it all in one word, what would that word be?
(42:04):
There's always a different answer I might come up with. I think for today,
I can definitely see life being adaptable because it gets to the point for me
in life where what I read in the Bible and what I learn and what I have to pray on,
there's one aspect of receiving that information.
(42:24):
But then the next step is also applying the information and see how that information
applied. applied, it really does matter.
And it depends on how you take care of those actions.
Will it also, you see the benefits and the fruits of that labor,
whether it's an instant thing or whether it's a long-term, okay,
I got to see it play out later on to plant a seed.
(42:46):
We learned that in church too, planting a seed. And those seeds depends on when
that fruit will bloom later on too.
So it's to the point where my life has to be adaptable.
Plus, side note, have we even thought about who in
the hospital babies we were born with on that day
and like have we even thought about where is that little
kid or little boy girl that was with me in the you know
(43:08):
i'm saying like so it's things like that where it's like adaptable whoever
i interact with wherever i'm at in life if i can't learn to adjust well then
i should be left behind because at that point i haven't opened myself up to
be able to move and branch out in different ways too so i don't think i I could
go through with saying one word
(43:28):
that describes me without pointing towards that word. Yes, absolutely.
You are definitely very adaptable. You just walk into any situation and you're like, absolutely.
I think how I've lived life is more so, yes, we can be selfish in an aspect
of we also have to think about us.
But I think how I've lived life through my actions, I haven't lived only for me too.
(43:50):
And how I've seen that is how my family has cultivated that too. So when it comes down to.
Having a life where my schedule isn't always something I can control,
where I know I might be pulled in one direction.
I sadly cancel plans that I try to make because my life also revolves around
family too and what the family needs and serving them and making sure I have
(44:11):
to take care of things that for sure don't want to be in trouble legally.
So I have to make sure I take care of certain obligations where I'm on the right track.
So even like in friendships too, I view friendships as like this.
We might not know what everybody's fully going through
because we don't wake up together we don't sleep together we don't eat together
all the time too so you got to give a little bit of grace and space to understand
(44:34):
we got to go through our journeys and when we're needed should be when a friend
is there this podcast is another platform that if we think mainstream media,
there are those who don't get a chance to really hear a message and for those
who receive a message how they receive it is different.
And like in life, when I might've received a message, how it applies for me,
(44:58):
depending on what I'm going through in life, might be a different reaction than
somebody else and what they need out of that message too. So.
There's that aspect of what do you do after high school? Oh, yeah.
And it's like, even then, I mentioned how I prepared and how my life has been
cultivated to where things like this, conceptually, I was able to think of it.
(45:18):
But really, I could have also been in the same predicament, too,
of I don't even know what I want to do at all to the point that the world has too much to offer.
There's a lot of things that you can do. But one thing I advocated for students
out of high school, and I'm talking about graduate high school first, for sure.
The second thing is, though, you got to plan for what you want to expose yourself
(45:42):
to, because I had the opportunity to be exposed to the areas of a career I wanted
to get into. And that career would be for life.
So it's like a lot of kids do need exposure. And like I know growing up, we had career day.
It's a different experience. You're getting to see these kids and their parents
and they have their parents have jobs that are cool.
(46:03):
And I don't know if they do that that much anymore, because it used to be something
growing up where like you heard about it a lot.
And then when you experienced it or like if you saw it on TV,
those things where it's like people do need exposure.
And sadly, you might not get that exposure opportunity from like a family connection.
It's something where you got to reach out and it's something you do have to
(46:25):
be like, you know what, that might be where I have to be selfish,
but you got to pray on that.
Then you have to understand what can I do in my setting to get what I want out
of life and is this what I do want out of life and will I be able to go through it?
Or is it something that I'm thinking in the moment, but something has to happen
in life for me to be redirected to?
(46:45):
So a lot of this has to be purposeful. I mean, we live life free.
We're not in bondage as much until we put ourselves in bondage where we start
are engulfing ourselves into doing too many extracurriculars because there's
a lot of things that we can do to lead ourselves away from the Lord.
And so for the kids that do get to that point where they're not sure what they
want to do, they need exposure too. And I feel like.
(47:09):
I got to go on a little rant. It bothers me a little bit. Absolutely.
Because I think of like the older kids, right? Especially not the ones that
the older kid is a sibling of somebody too.
I think of just the older kids that go through school and whatnot.
I used to wonder, why didn't I hear this from this kind of person?
From somebody who was in a grade above me too. I mean, we talked to those around us.
(47:32):
And thankfully in the youth group, I was able to talk to those in high school.
And when I got to high school, they would interact with people from church, too.
And it was good because they fostered that community that's like,
OK, I can feel comfortable in a space.
But there's a lot of things that you also can learn from older people that I
feel like if the older people within a certain similar setting can't pour back
(47:54):
into the kids in their similar setting that are younger than them,
too, you almost do a disservice.
I mean, you're not obligated, but wouldn't you want to be informed of some things?
Wouldn't you want to start learning some things? Wouldn't you want to be talked
to about certain things before an event happens that you're like,
I wish I learned this lesson?
Sometimes you don't need to learn the lesson if somebody else went through it.
(48:17):
So when you think about what I want to do for my next chapter of life,
I also put a challenge to the kids, too.
The kids who want that challenge will accept the challenge of,
let me make sure I get out of life what I want to make sure I get out of life,
start investing my time, I start researching and everything, too.
So you definitely got to put yourself out there, too. But it's a challenge that
(48:39):
goes back to the older generation.
I haven't seen it as a parent. And like even when I went to undergrad,
I would have hoped that those who went to Kennesaw before me,
I could have heard more and I did hear and I did act too, and that was good too.
But then I think of others who have people who went to their school, they might not hear too.
(49:01):
So even though I might've took my own action in a way I wanted to see fit,
I think it's also good to pour back in general and make sure you have those
connections where you learn from others too.
And you start figuring out if that aspect of an answer for life might also apply for my life.
It's definitely something where I really think this new generation,
(49:22):
the technology kids, I mean, the iPad babies too, that's something else too.
But it has to be where you can't look at somebody and not think,
are they going to be something for future that will be fruitful and they will make an impact?
I mean, is this something where you look at somebody in your life and you ignore
nor that aspect of your circumstance just because you think things are good.
(49:46):
I mean, don't get me wrong.
It's one thing to share the word. It's another thing to share the word with
somebody that you've cultivated a relationship with too.
So the young generation, you want to reach out because if you don't reach out now,
You don't want to put yourself in scenarios where it's like,
I wish I knew because I have to look back at you and figure out what part of
your life did you not want to learn before?
(50:08):
What part did you not open that door to cultivate in a relationship?
I mean, if we micromanage somebody's life and just look into how they channel
through life, it's never late.
But you can always see where things can be tweaked because not anything that
you do isn't changeable, isn't something that you can make another decision for too.
There's always room for growth and that's why. Why? So with how much stuff there
(50:31):
is out there, too, and how much the Internet has expanded,
all of it is advantageous if you learn how to make it advantageous instead of
just diving into it, but learning about it, learning about that diving board.
See, that diving board looks cool when you see somebody jumping on it like the Olympics.
What? I see somebody jumping three, four times, fly up high.
(50:54):
But you definitely want to get on it first without looking at it.
You definitely want to look at the water and see the distancing,
then fear and everything.
But then it's like, hold on. I can do it too. Let me go ahead and make sure
I understand it before I get into it.
And then once I get into it, I'm there. I got to get off somehow.
Can't go back down those stairs. It might be more tiring. I should have just fell off to begin with.
(51:15):
So it's like a lot of things in life that aren't done with a purpose.
There's a lot of unknown.
So like how my plans in life might've been able to come.
It only comes if the Lord wants it to come. My plans could have changed at any
point in time, especially COVID changed a lot of things for me too.
So there's a lot of things that if you don't prepare for it,
(51:36):
especially if you don't react to prepare for when things do happen to,
and you don't adjust to it, you do get a sense of being left back.
If our generation doesn't just really man up and just get out there and say,
you know what, someone's got to share it.
And, you know, if you ever do a job, the best way to do it is to just do it yourself.
(51:58):
Don't give it to someone else, you know, like you got to do it yourself.
So if the Lord sends you something and says, you need to do this,
you got to get out there and do it.
He has clearly called you to law and, you know, you're able to shepherd and
foster, or I'm sure the other students that are in the classes with you.
And I'm sure that when you get into a courtroom, that people will see a light
(52:20):
in you and they'll see a difference in you. And I'm so happy for that.
And I cannot wait to see how the Lord blesses you in your career.
So Michael, thank you so much for coming on the podcast and sharing.
I'm sure that you have given back to the community and that there will be countless
(52:40):
things that happen because of this.
Whether it be someone say, you know what, I never realized that I could combine
those two things with law or someone saying, I really do need to start preparing
more for my college life, my adult life and having kids and that sort of thing.
I need to be really intentional about that and how they're going to adapt to those new situations.
(53:02):
Thank you so much for coming on and sharing that with us. It's always comfortable
being back home. It's always a good thing being back home. So thank you.
Music.
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