There’s More to the Story

If knowledge is power, curiosity is the engine. Like they say, “you don’t know what you don’t know” — and I think that’s a good thing.

Had I known then what I know now, I probably wouldn’t have taken the same path to get to today — but thankfully I didn’t. Naïveté is often a blessing in disguise.

Born in Detroit and raised by Spartans, I always wanted to go to Michigan State. To me, the culture in East Lansing was something you felt rather than read about — the perfect mix of ambition, humility, and opportunity. I knew it was somewhere I could grow, be inspired by others and discover what I wanted to do.

I got just that and more— had a blast and developed incredible, diverse relationships for a lifetime. I learned to knock down doors, show up, and get uncomfortable — with a “nothing to lose, everything to gain” mentality. I earned opportunities and learned to be proactive rather than reactive, that “good people know good people,” and “it’s not what you know, it’s not who you know, it’s who knows you.” I embrace tomorrow as a function of today, and know that for every up, there’s a down — but it always gets better. No matter what, I will never lose that Spartan spark.

However, it took me a while to appreciate it. While progress has been made, different backgrounds still pose compounding barriers to entry. Screening on credentials rather than competencies is more efficient, saving time and energy — but aren’t those key ingredients for growth?

With a greater focus on identity, diversity, and inclusion, it seems a bit outdated to filter for prerequisite packages, and lean on muscle memory to dictate decisions. In the future, I hope “different” backgrounds can be seen as valuable, complementary perspectives rather than as more quotas to meet.

Diversity by design often breeds resentment. Without exploring new directions, we’ll keep wearing down the tires, and arriving at the same destination.

There’s much more to the story than what someone looks like, where/if they went to school, and first perceptions.

Stay curious or stall out.