Welcome back to This Person I Met! My name is Kayla, and I’m your podcast host. There are more similarities between an electrician and a professor of mechanical engineering than you may think. In our interview, Solomon Adera told me of his parent’s lack of education, and how their lack would inspire him to take advantage of any opportunity to learn and use it as a tool to climb upwards, even going as far as to get a postdoctoral from Harvard. Solomon’s love of mechanical engineering didn’t start when he graduated with a PhD from MIT, pursuing a level of education greater than both of his parents combined, nor did it start when he first stepped foot into a school building. Instead, it started with his dad, a humble electrician pushing him to see education as a tool, and it continues through his legacy and mentorship that he offers as gratitude for having the chance to learn.
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Risking Scientific Extinction
Welcome back to this person I met! My name is Kayla, and I'm the host of this podcast. The voice you just heard is professor Allen Liu from the University of Michigan. As you may have heard from the news, the scientific pipeline is facing a major crisis. Since January, the federal government has terminated over 1600 active research grants, worth roughly 1.5 billion, proposing a 37% cut to the National institute of health and a 56% cut to the National Science Foundation. But, what do these numbers mean? To professor Liu, whose life has been built upon science, the numbers spell out a massive change for STEM. The future of research, determined by Liu, is uncertain. In this episode, he explains the numbers and their potential impact on generations of scientists to come, and raises the question of what really is at stake when you neglect the scientific pipeline.
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40 to Life- Part 2: Embracing Humanity
Welcome back to this person I met! My name is Kayla, and this is the second part of Johnny Walker's story. As you may remember from the last episode, Johnny served 46 years and 13 days in jail for armed robbery, and a second charge, murder. Now, as the reentry specialist for A Brighter Way, he helps former inmates, who just like he did, struggle to find their place in the world after incarceration. In this episode, Johnny will share his struggles readjusting to a quickly progressing society and his search for human connection and humanity in our technology driven world. Johnny’s episode, for me, was truly eye opening. Hearing how long his sentencing was, longer than my parents have been alive, is something that I can’t even fathom. Still, I can’t imagine the time that incarceration took from him, time he cannot get back and he can only heal from. And yet, Johnny has one piece of advice for this young generation.
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40 to Life
Welcome back to this person I met. My name is Kayla, and the voice you just heard is Johnny walker. He's the community engagement specialist from A Brighter Way, an organization serving formerly incarcerated people, assisting them in the tedious process of reentering society. Johnny and I sat down in the downtown library on a cold february afternoon, where he generously shared his story and new life after not mere years, but decades of incarceration. Johnny, like many of us, grew up surrounded by a large community of family and friends, the most important to him being his mother. Despite her passing, her love still stays with him, a reminder that love knows no bounds even in death. In this episode, Johnny shares his battle with trauma and his emergence on the other side. Taking it one day at a time, Johnny says, is the most important step to healing and finding yourself again, no matter how impossible it may feel.
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The Little Hand on my Heart
Welcome back to this person I met! You might notice something new in this episode, or someone new. As you all may know, Maya, the host of this podcast, is off to college. And that means someone new has to take over. My name is Kayla, and I, coincidentally, am her younger sister! For the next few years, I will be the new podcast host, and I am beyond excited to share my experiences with you all. The voice you just heard was Jennifer St. John, the social media manager and trauma informed peer led reentry navigator of a Brighter Way. From previous episodes, you may remember a Brighter Way as a nonprofit dedicated to helping those previously incarcerated build a better, stable life. In this episode, Jennifer shares her journey battling her trauma and finding herself again through all of it.
Stories of anybody who has one to share. "This Person I Met" is a podcast devoted to giving everyone in the community a voice, and allow an opportunity for learning.Email: [email protected]
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