Nathan Evans Jr
31 years old
Male
African American
Mays Landing, New Jersey
Bachelors of Arts in Liberal Studies, Sociology/Health Studies
Rowan University, 2018
My earliest educational memory is from Kindergarten. I can’t recall my teachers name but I do remember that she would give me additional homework to take home because I would finish all of my work much sooner than the other students within my class and I would earn all A’s with every assignment. Aside from my Kindergarten teacher, I would say that my most influential educator was Mrs. Mantley, my 8th grade teacher. She was a younger black educator and was very loving but also a no nonsense type of women. One day we were in class and a few students had turned in their assignments late and lateness really frustrated her even though she wouldn’t outwardly express it. However, I noticed. Before class let out, she shared a popular quote that really spoke to me and I live by it until this day. The quote goes:
“Excuses are the tools of the incompetent and are used to build monuments of nothingness. Those who specialize in their uses are seldom good in anything, so therefor there will be no more excuses.”
That was her way of saying, I’m no longer accepting anyone’s excuses on why you could not complete your work in a timely fashion. I also remember vividly how she would affirm myself and other student and she always promoted my gift to inspire and create.
I felt obligated to be the trailblazer for my family. My parents had me as teenagers and never finished high school. To honor them I wanted to not just graduate from high school, but get a college scholarship and degree to show them that what they sacrificed for me wasn’t in vein. Having a degree for me is a sign of resilience. It means that I was able to keep a promise to myself no matter how hard the journey was. Often time we fail to keep promises to ourselves and as a result we don’t trust ourselves to be consistent to obtain anything worth having. Having this degree also meant that the bar of excellence has not been elevated for my family and my future children. This doesn’t mean that they have to go to college, but it does mean that whatever they choose to do they can’t quit because I broke that mindset of quitting by being persistent and receiving my degree.
My greatest challenge during my educational journey was not asking for help when I needed it. As a First-Gen college student, I lacked that guidance when it came to choosing classes and my advisors were always lack luster. I ended up taking way too many credits that didn’t pertain to my actual field of study and it cost me. I would take whatever the advisor placed on my schedule and when I got to Rowan University I finally received an advisor who took time to educate me on what my best options were. I actually graduated unexpectedly when my advisor at Rowan said that I had fulfilled all of my requirements for my new field of study and could graduate that upcoming fall semester.
I would advise First-Gen students to seek mentorship and ask for help were needed. I struggled in several areas as a First-Gen student because I didn’t ask for help or utilize the resources provided for me. Even though you may feel like you have a major burden of responsibility on your back to be the first one to graduate college, remember that this is about you. Those who love you will be and should already be proud of you. A degree shouldn’t dictate that. This is your journey and you always need to do what is best for you. You may want to drop out at times, you may need to cry, you may feel lost, but I promise you that if you don’t quit you’ll succeed. Your perspective about why you are there is what will drive you so make sure that it’s a perspective that motivates you daily.
That being said, I believe my career path chose me. I originally intended to be a professional basketball player and if that didn’t work out I would be a coach. However, God had different plans and I had to surrender my plans to His purpose. Now I speak all around the country sharing my story as a professional speaker and selling my books. I never thought that I would be doing this, but I must admit that when I have the opportunity to share my story I get the same feelings of when I would play basketball.
In fact, I wrote a book titled, Building Muscle: Life Is Your Trainer. I named the book this because at the time of me writing the book I was actually a personal trainer and finishing up my degree. “Life is you trainer” was the subtitle and its purpose was to reflect the tension I felt as a college student.
I pushed through every failure as a student, despite going to 5 different colleges in order to be the first one in my immediate family to receive a Bachelor’s degree.
Similar to someone who is looking to build muscle, you have to push through the tension, recover from the damage, feed your body the right nutrients and repeat that process over consistently. Those same principles applied to my collegiate journey and have allowed me to become who I am today.
Currently, I am an entrepreneur. Just like being a First-Gen college student I am also a First-Gen entrepreneur. I’ve been blessed to speak around the country (soon the world), write books and coach people while providing for myself and my family. I believe that as things grow for me, I will be able to expand my mission to inspire and educate millions of students (high school & college) while also employing several people and offering them with an opportunity to provide for themselves and their family. I believe that leaders create leaders and I want my legacy to reflect that.
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Nate hosts a Podcast entitled, _Change What We Normalize_. Follow it on your favorite Podcast app.
To hear some of Nate's motivational speeches, check out his YouTube channel: @https://www.youtube.com/user/nizz35/videos
To buy Nate's latest book, visit his Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08PDGVLV3/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0