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Tyler Williams was reluctant to walk across the stage at MCC’s spring commencement ceremony. 

He couldn’t help but think of the hundreds of eyes all on him as his name was called. But even though he was scared, he knew he had to do it for his support system to see — he simply wouldn’t be there without them. 

“I wanted them to see all their sacrifices and everything they did for me was for a reason,” Williams said. 

Two of those people were his grandparents, who he lived with for the majority of his childhood in Flint. At age 12, Williams reconnected with his mother, who had re-married after his father was incarcerated. Though she battled drug addiction throughout her life, Williams and his older brother chose to move in with their mother in Blanchard and enroll at Montabella Community Schools. 

His housing accommodations, however, were short-lived. 

“My brother got in a fight with my stepdad over grades,” Williams recalled. “It turned into an altercation and we got kicked out, so I was kicked out of the house after my freshman year of high school. I was crashing on friend’s couches all throughout high school.” 

Many people in Williams’ situation wouldn’t have thought twice about going back to school, but he was determined to not go down the same path as his troubled family members, no matter how much the odds were stacked against him. 

“I always felt like if anyone in my family was to be the one to change the trajectory of things, it would have to be me,” Williams said. “I knew I was capable of it. I saw how my parents were, I saw my surroundings, I saw how everyone acted and how they handled things and I ran as far away from that as I could. I took all that knowledge of how not to do things and I learned from it.” 

Williams embraced sports, getting involved with football, wrestling and track while at Montabella. He graduated from high school in 2020, giving plenty of credit to those who aided him along the way. 

“I had friends who had great parents that brought me in and helped me and I couldn’t have done it without them,” he said. “My support system kept me going and I wanted to be the one to change things in my family tree. I wasn’t an A or B student in high school, I was more worried about where I was going to sleep the next day or what I was going to eat.” 

Williams then moved in with his uncle in Redford and got a job but still came to Montcalm County to visit his friends on the weekends. It was on one of these visits when he met a girl, who he started dating. He’d stay with her at her parent’s house in Vestaburg on the weekends, but it eventually turned into a long-term relationship and he moved in permanently. Originally not planning to continue his schooling, he was inspired by his girlfriend, who was attending MCC, noticing her academic prowess. 

“When she graduated from MCC, I decided I wanted to go back to school,” he said. “I learned my work ethic, academically, from her because she’s a really smart student. I saw how much she cared about it and how much work she put into it. She was so driven to be a good student and she always did her best. I saw that and I said, ‘Man, I can’t go to school and be slacking off when she’s over here working so hard,’ and that made me work even harder.” 

He immediately felt at home at MCC, noting the friendly faculty and staff. He appreciated how his professors taught him life skills beyond the textbook. Williams had many impactful interactions with faculty members, such as Criminal Justice Instructor Kevin Sweeney and Vice President for Academic Affairs Kevin Wagenmaker. But the one who stood out the most was Social Sciences Instructor Andrea Martin, who helped him through his myriad of emotions following the breakup with his girlfriend of four years and the death of his uncle. 

“She was so understanding of things,” he said. “I could just have conversations with her and I just really appreciate her a lot. I felt emotionally supported.” 

Despite experiencing some of the hardest things in his life while attending MCC, Williams felt a deep comfort on the Sidney campus. 

“I don’t think I would have made it through without MCC,” he said. “This felt like home, it wasn’t school, it wasn’t work, this was a supportive environment. I felt like I belonged, I felt supported. The people here are special and my time here was amazing.” 

After graduating with his Associate of Science & Arts with a criminal justice concentration and a liberal studies certificate, Williams is now attending Ferris State University, pursuing his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. He hopes to become a state trooper and has future goals of becoming a member of Michigan’s Emergency Support Team or the Marine Services Team. His future goal of law enforcement is a far cry from his upbringing. 

“I want to make a positive impact,” he said. “Nothing is promised after death, so I want my life to actually mean something and to have something for my family tree to be proud of. I didn’t set out to be a police officer after I graduated high school, that’s not what I grew up around. It wasn’t until I met my girlfriend and saw the good in a lot of things; that’s what opened my eyes. Now, I can’t wait for it, I’m really excited for the future.”