From Ethiopia to the Coast Guard

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My final assignment for Multicultural Education was to relate concepts we learned in class to a local student. This posed some unique problems for me, so it was decided I would do a modified assignment about my former high-school teammate Micah Zeller. In the class, we learned about the concept of “Community Cultural Wealth,” developed by Tara Yasso. It is composed of different kinds of “Capital.” These types of capital include familial, aspirational, linguistic, social, navigational, and resistance. My project would demonstrate how Micah, who was born in Ethiopia, had gained these different types of capital by being adopted into a middle-class family in the United States. To accomplish this I typed out my questions to Micah and emailed them to him while he was on a Coast Guard patrol boat off the coast of Alaska.

Micah, along with his brother Elias, were adopted from an orphanage at a young age by Andrew and BethAnn Zeller of my home town of Westcliffe, Colorado, and brought into a family of 11 siblings. Elias was in better health than Micah, whose nickname was “Abush” — a name given to children in Ethiopia not expected to survive. Elias, by the way, went on to serve in the U.S. Army, Colorado National Guard, and graduated from the University of Colorado–Colorado Springs with a B.A. in Business Analytics.

Micah’s educational journey was very unique. After being adopted, he was originally homeschooled, then went to public school in Wyoming briefly before returning to Custer County where he finished high school. He was an athlete in cross country, track and basketball. He won the 2A State Track Championship in the 3200 meters during his senior year and also placed second in the Colorado State Cross Country Championships. As a runner, he had scholarship offers from two Colorado universities, but declined them and joined the U.S. Coast Guard, which has a very rigorous education and training program.

My presentation also discussed racial demographics and bias, homeschooling, the role of sports in education, the excellence of Ethiopian distance runners, and how a sense of belonging helps one form friendships, community and personal identity. I could relate some of Micah’s educational experience to my own as an autistic person.

(See the sideshow presentation here)

Obviously, Micah gained immediate cultural capital with his adoption by a family in the United States. The Zellers were also a strongly Christian-based family, and the mom home-schooled all the kids in an actual classroom inside their home.

To address the aspirational capital aspect of Micah’s experience, I asked about his goals and what he expected to achieve in the Coast Guard. He said his goals had remained the same throughout his time in the Coast Guard. He expected to gain experience, and show others that he was accomplishing the things he had set out to do. He said he wanted to eventually leave the Coast Guard with a full resume of experiences and completed missions.

As for linguistic capital, I asked him how his homeschool, high school, and other experiences prepared him for the communication and language skills he needed to find success in the Coast Guard. Micah credited growing up in a larger family with helping him learn to effectively communicate with different kinds of people and personalities. He said managing communications was a big part of his job as an Operational Specialist in the Coast Guard. He manages distress calls on phones and maritime radio channels, and uses the information to plan and execute missions. He said remaining calm while gathering information from people who are sometimes panicking was a very difficult task. 

Micah also was able to relate his experience growing up in a large family in Westcliffe to his familial capital. He said being a student and athlete in a small community helped him develop the skills and networks he needed to navigate the Coast Guard system.

I asked Micah how his social capital — friends, classmates, and others — helped contribute to his success. He said his network of former classmates and friends have been there for him as questions arose in life. “As I left my beautiful home in Westcliffe and almost all my friends, I was excited and eager to leave, then realized months down the line I missed Colorado and occasionally needed help from friends and family back home.” He was grateful to be able to call someone, get guidance or help with his studies, and this contributed to his success.

To address navigational capital, I asked how Micah felt his background helped him deal with situations in which he didn't feel supported, or when he encountered hostile situations. He said some family and friends had supported him every step of the way, but unfortunately there were others who didn’t. Some said he wouldn’t make it and some were disappointed in his decision to join the service. “I am proud to admit that all the unsupportive talk and all the doubting just gave me a bigger drive to prove them wrong.”

Micah felt like his parents, community and others provided him with great resistance capital to solve difficult problems in respect to his educational and other social challenges. He said growing up in Westcliffe where change is slow and people live simple lives, taught him much about the contentment that can come from living at a slower pace. “Each time I get the opportunity to go back home I see this and get reminded of how simple someone’s life can be for them to be happy.”

What an incredible journey Micah has had from nearly starving to death to being adopted, growing up in a large family and small community, and transitioning from homeschool and public school environments to the Coast Guard. It’s been a privilege for me to be along for a small part of Micah’s journey. I think his story made for a good presentation to my class.

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