USUSA presidential profiles: Joshua Johnson
Whether it’s partnering in Latin dance, playing Super Mario Bros with his younger brother, or making his own version of Ramen noodles for friends Josh Johnson is constantly connecting with them.
Johnson grew up in a small farming community in Northern New Mexico for the first twelve years of his life.
“We were poor. We were dirt poor,” he said. “My mom ran a daycare out of the house while she went to dental school at night and my dad was a long range trucker, so he’d be gone for days at a time.”
However, this situation did not stop his family.
“At the age of 8, my mom taught all four of her kids different things,” Johnson said.“One of those things for all of us was dancing. So she taught us the Latin basics like merengue, bachata, salsa. And I’ve just grown up loving dancing ever since.”
Eventually, Johnson’s parents both “worked their ways up” and his family of six eventually moved to Colorado, where he says their lives changed.
“It was such a change from small, young, country poor little boy that I see in my mind,” he said.
Growing up, Johnson developed ambitions. “As a kid, I wanted to be an engineer. I loved tearing things apart and figuring out why they work- just that kind of precocious little boy.”
These ambitions followed Johnson to school. While at first he was dual majoring in mechanical and chemical engineering at a program in Colorado, those plans eventually changed.
“On my mission, I had this really amazing companion who wouldn’t stop talking about two things: USU and Sigmi Phi Epsilon fraternity,”Josh Johnson said.
Johnson has since gotten involved in both. He transferred from his school in Colorado and went on to join Sigmi Phi Epsilon, a fraternity.
Johnson is majoring in international business and global communications. With those degrees, he says he is interested in doing advocacy work. He would love to do international law or international business advocacy law.
He said his service as a missionary in Mesa, Ariz. has been an inspiration to him in this journey. He said that they sometimes referred to it as “Mesaco,” Arizona because of how many Hispanic and Latino people lived there.
“It was so eye-opening to me to see the states of life these people were leading and trying to balance the idea that these people are in the United States,” Josh Johnson said. “A lot of them are U.S. citizens and yet they’re living in a certain way that I wasn’t even accustomed to, even when I thought I was poor as a young boy, we never had to live like that.”
In line with this desire to become an advocate, Gorety Ramirez, one of Johnson’s friends, described his strength in being able to listen to people of a variety of perspectives.
“Like anyone else, we all have opinions and we all have statements,” Ramirez said. “But he’s one of those people that’s willing to sit down, and even if you don’t have the same perspective, he’ll just listen to it and understand.”
Johnson said he lives by this idea.
“Even though I have very specific views on life, if someone sees differently than me, I’m not going to shame them,” he said. “I’m going to take the time to figure out why they think that way.”
Moving towards his advocacy goals, Johnson is currently working on and law school applications. He says he would love to go to school at Columbia. In conjunction with this, another goal of his is to work at the United Nations.
Kyle Hacking, one of Johnson’s friends, spoke to Johnson’s ability to connect with others.
“He really gets people,” Hacking said. “He really understands how people work. He just has that ability to empathize with a lot of people through his own experiences.”
The two met during their time working as part of the A-Team, an on-campus student group.
“He is so willing to connect with people,” Hacking said. “I saw that on A Team so much. There would be students who just instantly he was willing to be there, and be their friend.”
Johnson’s friends and family also mention his ability to see the potential in others.
“He’s always seen the very best in me, and I feel like he often sees the very best in people,” said Chelsea Price, Johnson’s sister. “But he also really wants them to achieve their best.”
This type of attention to individuals is what has kept Johnson motivated daily in his work as Vice President of Diversity.
“What you put out, you get back,” he said. “I believe that if I worked that hard for my Aggie family, then in some way, those same energies, that same love and dedication will come back to me.”
Johnson says he longs for his authenticity in service to shine through.
“I hope that they see that it’s all for other people, and not self-serving, because my biggest thing since I’ve gotten back from my mission has been ‘How can I serve others?’” said Johnson.