In this episode Dr. Hettie V. Williams is in conversation with Nick Johnson. Williams is the current director of the William Monroe Trotter Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston and Johnson is a graduate student at UMass Boston and also a part of the Trotter graduate student support staff. He is a doctoral candidate in the Global Inclusion and Social Development program at UMass and his research focuses on the political ecologies of indigenous and African Diaspora communities and their collective self-determination. Nick is also involved in racial equity work and a committed to restorative justice. He discusses in this conversation his journey through academia including life as a graduate student at UMass Boston while providing listeners with some insight into the process of applying for grad schools, mentoring, and his overall experience navigating life as a Black graduate student at UMass Boston. This episode should prove useful to those interested in entering higher education as well as applying to graduate school and particularly those with an interest in studying racial justice.