In this episode of "Who's That Star?", we delve into the remarkable journey of DeMarquis Battle, a distinguished figure at Lansing Community College, where he serves as a financial aid advisor and an adjunct professor. With an extensive background in higher education spanning over 17 years, DeMarcus is committed to empowering individuals to unearth their true potential and navigate the complexities of their educational journeys. Join us as we uncover the multifaceted life of DeMarquis Battle, a beacon of inspiration within the LCC community.

Website: LCC Financial Aid Office

Hey, hey, hey. This is Lisa A. And you're listening to who's that Star? On LCC Connect at Lansing Community College. Who's that Star?

Is a behind the scenes show where I sit down and talk with the employees at the college.

This is an inside look at LCC where you will have a chance to learn about their passions, projects, what inspires them both at work and in their personal lives. I'm your host, Lisa Alexander. I'm so excited to get a chance to talk to all the people who make LCC great.

This show is for you to to get to know the people that work at Lansing Community College a little bit more and see what makes them tick. Are you ready? Okay, let's go see who's today's star. Hey, who's that Star? Community I hope everyone is doing well today on who's that Star.

My guest is someone that I'm excited to talk to. He's funny and a great colleague. This star is an empowering speaker, accomplished leader, innovation catalyst, and a seasoned educator.

He stands at the forefront of personal and professional development.

With over 17 years of experience in higher education and nonprofit spaces, this star has dedicated his career to empowering individuals to discover their true purpose and tap into their inherent self worth. His dynamic presentations on leadership and personal transformation have left a tremendous impact on countless lives.

He currently serves as an adjunct professor of liberal arts at several colleges and universities and as a financial aid administrator here at Lansing Community College. All right, community, are you ready to learn who's today's star? Drumroll, please.

Today's star is DeMarquis Battle.

Thank you, DeMarquis, for being on who's that Star?

Absolutely. Lisa, thank you for inviting me. I'm honored to be here and looking forward to this conversation.

Okay. I just want to let everyone know that DeMarquis is one of my people that makes work fun.

I have several people that I go to that if I need a good laugh or smile. Marcus is one of those people. So it's really a pleasure for me today to have him on who's that Star?

And I'm gonna ask him to tell a little bit about who he is and what's important to him in his life right now.

Listen, first of all, Lisa's got me blushing over here. She gave that little tidbit and you know, the sentiment is the same. I love when Lisa comes around. We always have a good laugh.

And so thank you for that.

Lisa, you know, when you asked the question to share a little bit about myself and who I am, really, I Think I consider myself first and foremost a man of faith. So, you know, my relationship with God is foundational for me. It is, you know, how I live my life, and everything is the outflow from that.

So that would be the first thing that I'm a man of faith. But I'm also a husband. Been married, coming up on 17 years in April. I got married young, y'all, so. But, yeah, love my wife. And I'm also a father.

I take that as something to, you know, really be proud of. And I have three wonderful. And so at the core, that's who I am. I'm a man of faith. I'm a husband. I'm a father.

Oh, right. Yeah. But, like, you do a lot of motivational speaking as well. You reach out to a lot of different people.

Yeah, yeah. So you asked the question, you know, who am I? I gave you the titles. But the titles are not necessarily who I am. My purpose is who I am.

Right.

And so, you know, my purpose is to help people to find their purpose and their destiny.

And I'm always looking for ways to uplift young people, whether it be here in the educational space or in the nonprofit sector, Houses of faith, houses of worship.

And so really, that's who I feel that I am, is somebody that looks to uplift others, to help them to find their uniqueness, their purpose, and to essentially walk in their destiny.

I agree wholeheartedly, and I think you do a great job at that. But about your role here at lcc, what do you do?

Well, in a nutshell, I'm a financial aid advisor. And basically what we do is we help students and families to help determine how they're going to fund their educational journey.

And so we do that through presentations. We do that through face to face, advising, appointments, online engagement, things of that nature.

And so really, we serve students and their families. That's the bulk of it. To help them to navigate through this process. Because going through the financial aid process can be challenging.

It can be difficult.

And we serve in a space where we're able to help calm the anxiety, the fears of students and families on how they're going to actually achieve their dream, which is to earn a degree. So that's what we do.

I think that the whole financial aid department does an excellent job. I get an opportunity to see the presentations that you all do, and I learned so much. Right.

Like, and you're right, what you don't know, it can cause fear. It can prevent you from actually trying to reach your goal.

And I think that once they meet with a financial aid advisor, some of that stress is alleviated. Right. And you kind of learn about what does a pale mean and what do these things mean?

And I just think that sometimes people don't know what they don't know, and you all do a good job of bringing that information.

Well, well, the thing about that, Lisa, is we always say this. Our financial aid advising team specifically is very representative of the students that we serve.

They are.

And so when we are presenting or when we're meeting with students, they can see themselves in us. And that often can ease the anxiety.

We're able to talk to families and say, hey, listen, I know where you're at, because I've gone through the same thing. So that's why I love being a part of this team here at lcc. We've done a great job of amassing some great talent to help and to serve these families.

But, yeah, we look like our students and we help them through that process.

Yeah, I love that. Well, how did you get started at lcc?

Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness. Listen, long story, but I'll make it a little bit short for us here.

I was going to another university in Indiana and I played football there. And I came and visited my older sister who was going to Michigan State at the time.

And I was just so enamored with the culture and all of what was happening here in Lansing area that I said, you know what, I think I want to move up here. I think I want to pursue my education here in the Lansing area.

And so I didn't get into msu, but there was another opportunity for me, so I enrolled here at lcc.

So you started out as a student?

Yeah, started off as a student. Yep. A transfer student.

And although I was young, I was kind of non traditional in the sense that I was already going through the process of marrying my wife and we were starting a family. And so although I was young, I was kind of in that non traditional space.

And so, you know, LCC was the perfect fit for me and for what I was looking to accomplish. And so I started off as a student, and from there I needed a job. Right.

And so there was an opportunity for me to get plugged into a work study position. And so that was very helpful to help supplement my financial aid. And I started working in the public service careers office over at West Campus.

Oh, okay.

And so I literally made copies for the professors there. I did filing in the filing cabinets. I booked appointments and things of that nature. And that's where I started.

And When I got into that space, I said, you know what? I think I like higher ed. I think I might want to do this as a career. And that was the start. Many years ago.

So when you went to school, what was your, if you don't mind me asking, what was your goal? What was your major? What did you think that you wanted to do?

Okay, so when I was first in school, I wanted to be. This was my dream coming out of high school. I wanted to be a CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

Okay, right. Yeah.

So I was like, I'm going into business. But then as I kind of navigated through that process for a little bit, I liked business, but I felt like I had a gift for communication. Right.

And so, you know, looking at some different programs, I switched over my major into the communications area. Right. And then some other life happenings occurred. And as I stated earlier, I really got grounded into my faith.

And so all these things started converging together. And basically using my voice was the path that I wanted to go down to, you know, use as a career. Right.

And so I combined the thought of getting into higher education through that work study, my gift of communication and being grounded in my faith, and it kind of presented this as an opportunity to serve students. And so that's how it all kind of started. But yeah, I majored in kind of a multidisciplinary sort of thing. Right.

Because I had so many different interests, but the bulk of it, the target was communication and serving.

Right.

And yeah, and I think that you do that, like in all different aspects of your other career choices, like teaching and, you know, just kind of motivating people to be better. And then in the financial aid space, I think, you know, you're a very good communicator, and I think that you reach your target audience.

And I don't know, maybe this is a redundant. But what I'm about to ask you is, like, what is your special contribution? Like something that you think that you do very well.

That really makes a difference here at lcc.

Yeah.

You know, reflecting on that question, I really, you know, got to thinking about that, like, what is my specialty, my contribution to LCC and really higher education at large?

And as I think about it, I think my representation as an African American man, a young man starting off in higher education some years ago, just me being me, I think brought a lot to the table. Share a quick story with you.

As you've mentioned, I teach as well at a number of colleges and universities, but one particular year earlier on, as an adjunct professor. I went to a college where I was serving. It was in the Metro Detroit area. And I went into the classroom.

Now, again, I've mentioned a few times being a young man. Right, right.

So I entered into the classroom space and I was in the back of the room, just seeing all the students come in and, you know, just talking with different students and whatnot. And then as we got closer to the start of class, I moved my way up to the front to take my position as the instructor, as the teacher.

And the students that were there couldn't believe that I was the professor. And it was that moment that I realized that there aren't many of me.

Right.

No, you.

Right.

And so the fact that I was able to be a picture of what could be for those students changed everything for me. I needed to be in that space. And so as a professor, that's very relevant.

But not only that, but as a financial aid advisor, someone to talk to students and to show them that I've been where they are currently at and where they're going and to be that representative representation for them, I think that makes a huge difference here on campus.

No, and I agree with you, DeMarquis, because I think that sometimes just understanding how people are communicating. Right.

Because they come from a similar background or there's some cultural things that might align that a person may look at you and have the opportunity, like, wow, I'm a try.

I may talk to this person because everybody else, I haven't felt comfortable with, or I don't think that they may understand my story or my plight or what's going on. And I do think that sometimes being an African American, I say black male, that's just showing that there's a way to do it.

Yeah.

There's a way to be successful. It doesn't always gotta look the same, but it can be done. Because they see you.

Yeah.

And they know that somehow DeMarquis got there. Right. And I can do that. And so I do. I think that is a wonderful contribution.

And I think, you know, I know you got way a lot of other things, too, but that one, that resonates with me, though, because.

Absolutely.

It makes a big difference that sometimes people don't always pay attention to. Right.

Seeing somebody that look like me, seeing somebody that had my past or similar past, or I think they might have that past, I still might make change where someone else may not.

Absolutely.

So what's life for you outside of working at lcc? Like.

Yeah. Well, again, you know, I keep kind of circling back but it goes back to my core.

And being a person of faith, I'm really, really connected into my local place of worship. House of worship, you could say it that way. So I love to serve in that. In that environment, in that atmosphere. I love working with young people.

And so my children, I've been their coach pretty much all throughout their adolescent years. You know, I got an eighth grader now, and this is, like, really the first year that I have not been their coach.

What sports? Is it sports or coaching life?

Yep, sports.

Well, I know you coaching my life.

Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, you know, football, basketball, soccer. So I've been involved in all of those things, and so I find great joy in that.

And really, it all goes back again to my purpose, helping others to walk in their purpose and to find their destiny. And so coaching is an aspect of that. Right. You know, it's not so much about the sport.

It's about motivating them to, you know, face the challenges and to overcome. And it's the same thing in the higher ed space. And so, you know, when I'm not, I'm pretty much involved in that. And I see myself as a family man.

I love spending time with my family, just laughing and joking and messing around at the house. And so I take great pride and joy in spending time with my wife and my children.

Are you from. I know you said your sister went to Michigan State. Where are you originally from?

Okay, so I am from Ypsilanti. Okay. Ipsi.

Ipsi.

Yeah, yeah. So I'm from there, but then I went away to Indiana at a small liberal arts college there, and then end up circling back here to Michigan.

So, yeah, that's where I'm from originally.

So you're a native Michigander.

That's right.

And then went to Indiana and then came back, saw how we do it at msu, and was like, yeah, so.

Can I take a little. I call it a boondoggle. Let me just share this because this kind of speaks again to Hyenham and my story. So we talk about representation. Right.

So when I was in Missouri, I went to a program called King Chavez Parks.

Oh, yeah.

Minority cp. See, we know what we talking about here. So the one I went to was in Ypsilantia, Eastern Michigan.

Oh, yeah.

And so there were students from Detroit from Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor from Lansing.

I know. I used to be the coordinator of that program at the Lansing School District for a couple years.

Lansing School. So this is gonna. You're gonna love this.

So at this program, we Met students that were from the Lansing area that would go to either Sexton or Everett or Eastern or whatnot. And so there were some students there that I met. One particular young lady I met and really nice young lady.

And so we became friends, kept in touch over the years. Right. And so we went away to college, different places. I went to Indiana, she went to Michigan State.

And when I moved back to Michigan, I ran into this person that I met in seventh grade at my church. And I'm like, hey, I know you. And so that person became my wife.

No way.

Yeah.

Oh, wow.

How cool. So I've known my wife since seventh grade. And we met in an educational setting for minority students. Trying to find purpose. Right.

Isn't that an awesome story?

That is a very awesome story. And it's so funny because, like, I work at gear. I used to work at GEAR up at Michigan State. And it's similar to kcp. It's a kind of.

It's a little different, but it's similar working with students. Yeah. Right. And so I see all those students, and they were starting at seventh grade, and they go. We took them all the way up to high school.

And to see that you would meet someone, then go about life and then how. How life brings you back to somebody, and that's amazing. I like that story. That's a good story.

Well, thank you very much.

I'd like to share it. Yeah, that was a good story. How you. Yeah. You never know what life is gonna bring.

That's right. That's right.

Yeah. Okay. I love that. That makes me reminisce about just that time. Because you probably was a student at KCP when I was.

When we were taking the buses down to Eastern.

I'm sure I was.

Cause a friend of mine, a Lynn Bowles, used to run that program at Eastern. And I was at. Working at the Lansing School District. And I was. One of my jobs was coordinator.

But really the mentors ran that program because they were doing all the work. But. Yeah, that's so cool. I love that.

And that speaks about the importance of programming. It does. You know, we need those types of programs for all types of students. But that really changed my life.

Going to that program to see again, representation, to see opportunity, to see what higher education was about. And I. I beg to say that that probably was the first inkling that I had about a desire for higher ed back then in kcp.

Cause they do expose you to so much information. And you're right. And like now I would say even with the state of how we socialize.

Those programs are even more important because they're gonna make you interact with people, learn about soft skills, learn about eye contact, how to communicate. Because now people just get on.

We've gotten away from that. Yeah, exactly.

So, yeah. Okay, my next question is, like, what's the first thing you do after getting home from work?

Eat something? No, no. Probably the first thing I do is look for my kids if they got home from school.

Okay.

Ask them about their day. Hey, what's going on? How was things today? That's probably the first thing.

And then the second thing is really, to be honest, change into some lounge clothes.

Get comfortable.

Get comfortable? Yeah.

Like, do you. Is your routine. Like, do you. Okay, I'm gonna do all my chores or do you just come home and just like, oh, I'm gonna chillax for a second.

Cause communicating people don't realize, take a lot of energy out of it.

Oh, yeah. You know, by the time you get to 5:00, 5:30, by the time you walk through the door, you're spent. So, you know, it depends on what day it is. Right.

On the way that we have it outlined at the Battle House is that Thursday and Friday are my dinner days that you like. Yeah. So I'm on the hook then.

Okay.

Mrs. Maddow. I love that. So that might be the first thing after I've kind of greeted everyone.

I'm probably getting dinner together on those particular days.

Cause now you think you a cook, right?

I am a griller.

A griller?

Yeah.

Okay, so you think you a expert griller?

Yes.

But then you just. You can manage yourself around the kitchen.

I can manage my way around in the kitchen. The few protein items.

Okay, so what is your go to meal? Like, if I asked your children and I was like, what's your daddy? What can he cook? Good. What would they tell me?

Okay, probably two things right off of the bat. Burgers. I'm doing that. And then wings with all different flavors. Yes.

Okay.

Yeah. That's how we getting done.

Okay. I like that, though. And I would be glad to take any type of sample of the burgers or the wings. I particularly love garlic parmesan wings.

Okay.

Lemon pepper wings, just to throw that out there, you know, I just wanna make sure. But that's cool. I like the division of labor and, you know, what your strengths are, so.

That's right.

You know, what you bring to the table. What was your first job, DeMarquis?

Oh, goodness. My first job was I was a dishwasher out of Coney island back home in Ipsy. Okay.

My high school football coach, he had a connection at this particular Coney Island. And, you know, I expressed like, I need a job, you know, and so they got me a little dishwasher job there.

And then eventually I ended up moving to like an assistant line cook. And so I was. So I can cook a little bit, right? But breakfast items, things of that nature. And real quick, 32nd, funny story.

And so we would be able to kind of cook our own, you know, lunch break, our own meal for the first time. Oh, yeah, that would work great. So here I am. Got this large, you know, flat top grill that, you know, we're cooking omelets and all sorts of things.

So I call myself getting ready to make a mondo omelet. A big old giant, everything in it. And I cracked maybe four or five eggs. And the owner came to me and said, what are you doing? Are you crazy?

And that was kind of like the first time that I learned how important the margins are, you know, and not. Not being wasteful, neglectful, and having my stomach be bigger, you know, eyes, beauty, stomach in my stomach. Here we go. Yeah, yeah.

And so I learned a lot in that moment. And so I carried that experience with me and every other job that, you know, I gained something from in my early, early years.

Well, yeah, I mean, I think that's a good lesson. It taught you, you know, you need to know your surroundings, like what's going on and what the rules are and stuff like that.

But I don't think you would have wasted that, though.

No, I ate it.

I know you did.

I still cooked it and ate it.

He said you was just careful.

I was careful not to, you know, crack four eggs in front of the owner.

Owner again. Right. Hey, you learned some stuff.

That's right.

So what do you consider yourself? Cause this is an interesting question to me, because sometimes you think you know, but you don't. Do you think you're an introvert or an extrovert?

Oh, I'm an extrovert.

Okay.

I'm an extrovert. Another. You know, this is a good conversation. Yeah. So a couple years back, the financial aid department did a retreat. Okay.

And so we went off campus to another location, and it was a really great event. And we all did the disc personality assessment.

I love those.

Yeah, yeah. So we did that and we got our results back.

And I was not only an I for influential and that kind of correlates to being extroverted, but I was a high I. And if you think of A quadrant, four quadrants and whatnot. I was way off in the corner by myself, in the highest possible range of being an eye.

And the funny thing about it was everybody on the team agreed and affirmed that that was me, you know, And I knew it was me even before I went through the whole personality assessment. I knew where I was gonna land.

Cause I've always been willing to have conversation, to walk into a room, and if there's all new people, let's say a networking event, I'm gonna break the ice, you know, I'm probably gon person to start talking. And I just think that's a gift that I have. But I will say this can be seasonal too. Yeah.

Because sometimes when you're in a different place in your life, you might be a little bit more introverted. And sometimes it just calls for a different kind of personality trait in different seasons and different arenas.

But as a whole, I would probably say that I'm extra.

Yeah. I think that, like, some of the nature of our role and our job, I think it makes us have to be extroverted.

Yeah.

For me, I found that I'm extroverted, but I have a lot of introverted tendencies. So when I'm at work, I'm talking, I'm gregarious walking around, but when I go home, I gotta replenish my. My bucket.

And so a lot of times I'm quiet or I just want to play on a game, or I want to listen to my Reddit, because I love Reddit and I'll watch, you know, listen to things or maybe a book, but I don't want to talk to nobody else. Right.

Yeah.

And that's hard sometime when you have a family or you have a partner or other obligations, and you come from a job like us, where we. We're talking, that's how we make our money, how we get people to understand. And then you gotta come home and give to your family.

Yeah.

And so if I would say that you are a true extrovert because you still able to manage that energy and that spirit and sometimes. I don't always have that.

No, I agree with you. What happens when everyone expects you to be that, but you need to kind of be introverted for a time.

Yeah, you gotta.

Sometimes. Yeah. Sometimes I feel that it can be unfair because they're always looking for you to be the one to speak or be the one to get things started.

Right.

And sometimes I just wanna be, you know, chill, sitting in the background. Yeah, sometimes. And so there's a balance. But I Think your gift is unavoidable.

That's a nice way of looking at that.

Yeah.

Because it is what it is. You can't get rid of it. It's gonna come and show itself. So I think that's a great description. I know we talked about.

One of your hobbies is grilling, right?

Yeah.

What's. Others.

Other hobbies. Okay. So what I like to do, to be honest, I still play video games a little bit, you know, and my son, who considers him. And I want to support that.

And for those that are listening, that is an educational field.

Oh, yeah.

You know, we took him to a college here in Michigan where they have that as a program. So we're trying to support his passion. Right. But back to myself. Yeah, I like to unwind a little bit and play some games. I've always done that.

And that's kind of my space. Barbecuing, as you mentioned, that was really a thing I liked. Well, I don't know if I like this, but it is a space for me to just think.

Cutting the grass. Yeah. You know, especially in the summertime and the breeze is going. And I'm just cutting the grass and I'm just thinking about.

Give you a good time to process.

Yeah, process. Thinking about my life, thinking about my family, thinking about my future, thinking about positive things.

You know, I like to do that sometimes as well.

Well, I'm. Our time is almost up. And it's like, it's so easy to talk with you.

I know we could probably keep going, but I wanted to ask you before we close out, now that I know where you're from, this is an interesting question for me now, because I didn't real. I thought you were. I didn't know where you were from, actually.

Okay.

So I was like, what, do you go green or go blue?

Okay, So I shared where I'm from.

Right. That's what I'm saying. It makes a difference. But then I heard the previous part.

So my allegiance is where I'm from. So I'm go blue.

Oh, wait, I wasn't expecting that. And I'm really quite shocked.

I'm go blue. You know, and so this term, Walmart Wolverine. I don't like that term.

Well, okay, now, I didn't go to University of Michigan, but what I will say is my mother worked at U of M. My grandmother retired. She was a janitor at U of M. And so I have memories of going up there as a kid.

Yeah.

You know, so I've spent time on camp.

We ain't Talking about you. You ain't Walmart. What we saying is, people, this is me. This ain't lcc. This is Lisa. Okay?

But what I'm saying is, just like you, I'm from Lansing and Michigan State. My mom worked there. All my substitute teachers came from. In the land. They came from Michigan State.

That's right.

That's my line. That's who I'm aligned with. I'm going for them. You from Ipsy. They right there.

Right there.

You supposed to be for them.

That's right.

But I was kind of. You kind of fooled me because you like, oh, I went and visit my sister. So your sister came to Michigan State.

She did.

Smart lady. And. But you just got tainted. You couldn't help it. No, you are from there. You gonna be down with them.

That's right.

So I get it. I mean, I'm not happy about it.

Till the end of time, but I.

But I. I didn't know you was. Oh, okay. I'm shocked. Let me get off of here, y'all, before we have a whole nother conversation. But, DeMarquis, I.

I'm glad that you came on who's that Star? Thank you for taking time out of your schedule. Maybe you can come back and talk to us again.

Yeah, I'd love to. This was great, Lisa. Thank you for the invitation and just, again, just thankful and glad that I was able to come and do this.

We were glad to have you. And who's that Star? Audience until next time, you've been listening to who's that Star? I'm Lisa A.

And you can listen to this episode of who's that Star? And other shows from LCC Connect anytime online at lccconnect.org thank you for listening. Catch me next time to find out who's that Star.