Professor G

Professor G Innovative Professor Supporting the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs!

“The Poor Die Too Young.”One of my cousins died yesterday. Jeff was still a young man.I have lost too many family member...
08/20/2026

“The Poor Die Too Young.”

One of my cousins died yesterday. Jeff was still a young man.

I have lost too many family members over the years, and I have come to understand something about growing up poor that is difficult to explain unless you have lived it: Poverty follows you.

We grew up in survival mode.
Health. Nutrition. Preventive medical care. Regular checkups. Understanding what your body needs.

Those things can feel like luxuries when the priority is simply getting through the day.

I got lucky. Athletics entered my life and taught me much of what I know about exercise, nutrition, discipline, and taking care of my body. Without sports, I don’t know that I would have learned those lessons either.

It is easy to look at someone struggling with their health and say: “They made bad choices.”

Sometimes they did. But there is another truth we don’t talk about enough: You cannot practice what you were never taught.

Many people who grow up in poverty aren’t choosing between a healthy life and an unhealthy one. They’re surviving.

When survival consumes your childhood, sometimes it follows you for the rest of your life.

We need a little less judgment and a little more understanding.

Rest easy, cousin.

Enjoy the ride, Jeff.

— John

SocialDeterminantsOfHealth BreakingTheCycle GenerationalPoverty OpportunityMatters Empathy Compassion RuralPoverty Humanity LifeLessons ThePoorDieTooYoung

08/17/2026

We don’t need to compete with AI!

We spend so much of our lives trying to eliminate our flaws.

Maybe, just maybe, our imperfections are our true strengths?

AI will achieve perfection. A cold calculated perfection that only machines can achieve.

Let’s not chase machines.

Let’s embrace our humanity.

Let’s embrace our imperfection.

Let’s embrace the beauty of human life!

AI was NOT used to create this post or image - all Professor G!

BuiltToBuild ProfessorG

Maybe the answer to student anxiety isn’t making college easier.Maybe it’s teaching students how to handle difficult thi...
08/15/2026

Maybe the answer to student anxiety isn’t making college easier.

Maybe it’s teaching students how to handle difficult things.

I believe higher education needs a Progressive Rigor Model.

Students should experience manageable challenges while simultaneously learning the skills necessary to navigate them successfully.

Think of it like strength training:

You don’t build strength by eliminating resistance.
You introduce manageable resistance, teach proper technique, allow recovery, and progressively increase the load.

College could work the same way:

Year 1: Teach time management, stress management, planning, study skills, recovery, and how to ask for help.

Year 2: Increase academic challenge, deadlines, accountability, teamwork, and independence.

Year 3: Introduce ambiguity, difficult feedback, leadership, competing priorities, and real-world problems.

Year 4: Expect professional-level independence through capstones, internships, research, entrepreneurship, and authentic projects.

The progression:

SUPPORTED CHALLENGE ➡️ PRACTICED RESILIENCE ➡️ INDEPENDENCE

The goal isn’t to intentionally create anxiety.

The goal is to stop confusing removing stress with teaching students how to manage stress.

College should be rigorous.

But we should also teach students how to successfully navigate that rigor.

Life after graduation isn’t going to remove every deadline, setback, difficult conversation, failure, or stressful situation.

Education shouldn’t simply make the road easier.
It should make the student stronger.

— Professor G

AcademicRigor MentalHealth StudentDevelopment Teaching FutureOfEducation ProfessorG

08/14/2026

I took ownership of my future long before I knew what those words meant.

Neither of my parents finished high school. My two older siblings dropped out. Of five children, I was the only one who graduated from high school.

We were poor. Proper language wasn’t used in our home. We talked like “po folks.”

But as a teenager, I understood something that changed my life: If I wanted a different future, I was going to have to build it. No one was coming to my rescue.

During my freshman year of high school, I bought a used dictionary from a thrift store.

I read it every day.

I studied words, meanings, and pronunciation. I taught myself to speak better and write better.

I told almost no one. I knew some people around me would laugh.

So I worked quietly.

No applause. No recognition.

Just a kid trying to become something different from what his circumstances predicted.

Eventually, I graduated high school.

Then college.

Then law school.

I became a lawyer and eventually a college professor.

But here’s the important part:
The degrees didn’t change the direction of my life. The decision to take ownership of my life did.

Life isn’t fair. Opportunity isn’t equal. Some people start miles behind others.

I certainly did.

Eventually we have to ask ourselves: What am I doing with what I have?

A book. A class. A mentor. An hour at night.

Use it.

Learn.

Grow.

Build quietly if you have to. Just build.

Your circumstances may explain where you started.

They don’t get to decide where you finish.

— Professor G
Entrepreneurship Is a Way of Life.

PersonalResponsibility Resilience Grit SelfEducation OvercomingAdversity FirstGeneration KeepBuilding EntrepreneurshipIsAWayOfLife BuiltToBuild

WE ARE NOT HELPING YOUNG PEOPLE BY MAKING EVERYTHING EASIER.We may actually be making adulthood harder.Young people are ...
08/10/2026

WE ARE NOT HELPING YOUNG PEOPLE BY MAKING EVERYTHING EASIER.

We may actually be making adulthood harder.

Young people are experiencing extraordinary levels of stress and anxiety.

Our response is often well-intentioned:

Reduce the workload.
Lower the pressure.
Remove uncomfortable situations.
Make deadlines more flexible.
Lower expectations.

But what if constantly removing manageable stressors prevents students from developing the capacity to manage stress?

Athletes understand this.

You don’t build muscle by avoiding resistance.

You apply resistance.

Then recover.

Then apply a little more.

Over time, the body adapts.

I believe education should think about resilience in a similar way.

We should intentionally introduce students to manageable micro-stressors — small, developmentally appropriate challenges that allow them to experience pressure, develop coping strategies, recover, reflect, and become stronger.

Give the presentation.

Meet the deadline.

Defend your position.

Receive difficult feedback.

Solve the problem without immediately being given the answer.

Work with someone you disagree with.

Fail at something that matters — and discover that failure isn’t fatal.

Then teach students what to do with the discomfort.

Confidence comes from discovering:

“I struggled. I handled it. I learned. I got stronger.”

— Professor G
Entrepreneurship Is a Way of Life

Leadership G

08/07/2026

Connect with Alma College! Plan a visit to explore campus life, meet faculty and students, and uncover exciting opportunities.

08/06/2026

Money won’t fix the emptiness you feel.
Money won’t tell you why you exist.
Money won’t give your life meaning.
Money may buy comfort.
It may buy security.
It may even buy freedom, but it cannot buy purpose.
In fact, for many people, wealth simply replaces one set of worries with another. The anxiety of having too little becomes the anxiety of losing what you’ve built.

The human soul was never designed to be satisfied by accumulation.
It was designed for purpose.

A person with purpose can endure incredible hardship.
A person without purpose can possess everything and still feel empty.

The tragedy our youth experience is not simply economic.
It is existential.

Too many young people are searching for meaning in politics, ideology, consumption, or wealth.

Yet none of those things answer the deepest question: Why am I here?

You were built to build.
To create.
To serve.
To love.
To sacrifice.
To leave the world better than you found it.
That is where purpose lives.

Purpose, not money, is what gives life meaning.

Professor G

Image is AI

PersonalGrowth Mindset Entrepreneurship Innovation Success Resilience CreateValue ServeOthers BuilderMindset LifePurpose

08/03/2026

A beautiful new facility in Saginaw, Michigan, will help to strengthen and grow CMU’s impact on healthcare in the Great Lakes Bay region. The new MyMichigan Health CMU Medical Education Building will serve as the home of the Covenant HealthCare College of Medicine at Central Michigan University - uniting the majority of medical students in one geographic location alongside medical, healthcare and community partners. Learn more: https://bit.ly/4z1leT4

What if the next nationally recognized brand isn’t founded in Silicon Valley... but in a college classroom?Meet Amelia M...
08/03/2026

What if the next nationally recognized brand isn’t founded in Silicon Valley... but in a college classroom?
Meet Amelia Morfe and Samantha Morfe!
These twin sisters are current undergraduate students at Central Michigan University, Central Michigan University College of Business Administration, but they aren’t waiting until graduation to chase their dream.
They’re building it now.
As co-founders of LinkedByTwins, Amelia and Samantha have spent countless hours developing a creator-powered social commerce brand designed for Gen Z and Gen Alpha. Their vision combines fashion, entrepreneurship, community, and opportunity into a business model built to scale.
Earlier this year, they earned 1st Place at the Central Michigan University New Venture Challenge, and they haven’t slowed down since. This summer has been spent refining their strategy, strengthening operations, expanding partnerships, and preparing to grow beyond CMU to campuses across the country.
As their mentor, I can tell you what impresses me most isn’t simply their business idea.
It’s their work ethic.
Great entrepreneurs don’t just have vision.
👉 They execute.
👉 They ask questions.
👉 They seek feedback.
👉 They put in the hours.
👉 They keep building when nobody is watching.
Amelia and Samantha embody exactly that mindset.
I have no doubt we’ll be hearing much more about LinkedByTwins (website: https://linkedbytwins.com/) in the years ahead.

Congratulations on everything you’ve accomplished so far.
The future belongs to builders, and you’re proving it every day.
Keep building.

Professor G
John Gustincic, JD
CentralMichiganUniversity CMU Startup Founder GenZ Innovation SmallBusiness FutureFounders BuildToBuild NewVentureChallenge

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