SYNERGY - Juneteenth 2022

Micah Latham

Story By: Gina-Marie Cheeseman

You are never too young to lead, as Micah Latham proves. Although he is still in high school, he looks for leadership opportunities. He lives out 1 Timothy 4:12, which says, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” People of any age can learn from his wisdom and adaptability.

Being at the right place and being ready is key to stepping into leadership roles, according to him. “I usually get a leadership role when the assistant is gone or something happens, and then I was put into a role where I had to run a certain thing,” Micah says. “I have gained a lot of leadership skills just doing that.”

Adaptability is a trait that comes easy to Micah. Born in 2004 in Washington, D.C., Micah and his parents lived there for two months before moving to Paris where they lived for a “little bit.” They then moved to China and spent seven years there. They lived in Tulsa for six months before moving to Florida, where they have lived ever since. When they returned to the U.S., Micah did not have “too much memory of the U.S. so I was oblivious to the U.S. and the people there.”

He was used to seeing “a lot of Chinese people” but coming back to the U.S. he saw Americans of different ethnic backgrounds. He had to adjust from attending an international school to homeschooling once the family came back to the U.S. He was introduced to a new diet, lifestyle, television, and culture.

“I am a little more adaptable because, for someone who has grown up in one area and used to seeing the same faces, it’s challenging. My time in China felt different. I had been around them my whole life. It was an interesting transition from China to the U.S.”

He found two ways to not only adjust to life in the U.S. but learn how to be a leader. He began playing sports once he landed in Florida (soccer, football, and basketball) and became part of the Boy Scouts. When it came to sports, he struggled at first. His struggle exemplifies the adage that if at first, you don’t succeed, try, try again. “I wasn’t too good at it in the beginning. I didn’t have any leadership skills at all. I didn’t know how to control the ball. I didn’t know how to do anything at all. I was there to have a learning experience and to have good sportsmanship.” Over the years, he became good at sports and sportsmanship while displaying leadership skills in all three sports.

He says his greatest accomplishment is becoming good at soccer. His years of hard work and dedication paid off. “I was able to become a really good soccer player. I always wanted to be a good player and that last season, I was able to be a good player.” The college he plans to attend, Santa Fe College has a soccer team and he is thinking of applying for the team. Displaying a can-do attitude, Micah says, “I can do this because I can do that.”

The examples of his parents gave him the courage to both succeed in a different environment and become a leader in sports and Boy Scouts. He appreciates the impact they have on his life. “They had a good impact on my journey. They helped me connect with God, the Bible, the community,” he says of his parents.

It takes courage to end up in a place that is strange to you and wind up thriving and even becoming a leader at a young age. Micah’s parents served as role models. “What implemented my courage is my parents because my dad is a naturalborn leader. My mom is a leader as well. I believe the experiences and events that happened in my life pushed the courage out. Any time there is a time to step up to be a leader, I can do that because of all those things that happened.”

He recommends that others, whether young, old, or in-between, learn to lead themselves if they want to be a leader. “To be a leader, you have to be a leader of yourself.”