Mikel Wilson Graduates from Coastal Alabama Alongside his Children

When Mikel Wilson and his children, John-Henry and Mackinzie, recently walked across the stage in Monroeville as Coastal Alabama Community College graduates, they achieved something that might seem unique to some. But considering the Wilson family — which includes two more siblings and mom Danielle, who also graduated from the college — still live, eat dinner, watch TV and even work on cars together, it was a natural progression.
 
In fact, John-Henry and Mackinzie were the ones who challenged their father to go back to school, and even enroll in the same healthcare pathway, en route to careers in nursing. Their father Mikel was already a successful author, having penned multiple USA Today best sellers as the result of a dare by his wife back in 2017 to try his hand at the craft.
 
“We’re a really tight family,” Mikel Wilson said. “And with the support of my wife, my parents and my kids, going back to school at 37 actually gave me a lot of hope.”
Wilson had originally attended the Monroe County campus two decades ago, but dropped out to pursue a career in technology. He ran a successful IT company for a while, but decided to get out before the jobs evaporated, which led him to writing. After enrolling at Coastal Alabama Community College with his kids, he discovered that not only was his situation a perfect fit for Distance Education, but the level of support he received from the college’s faculty and staff was exactly what he needed.
 
“My advisor is wonderful, she helped me raise my GPA, which had been in the trash, to the level where I’ve made the president's list and dean's list pretty much every semester,” Wilson said. Like Danielle Wilson did in 2021, the trio graduated with associate degrees in science. Soon, they will transfer to the University of West Alabama to continue their pursuit of four-year healthcare degrees, and beyond. Mikel said his eventual goal is to get his doctorate and become a nurse practitioner.
 
“Helping people is what I was taught, what I was raised to do,” he said. “And I just feel like it's where God's leading me, honestly.”
 
Dr. Mary Beth Lancaster, Coastal Alabama Community College’s Dean of Academic Instruction, said that the school’s impact within its vast footprint throughout south Alabama is increased exponentially when multiple family members follow the same inspiration to graduate.
 
“We have celebrated parents and children, as well as spouses, as they walked across the stage after earning a degree, and we know that every student who walks across that stage is a life changed for the better,” Lancaster said. “And in families, the ‘better’ just multiplies.”
An active member at the family’s Marengo County church, Wilson said he realized just how blessed he was when, in November of last year, he suffered a heart attack just as he was set to take his final exams to be able to graduate. Thankfully he’s recovered, and said he was able to stay on track academically thanks in part to Lancaster, who contacted each of his instructors to find a solution where he wouldn’t miss his window to walk across that Monroeville stage with his children.
 
“We are blessed that we have faculty who are willing to work with our students when they experience setbacks, and Mikel's instructors did this for him,” Lancaster said. “Mikel had the grit and determination to stay enrolled in school and keep his eye on the prize as he regained his health and stayed on the course for graduation.”
 
Wilson said the college’s support during an incredibly stressful time separated it from other institutions.
 
“To have a school stand behind you because they know that you're sick means everything,” Wilson said. "The difference that I see in Coastal is in how much they actually care about the people, and treat everyone as a priority.
 
“Going back to school at an older age, I assumed they would focus on the younger students and I’d be on my own, but it was the complete opposite. Any problem I was having became their problem, too.”