For Goodman, the decision to attend Mountain View was a departure from the academic path he expected to follow after high school. Already accepted at The University of Texas at Austin, he anticipated going straight to the university upon graduation. Although his path changed, he remained steadfast in his goal of attending UT.
In his junior year of high school, Goodman’s mother lost her job.
“During that time, we still made it. I was able to graduate with clothes still on my back, lights still on in the house, food still on the table,” he said. “I don’t know how she did it, but she did it. She made it happen.”
After high school, he had a difficult decision to make. He chose to stay in Dallas, get a job and help pay the bills at home until things became more stable. He took a position managing a retail store and applied for admission at Mountain View. He focused on his studies and took classes every semester, never losing sight of his goal of transferring to UT.
Goodman credits his advisors with providing the guidance he needed to stay on track and encouraging him throughout the process.
“The support from the advisors helped me reach that goal,” he said, adding that attending Mountain View helped him get his feet wet and see what college looks like.
Community college helped him prepare and gain confidence, but when he transferred to UT, there were still some growing pains. He says the university experience for transfer students isn’t on par with the experience of first-time freshman college students.
“If I hadn’t started at Mountain View and had gone straight to UT out of high school, I think my path would have been totally different,” Goodman said. “I don’t think I would have had the same mindset, if I hadn’t started out at community college.”
Attending Mountain View and serving as a student ambassador started his path in student government. It fueled his desire to advocate for transfer and low income students and for better transfer resources.
“I think a lot of people see community college in a negative light,” he said. “At a community college like Mountain View, there really are advisors and people who want to help you reach your goal. I definitely had that.”
Goodman advises current students to take advantage of opportunities to explore, learn and try new things.
“Figure out what your goals are and your next steps, in terms of your academic or occupational career,” he said. “People at the college are there to help you reach those goals. Use those resources.”
His personal passion to serve comes from the fact that he didn’t have the resources he needed. Goodman is grateful to have had people in his life who helped him when he couldn’t help himself, both financially and in general. Now he feels that same passion, a responsibility really, to do the same for others.
“The phrase ‘Never give up’ is my personal motto. Through my struggles and downfalls, this motto has pushed me to persevere and create the man I am now,” he said.
Goodman is an operations analyst at Goldman Sachs. He attended Mountain View from 2014-2016 and graduated with an Associate of Science in Business Administration and Management before transferring to UT Austin where he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in 2020.
He served as president of the student government at UT. Together with his vice president, they made history as the first Black students to hold those two offices at the same time. He was a speaker for the 2020 UT virtual commencement ceremony.