Homesickness, faith, and fraternity—inside one student leader’s playbook for thriving far from home.
Subscribe: iTunes / Spotify
Apply to be a guest on our podcast here
Show Notes:
On Mission Matters, Adam Torres interviews Damian Serrano, Phi Iota Alpha Chapter President at Michigan State University, on navigating college far from home, finding community through fraternity leadership, and channeling challenges into creativity with his Lion5arted initiative.
Full Unedited Transcript
Hey, I’d like to welcome you to another episode of Mission Matters. My name is Adam Torres, and if you’d like to apply to be a guest in the show, just head on over to mission matters.com and click on Be Our Guest to Apply. All right, so today is a very special episode. This is part of our college spotlight series where we bring to you, the future leaders of today that and, and bring to you them and what college they’re going to, what they’re up to, majors, all that good.
Stuff. But the main part of this series is we wanna keep the dialogue going between generations. We wanna know what’s going on with today’s college students and get that, content out to the masses. So this is a historic moment, Damian, this is our first guest on this spotlight series.
So, Damian Serrano, he is a college student that’s attending my alma mater, Michigan State University, and he’s part of Phi Iota Alpha. So my, my fraternity as well. So great stuff here, Damian, and welcome to the show, man. I’m glad to be here. It’s a blessing and honor to be on this show. Alright, so we got a lot to talk about here today.
So Michigan State, I know one of, one of the angles that we want to talk about today is going to college away from home. And, what’s, what’s. The challenge of being away from home and also, you know, for other college students that are thinking about going, you know, to college in other areas, what that can even look like for them.
But I guess just to get us kicked off here Michigan State, man, how’d you choose it? Other than it’s my favorite college, obviously I went there. How’d you choose state? Okay. So yeah, Michigan State, you know, it was, it was something, you know, college wasn’t on my mind at that, that point in time when I was younger.
But Michigan State, wow. You know, the, the beginning of it I was approached by a camp counselor in high school and I had to come to the office and speak to his name’s Leo at the time, he was the, camp recruiter. I am also a camp student, so without camp I wouldn’t be in the position I am to be in this.
And what, for everybody listening that may not know what camp is, what is camp, so they know, I know what it is, but what is it? is a college assistant migrant program here in Michigan State. Mm-hmm. It’s a very, very great program. It’s the reason I’m able to be in this institution and it’s just been a blessing for me.
when they called me into that office there at, in my high school, back in Idea Westco I had the, the opportunity to speak to the recruiter and, you know, I was able to just. Converse with him on how I felt about college, and he kind of changed my perspective, and I was fully committed.
Once I had the opportunity to come to this campus, I was fully committed to it. And I’m from South Texas and coming all the way to Michigan State was a huge leap for me. Leaving behind my family, my culture, and the comfort of home. one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. There were moments where I completely fell out of place.
walking across campus, freezing cold, wondering if, I belong. But man, you know, those challenges. Yeah, those, those challenges shaped me and forced me to grow into something stronger. I’m forever grateful. Yeah. So coming from south Texas to Michigan State. and getting acclimated to campus life, like, talk to me about some of those early challenges. Like what was that like? So I’m not gonna sugarcoat it at all. I mean homesickness was something I never really, you know, faced at all.
growing up down there in the valley is what we call it, nine, five, six. it’s a lot of it, isn’t really that much diverse, as it is now compared to when I was, there for 18 years. One of the truly hardest things for me was just being away from the, the family.
I grew up in a household, Where family was number one. And, being away from that family of mine really just kind of just, it hurt me, you know? It’s like my first loss in a way, you know, I was away from that support system they all rooted for me and they care for me and they’re proud of me.
But being away from that was really one of the toughest struggles I went through, and still continue to go through, as we speak. But, I’ve learned to cope with it. I think it’s the reason why I kind of, became a brother of fi Alpha. As cliche as it sounds, you when I joined my fraternity, I was looking for community.
what I found was brotherhood. They pushed me to lead, being elected president for three years, you know, it was never about a title. It was about trust, leadership, meeting people and it is just, I found my home away from home. Wow. To do that. Three years, man. They’re working You over there?
Yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. That’s awesome. I don’t get to talk about the frat as much as I’d like to on this show, but I think this is a fun moment to say it. So um, you may or may not have my show, may not be on your daily listening. Don’t worry. I’m not, hurt about this, Damian, it’s okay.
My shows for if you’re not into entrepreneurship, maybe you are, but I’m, I mostly attract entrepreneurs, people that wanna be entrepreneurs and. In business. So if that’s your, route, great, then maybe you’ll be a listener, but if not all good. But one of the things that I’m known for, and you’ll laugh at this ’cause most of my audience doesn’t even know this, and I’ve been doing this nine years, so people always, like every single interview I’ve done for this particular show and on this on all the video and on stage and everything else, I always wear a red tie.
So what most people will come in and they’ll tell me and they’ll, they’ll be like, what is this? Like, are you Republican and I and are you like politician? Are you this, that, whatever? And I’m like, no, I just like the red tie. But you know why I wear a red tie as part of the process, right? Oh yeah, baby.
Older and better since 1931. So, so I’ve done, I’ve done over. 6,000 interviews, Damian, over 6,000. Oh wow. I’ve been nine years. I’ll do over 1500 interviews this year. I travel the world doing this and I always wear the red tie and it’s fun to be able to say what that’s for. That’s part of our lineage and that’s part of what we’re doing.
But I’ll tell you the funny part about that. I didn’t even know how to tie a tie until pledging bio to Alpha. I learned how to tie a tie in our process. Oh yeah. I see. So like I wasn’t, I wasn’t from that world either. I’m from, I’m from Michigan, from Detroit. Like, I didn’t grow up and that my dad, when I was growing up, he wasn’t go putting on a suit and tie to go to work.
He had a autobody shop and he worked on cars. Right? He painted cars. So I. It wasn’t that type of thing. Right. But so when I think about like the, lineage and what’s been given and like kind of trying to continue that and paying it forward to the next generation, that’s one of the reasons I’m, I’m excited to bring more brothers onto this show as well because it’s interesting.
It’s interesting to see what people are doing. and so circling back to your story, though, I didn’t mean to go off on a tangent there, but I had to get the red tie story out there. I was like, because I was like, Damian’s gonna crack up about this one. Oh yeah. I’m, yeah. So like if you were talking to, or you were kind of, let’s say mentoring yourself coming in, let’s just say as a freshman all over again, what kind of advice would you give yourself now with the benefit of hindsight and knowing what you know now?
That’s a great question, Adam. I would say just for anyone leaving home in general, you know, just whether you’re going outta state, across the country or just stepping away from, you know, the people who make you feel safe. My advice to you guys listening to this, is this, you know, allow yourself to feel fear.
Don’t let it stop you. homesickness is real loneliness, mental health, it’s all real. there’s gonna be nights where you wonder if you belong. But in those same moments, that’s where you find your backbone. You know, for me, that backbone came from my faith, going through the, phases and, emotions and dealing with that and sitting with that and reflecting on that.
You know, I found my, brother, my, home away from home through the fraternity, you know, and I mm-hmm. I also turned my journey into something creative. I also have my own brand called Lion Hearted. It’s more like a movement. The mission is simple. it’s inspiring, hard to entertaining minds.
I grew out of my own struggles and resilience, and it’s a reminder that no matter how hard life hits, there’s still a way to create something that uplifts others. So my ultimate advice to sum it all up, is, you know, build your support system. Lean into your faith or whatever gives you purpose.
And don’t be afraid to create something outta your story. Mm. The distance from home will test you, but it will also shape you. And in those moments where you feel most alone, you’ll find strength, faith, and creativity that no one can take away from you. Man. Tell, tell me more about this brand. What’d you say it was called?
Say it again. My hearted with the five instead of the H. Ah. So tell me more about the brand. Like is it a website? How do we, how do we find it? Let’s start there. Okay. I’m on Instagram actually, and it started out as a photography and videography. Like we started out doing for photography and videography.
And it’s interesting how you mentioned how your father was a, you know, in the auto body because my father is an artist and, he kind of creates work. And I grew up 18 years. I was blessed enough to be able to live under the roof and see, what it’s like to create something, out of your own hands and stuff.
And it’s just something very beautiful. And it inspired me, and coming out here to Michigan State, going through tribulations and trials, I just. One night just thought, saw and began getting creative with, what I wanna do. And, it’s a bit of a side hustle right now.
It’s not something that I’m fully focusing on as I am in, my undergrad still, but it’s something I do like to dedicate time to. Mm-hmm. We started out doing photography and videography, but I’m kind of leading more towards, into like clothing design as well as, production, mass production of just content creation.
I was thinking of doing like a series where I’m vlogging things in my day-to-day life and what it’s like, living away from home and just my experience. Mm-hmm. But it’s still in the works. It’s not really super huge yet, but it’s something I’m very proud about, man.
That’s how things start though. And what is the tan again? You said lion hearted. And what was the five? Say that again. I wanna make sure people can check it out. Lion hearted and it’s instead of the H for hearted. It’s a number five. Mm. A fun fact. I was the number five on my line. Fall 23. That’s awesome.
That’s great. final question for you, Damian, and when you graduate, you’re gonna be going to the workforce and there’s the, future employers and the current leaders are listening to this show that’s primarily our audiences, business owners and executives.
So. What kind of message would you give to them when it comes to relating to that next group of potential grads such as your, or should say, graduates such as yourself? When it, when it comes to relating to them as they enter the workforce. Like what kind of things would you say? ’cause I feel like that conversation, we don’t have enough.
What things I would say to like, people entering the workforce or Can you repeat the question? No, the employers. The employers? Yeah. So the employers, when it comes to connecting with this next generation of employees that are gonna be like the employers out there, like you’re gonna be, you know, interviewing for jobs, you’ll be graduating when you graduate, and then what kind of things would you say to that?
’cause the, current employers are listening to this show, so what kind of messages would you have for them? I would say kind of just, you know, it, it’s. I’m open and, willing to grow my network. You know, I’m out here. Mm-hmm. I am a college student. I’m 21 years old. I’m open to connecting, networking, creating, and, for example, this, this podcast with you, Adam, you know, when it was brought to my attention, it was something I was extremely interested in.
I sat down and talked to Juan Flores and it was just something that just, I was really, really passionate about doing it and I, it was something that I really looked forward to and. I’m glad we could get it done. And to answer your question, you know, I’m, open, I’m willing, I’m ready and I’m here.
Yeah. That’s great. Damian, this has been a lot of fun having you on the show today. If people wanna follow your journey, follow your content, connect with you, how do they do that? So, my Instagram is Damien j Serrano, and my LinkedIn is Damian j Serrano as well. Perfect. And for every listing, just so you know, we’ll definitely put some we’ll put some links on the, in the show notes so that you can just click on the link and head right on over and check out Damien’s profiles.
And speaking of the audience, if this is your first time with Mission Matters and you haven’t done it yet, hit that subscribe or follow button. This is a daily show. Each and every day we’re bringing you new content, new ideas, and hopefully. Inspiration to help you along the way on your journey as well.
Again, hit that subscribe or follow button. And Damian man, thanks again for coming on. Thank you having me here, Adam. God bless.
