Hostos Students Engage with Author Jonathan Conyers During Powerful Book Discussion of His Best-selling Memoir “I Wasn’t Supposed to Be Here”

 
The Faculty Dining Room at Hostos Community College was filled to capacity on March 4 as students, faculty, and staff gathered to hear author, entrepreneur, and respiratory therapist Jonathan Earl Conyers discuss his acclaimed memoir, “I Wasn’t Supposed to Be Here.” Organized by Professor Jennifer Tang, Reference, Instruction & Outreach Librarian, and attended by Humanities Professor Natasha Yannacañedo’s First Year Seminar students, the event evolved into an intimate and wide-ranging conversation shaped by student questions.
 
Rather than delivering a traditional lecture, Conyers, who is known for his candid storytelling and direct engagement with audiences, invited students to challenge him with their curiosity, as he believes that the conversational part “is the best part of the presentation process.”
 
Throughout the Q&A, students asked about everything from writing a memoir and confronting trauma to therapy, mentorship, and community. The discussion reflected the central theme of Conyers’ book: that storytelling has the power not only to make sense of personal struggle but also to inspire collective change.
   
Conyers’ memoir traces a journey shaped by hardship, resilience, and a determination to succeed despite daunting circumstances. Born on October 23, 1994, in Chesapeake, Virginia, he was primarily raised in the Bronx, New York, where his childhood was marked by poverty, instability, and family challenges.
 
His father struggled with addiction while working sporadically in construction and maintenance. His mother battled addiction and mental health challenges while raising five children. At one point during his childhood, the family experienced homelessness and returned to the Bronx after his mother was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.
   
Despite those obstacles, Conyers found his path through education and debate. As a student at Frederick Douglass Academy High School in Harlem, he discovered speech and debate under the mentorship of legendary debate coach DiCo, competing in prestigious debate tournaments hosted by institutions such as Harvard, Yale, and Columbia.
 
But Conyers was quick to remind students that his academic journey was far from smooth.
“I was not the best student at all times,” he said with a laugh. “I had my first child at 17 while I was still in high school, and I made mistakes along the way.”
 
Yet those experiences became part of the motivation that shaped his career and eventually his memoir. “No matter where you come from, no matter who your parents are, excuses are just excuses,” Conyers told the students. “The fact that you’re in this room right now means you made a choice. A choice to learn, to make connections, and to understand your community.”
   
After discovering the power of debate, Conyers went on to attend Stony Brook University, where he graduated in 2017 as an Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) student. During his time there, he majored in Respiratory Therapy and minored in Writing, blending scientific study with a growing passion for storytelling.
 
His presence on campus became widely recognized through Stony Brook University’s Far Beyond Campaign, a national initiative designed to highlight and share the success stories of students across that institution. As part of the campaign, Conyers’ image and story appeared across campus and throughout the United States on buses, trains, and in transportation hubs such as LaGuardia Airport, earning him the nickname “Mr. Far Beyond.”
 
His story gained national attention several years later when it was featured in a widely shared 12-post series on Humans of New York, a worldwide popular photography and storytelling project founded by photographer Brandon Stanton in 2010. The posts sparked a remarkable response: more than 30,000 donations totaling approximately $1.3 million were raised to support the Brooklyn Debate League he co-founded.
 
That exposure launched Conyers into a new public role, with appearances in major outlets such as The Washington Post, NBC News, and The Kelly Clarkson Show. But Conyers explained that the sudden attention came with complicated emotions.
   
“I started searching for the negative comments to the point where I ignored all the good ones,” he said. “Meanwhile my DMs were blowing up! Michael B. Jordan called me, the Obamas reached out, and all of this was happening because of some paragraphs online about a boy in the Bronx.”
 
That experience forced him to reflect on the weight of telling one’s story publicly. “I realized the power of storytelling,” he said. “It’s not just about what happened to you. It’s about how your story can help other people understand their own lives.”
 
As the event progressed, one student asked Conyers about the emotional difficulty of writing a memoir, particularly when it requires revisiting painful experiences and trauma. The student said they were interested in learning about different outlets for healing and wanted to know how Conyers managed the process of remembering and writing about moments that were deeply difficult.

Conyers acknowledged that revisiting the past while writing “I Wasn’t Supposed to Be Here” was not easy. At times, he said, he struggled to remember certain experiences because of the trauma he had endured. “Sometimes when you go through a lot of trauma, your mind protects you,” he explained. “Writing the book meant going back and facing those memories again.”

He described how the process forced him to confront moments from his childhood and early life that he had not fully processed before. At one point during the writing process, he even considered abandoning the project altogether.

“I told my agent, ‘Maybe this was a bad idea. I don’t want to do this,’” he recalled. “But I realized that if I was going to tell this story, I had to do it honestly.”
 
Students also asked about therapy and healing. One student who said they connected deeply with Conyers’ story shared that they related to the mental health struggles described in his book and spoke about the stigma many families still carry around seeking professional help. The student asked Conyers how he navigated those cultural barriers and whether therapy had played a role in his own journey.

Conyers responded candidly, acknowledging that conversations around mental health, particularly for men and in many communities, can be complicated. “We all need someone to talk to,” he said. “Sometimes that’s a therapist, sometimes it’s a friend or a mentor. But nobody gets through life alone.”

He spoke about the challenges of seeking support and how difficult it can be to enter spaces where people may not share similar lived experiences. At the same time, he emphasized that healing is a process rather than a single solution. “It’s like going to the gym,” Conyers said. “It’s not a quick fix. It’s something you work on over time.”

His response resonated with many students in the room and reinforced one of the central themes of the presentation. Confronting personal struggles openly, whether through storytelling, mentorship, or professional support, can help break the silence that often surrounds mental health.

By the end of the gathering, the discussion had become less about the book itself and more about the students sitting in the room. Conyers reminded them that their presence at the event already represented a step toward shaping their futures. For many students, the conversation reinforced the idea that personal experiences, no matter how difficult, can become sources of strength.
 
As the event concluded and students lined up to speak with Conyers and have books signed, the energy in the room reflected the impact of the conversation: a mix of reflection, inspiration, and the realization that storytelling can transform both personal lives and entire communities.