Emmanuel Johnson is no stranger to being the first. As a first-generation college student from New Brunswick, N.J., he is also the first N.C. A&T undergrad to receive the Fulbright Scholarship since the program’s creation in 1941.

While struggling to find a parking spot near McNair Hall, Johnson fumbled around to check his vibrating phone. Flustered with the “Parking Wars” of A&T, he was in disbelief as he read the email confirming his acceptance into the program.

“I was in complete disbelief,” he said. “It hasn’t hit me that I’m the first one. It’s a great feeling to know that I’ve done something that hasn’t been done before.”

The Fulbright Program is a highly competitive, merit-based grant that fosters an international educational exchange for students in education, culture and science. Through this program, Johnson will travel to the United Kingdom for a year to pursue a master’s degree in robotics at the University of Birmingham.

Through this exchange, Johnson will conduct research and gain a global perspective on robotics. Although he says he is already preparing for what he believes to be a rigorous course load, he is ready to explore all that the United Kingdom has to offer.

“I want to travel as much as I can and come back with an English accent,” Johnson jokes. “However, I believe the Fulbright is not just a scholarship, it is a whole network. Fostering this understanding between different countries through education will be important, as we are becoming a global society.”

Johnson was one of 10 A&T students to apply for this program. According to Paula Faulkner, it is a program that more minorities need to apply for.

“It is going to be important for Emmanuel to be out and be visible as a Fulbright recipient,” she said. “There are not many minorities and it will be good for him to encourage others like him to have this opportunity.”

Faulkner who sits on the university Fulbright committee is no stranger to what it takes to receive this highly renowned award. As a recipient herself, Faulkner traveled as a faculty member to the Middle East in 2010 to conduct research and gain a global perspective.

“It was an excellent experience,” she said. “Every student should have some type of study abroad opportunity.”

For almost a year, Faulkner worked with Johnson on preparing his application. After numerous email exchanges, phone conversations and one-on-one time, Faulkner says she got the opportunity to really get to know Johnson and see his willpower.

“I hope he will take away not only the knowledge, but also the culture,” she said.

As a computer science major, Johnson wants to not only achieve a master’s degree in robotics but also continue to receive his PhD. Prior to a conversation with a professor, Johnson never dreamed of pursuing a PhD.

“You’re smart and you’ll be doing yourself an injustice if you stop your education at the master’s level,” he recalls his professor saying to him. “You should go for your PhD.”

From that conversation, he made the decision to continue his education. He says his dream is to become a professor and one-day return to A&T and teach robotics and conduct research.

“I want to help students like me and show them that A&T has the same talent,” he said. “I think that once we have the right people in place to help develop students’ talent, our university will go far.”

Johnson aims to give other students what was given to him. During his matriculation at A&T, Johnson says he would not have achieved the many accolades he has if he did not have a support system.

“I had lot of people in my corner pulling for me,” “With a lot of these opportunities they saw it in me when I didn’t see it in myself.”

His support system is one of the reasons Johnson decided to come to A&T. Prior to a spring break trip in high school to A&T, Johnson was set on attending a school back in his home state of New Jersey. However, once he toured the campus and was able to interact with administrators and students, he was immediately sold on coming to A&T.

“At other schools [predominately white institutions] I was just another applicant that came to visit,” he said. “I was looking for a family environment that will help develop me as a scholar and leader.”

This accolade does not come as a surprise to some of his mentors at A&T. According to Anna Whiteside of the Honor’s Program, Johnson has always been a hard worker.

“He never gave up,” she said. “He always wanted to do his best and asked how he could become a better and stronger applicant.”

Johnson applied and was nominated for several highly acclaimed scholarships and programs such as the Rhode Scholarship. Although he did not get them, Whiteside says he kept coming back in her office and put his best foot forward.

Johnson is no stranger to hard work. With his GPA never failing below a 3.5, he will be graduating in May with more honors cords than the average student. He says his push to become great stems from having no other option.

Coming to A&T with no money, Johnson says he had to find a way to stay in school because his mother could not afford to pay for tuition. From that he says he had to work to the best of his abilities.

“I have big dreams,” he said. ““It’s not being as extraordinarily smart, brilliant or a genius, it’s about being average and willing to work more than anyone else. I’m the average student that worked hard and wasn’t afraid to try.”

Johnson says that he hopes to become an ambassador for A&T through the Fulbright program. By doing his best and invoking his work ethic in the United Kingdom, he says that is the best way to embody Aggie Pride.

“I’m glad that won the Fulbright, but this is an accumulation of what I’ve done all four years. It was not letting anyone deter me from my goal of graduating with no debt and at the top of my class.”

• kELCIE C. MCCRAE, Senior Editor