Karlos Mikem
Stamford High School 2013
Norwalk Community College 2016
UConn 2022
Karlos didn’t have the financial support he needed to attend UConn upon graduating from high school, but he was determined not to let life get in the way of his goals and aspirations.
Karlos enrolled at Norwalk Community College, where he studied Media Studies, graduating in 2016. That same year, his parents moved to Texas, so Karlos and his brother, Camille, also a Future 5 member, started building a support system for themselves, starting their own video production company to supplement their primary sources of income. First and foremost, Karlos needed to support himself.
Karlos’ first job upon graduating from NCC was with Jim Grunberger, a longtime Stamford businessman and Future 5 board member known for helping Future 5 students secure jobs and apartments. With the help of Future 5, Karlos then landed an internship at Irving Levin Associates. Marketing and multi-media internships at Spectrum and TMCnet followed.
In 2020, while working full time, Karlos reconnected with the Future 5 College Success team and successfully transferred to UConn Stamford. He and his brother secured another apartment through Future, this time
Karlos lost his father two weeks before he enrolled at UConn Stamford, but in spite of his personal heartbreak, he persevered to stay on track, graduating in 2022 with a major in Digital Media Design and a 3.89 GPA!
Karlos’ story came full circle in January 2023 when he accepted a job as Development Assistant at Future 5. In his words, “Future 5 impacted my life in every way – from college to jobs to apartments to learning to manage my stress and anxiety when times got tough.” He’s excited “to work in a supportive environment – to give back and pay it forward.”
