“There was a few people that were like, ‘Alright, I want you to make me a drink that no one knows about,’ and I was like, ‘I’m going to try something,’ and it kinda became a thing. I was like, ‘you know what, ‘Singing the Blues,’ blueberry and blues,’” junior finance major and barista Micah Winn said. “That was earlier, especially when it was hotter outside, I was like, ‘okay, I want something’ — kind of a happy drink.”
Winn is very much an extroverted person. It did not surprise me one bit that he had come up with this new drink on the spot nor was I shocked to find out that he has created several other new coffee concoctions.
Winn is very involved at Union and at his church, Calvary Baptist. One of the ways in which he is plugged in at Union is through his on-campus job as a barista with Barefoots and Modero. Winn has loved this position and has enjoyed being of service to the people that make their way onto Union’s campus.
“The biggest thing for me is, even though you only have a few minutes with a customer, they’re coming in wanting you to do something for them or serve them and then, being able to just give them something tangible that they like, I really like that aspect of it,” said Winn.
Winn also got involved in life-groups this year, and he is heavily involved in cross country. Outside of these roles at Union, Winn is a first-year intern at his church in Jackson, Calvary Baptist. In this program, he is able to serve others, pour into others and be poured into right back. He has seen the most growth and fruit in this position.
Bailey Swords, a junior journalism major, is a second-year intern at Calvary who works with Winn.
“I think Micah just embodies joy really well,” Swords said. “He is really involved, but what’s more impressive is how it feels like he genuinely cares about the things that he does and the people he’s with at all times. It never feels like you’re getting half of Micah.”
The real question is, how does he do it all?
Winn shared with me that this semester he has started to feel some burn out, but in those situations, he has been able to step back, spend some time in prayer and get encouragement from the church to keep moving forward.
Regardless of the time that he has had to balance among these organizations, it is very evident that Winn has loved everything about the programs, jobs and organizations that he is involved in. His people-oriented personality drives him, and his faith is at the core of his motivation.
“I would say, ultimately, I know a lot of what I have done and have put time in has been to get to know people, and the motivation is, I think, mutual encouragement in both the faith and just in life,” Winn said. “I’ve really wanted to develop deep friendships in order to encourage each other, and so sometimes it does feel like you’re pouring out a lot, but … you get those friends that then, they pour into you.”