{"id":20687,"date":"2026-09-04T15:50:06","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T15:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/alumni\/?p=20687"},"modified":"2026-09-04T15:50:07","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T15:50:07","slug":"paul-johnson-runs-his-own-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/alumni\/news\/2026\/09\/04\/paul-johnson-runs-his-own-race","title":{"rendered":"At his own pace: Paul Johnson redefines success"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In his new memoir, \u201cTurtles Can Win,\u201d UW Bothell alumnus Paul Johnson reflects on learning differences, finding belonging and discovering that success doesn’t have to happen on someone else’s timeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For much of his life, Paul Johnson \u201911 believed he wasn\u2019t a good student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

School had never come easily to him. At 15, he left public school for Lakeside School<\/a>, a private school where he found himself among students accustomed to achieving high academic standards and already looking ahead to some of the country\u2019s most selective universities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson\u2019s experience was different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not yet aware of his learning differences, he reached a conclusion that would follow him for years: Maybe he just wasn\u2019t one of the smart kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just thought I was slow and not capable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four decades later, Johnson returned to Lakeside, this time as an administrator. Seeing the school again through the eyes of an educator gave him a new perspective on his experience there \u2014 and on the metaphor at the heart of his new memoir, \u201cTurtles Can Win: How Learning Differences Taught Me to Run My Own Race and Still Cross the Finish Line.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New perspectives<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Released Aug. 28, \u201cTurtles Can Win<\/a>\u201d traces Johnson\u2019s six decades through education, family, career and the people who helped shape him along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson, who turned 60 this year, said the memoir is partly a reflection on what can happen when young people are defined too early by what others think they can or cannot accomplish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI realized that I\u2019m still a turtle,\u201d he said. \u201cTurtles get to where they want to go, but they\u2019re not on anyone else\u2019s time schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson was the first in his family to attend college, earning his undergraduate degree from Seattle University<\/a>. But at the time, his goal was largely to get through school. He had not identified the learning differences that made traditional approaches to education difficult for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Years later, he attempted graduate school while working full time. He spent three years in a program but didn\u2019t complete it. Eventually, he tried again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2009, at a point in life when many people might have concluded that school simply wasn\u2019t for them, Johnson enrolled in the Master of Arts in Cultural Studies program in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences<\/a> at the University of Washington Bothell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Paul<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

A turning point<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This time, something changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere wasn\u2019t a prototypical type of student there,\u201d he said, noting that his classmates ranged in age and came from different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere wasn\u2019t one type of student that did well or succeeded,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cSo, I was able to get to a place where I could be myself \u2014 authentically myself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson was also beginning to understand how he learned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I was able to get to a place where I could be myself \u2014authentically myself.”<\/p>Paul Johnson<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Through his work in human resources, he had supported employees with different learning needs and started recognizing strategies that worked for him, too. Enlarging text made reading easier. Recorded lectures let him revisit information when he could process it more effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of forcing himself to learn the way he thought a student was supposed to learn, Johnson began working with the way his own mind worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And he thrived: \u201cIt was the first time in my life I really enjoyed school or didn\u2019t struggle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UW Bothell became a launching point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Redefining success<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After graduating in 2011, Johnson continued his education, eventually earning two more master\u2019s degrees and a doctorate. His professional path included leadership roles and work at organizations such as Boeing, Microsoft, Starbucks, Junior Achievement and the Seattle Symphony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet \u201cTurtles Can Win\u201d isn\u2019t an argument that everyone needs multiple degrees, an executive career or any other conventional marker of achievement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Paul<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Johnson\u2019s point is nearly the opposite. \u201cWe live in a society that rewards quickness and speed and doing things fast,\u201d he told friends and family gathered at the Museum of Flight for his book launch. \u201cI didn\u2019t do it fast, but I did it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Johnson, that distinction matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A mentor once encouraged him to think about life as a sporting event. At halftime, even a team that\u2019s behind still has time to adjust. Johnson carried that idea with him as he returned to graduate school and reconsidered what achievement could look like on his own timeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Becoming a father added another dimension. As Johnson and his wife, Dr. Ricole Johnson, began attending conferences with their son\u2019s teachers, the conversations prompted him to reconsider his own childhood. He eventually recognized learning differences, including dyslexia, that had gone unidentified when he was a child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those experiences sharpened one of the messages he hopes parents and educators take from the memoir: Be cautious about the labels placed on children. A student who struggles today isn\u2019t necessarily destined to struggle tomorrow. A child who doesn\u2019t fit one model of academic success may simply need time, different tools or a different environment to discover what they can do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome kids are turtles,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cThey may not develop until later.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A place to belong<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Johnson\u2019s relationship with UW Bothell didn\u2019t end with his degree. Over the years, he has remained involved with the University as a volunteer, donor and member of the Chancellor\u2019s Philanthropy Leadership Council. The connection, he said, comes back to the sense of belonging he experienced as a student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having spent much of his career working in human resources, organizational change and inclusion, Johnson has thought deeply about what makes people feel they belong somewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Paul<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For him, UW Bothell has consistently been one of those places. \u201cThat\u2019s one of the reasons I\u2019ve been drawn to UW Bothell \u2014 because of the feeling of comfort that I have when I\u2019m there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s another reason: People asked him to come back. When University leaders invited him to stay involved and contribute his experience, Johnson responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou go where you\u2019re wanted,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel a greater desire to be [in a place] that I\u2019m wanted, within that UW Bothell family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That sense of connection was visible at the launch of \u201cTurtles Can Win.\u201d Johnson\u2019s longtime friend and UW Bothell classmate Priya Frank moderated the conversation about his memoir. The two graduated together in 2011 and have remained close ever since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still moving<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Johnson began writing \u201cTurtles Can Win\u201d after contributing to the Press 49<\/a> book \u201cA Collective Breath: Stories of Being Black in America and Visions of Change\u201d in 2020 and completing the dissertation for his doctorate. The project became more personal as he reflected on his son\u2019s educational experiences and his own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 60, Johnson describes himself as entering the \u201cfourth quarter\u201d of his life \u2014 not retiring but reaching a point where he wants to spend more time sharing what he has learned and helping those coming behind him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The memoir is part of that work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t work on someone else\u2019s timeline or someone else\u2019s schedule. Do it on your own schedule.\u201d<\/p>Paul Johnson<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He hopes parents and educators reconsider how quickly they define a young person\u2019s abilities. He hopes students with learning differences see that today\u2019s struggles don\u2019t determine tomorrow\u2019s possibilities. And he hopes anyone who has felt behind recognizes that there isn\u2019t one timetable for a meaningful life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can do whatever it is you want to do,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cDon\u2019t work on someone else\u2019s timeline or someone else\u2019s schedule. Do it on your own schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson\u2019s race isn\u2019t over. He\u2019s simply running it at his own pace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UW Bothell alum Paul Johnson reflects on learning differences, belonging and finding success on his own timeline in his memoir, \u201cTurtles Can Win.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":599,"featured_media":20688,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_is_archived":false,"_archived_contact_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25,16],"tags":[],"school":[],"class_list":["post-20687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-profile","category-school-of-interdisciplinary-arts-and-sciences"],"acf":{"related_links":{"toggle_visibility":false,"link_1":"","link_2":"","link_3":"","link_4":"","link_5":""},"highlight_box":{"toggle_visibility":false,"title":"","content":"","button":"","button_style":"angled-purple-button","button_screen_reader_text":""},"contact_type_1":{"toggle_visibility":true,"contact_title":"","email":"","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"contact_type_2":{"toggle_visibility":false,"contact_title":"","email":"","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"social_media":{"toggle_visibility":false,"facebook_url":"","instagram_url":"","linkedin_url":"","twitter_url":"","youtube_url":""},"blog_archive_sidebar_visibility":false},"yoast_head":"\nAt his own pace: Paul Johnson redefines success - 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