Thanks Jorge!
I got that working perfect on a regular input text field, but is it possible to do the same with a text input component? This is what I currently have... it sets the focus and everything with no problems, however it doesnt set the selection so the user can instantly overwrite the instructions that are in the box.
searchBox_ti.text = "Search by first name, last name, or email";
focusManager.setFocus(searchBox_ti);
Selection.setSelection(0,searchBox_ti.text.length);
Thanks again,
Brandon