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6B Wednesday, September 26, 2012 // The Statement
I am a first-generation college student
PESNLSTTMN by Terra Molengraff
Wednesday, September 26, 2012 //,The-Statement E3
the leaders and the worst
by zach bergson and kaitlin williams
LEADERS
a week of daily stories
* Does this guy look like an interior
designer? We didn't think so, but Vogue
did in its recent profile of Chelsea Clin-
ton. His name is Dan Baer and he is a
deputy assistant secretary of State.
Greatest correction ever.
* Japanese inventors created a tail
that wags when you're happy and
droops when you're sad. You can tell
when you're creepy because you're
wearing a tail.
President Barack Obama
said, "You can't change
Washington from the
inside." Well, we're having a
pretty rough time changing
it from the outside, too.
University students gathered in the Diag Friday for a vigil to remember
Troy Davis, whose murder conviction was conetested by many. This
marks the one year anniversary of Davis's execution.
* Green Day frontman Bil-
lie Joe Armstrong wants
everybody to know that he's
not Justin iheber, despite
the fact that he's wearing
Bieber's jeans.
Y MEGAN MULHOLLAND
The first time I visited Ann Arbor I had just put the
deposit down on my safety school. The second time
was the day I moved in. I came here as a daughter, who
in the eyes of my family was spending thousands of dollars
to live three hours away in a lifestyle familiar only through
the movies they had seen and hearsay from friends of their
friends. Once I arrived, I became a student afraid of Football
Saturdays and overwhelmed by my peers who seemed to have
been prepared for this experience for their whole lives,
M' I was accepted to the University of Michigan with the
precondition that I attend classes from June 20 to August 17
through the University's Summer Bridge Program. Bypass-
ing this program wasn't an option, its bolded prerequisite
announcing itself on my acceptance letter: you must attend
this program for acceptance into the Fall 2010 semester.
I must? I was happy to receive an answer from Michigan, but
my move-in date was two short weeks away and the idea of
moving out, moving in, taking classes and for the first time
sharing a 12x13 cubicle-like room was terrifying to me.
For those two weeks, I hoarded people's advice, desper-
ately trying to become adjusted to the enigma of college. My
mother, who never applied to or attended college, repeated,
"It's your decision," but as June 20 approached I could see
the apprehension and tears grow in her eyes. My immediate
family's commentary focused on my age in comparison to
my relationship status, the cost of attendance and insisting,
"Why can't you just go to community college? What about
that nice boy you're dating - you're going to move away from
him?" I was overwhelmed by my collection of advice and
watched the time before my move-in date dwindle.
The last piece of advice I sought was from a friend, a then
incoming junior at the University. He explained that we are
all given opportunities, and the opportunity itself is not as
important as how we use it. He reiterated that I would be
successful in life no matter the college, but the University of
Michigan could provide me with not only an education at one
of the best universities in the country, but also would help me
find communities of people striving to push beyond "what is"
to "what could be." On June 20 I left Muskegon frustrated,
pissed off, overwhelmed, but quietly convincing myself it
would be worth it.
For eight weeks I found solace in the study rooms of Mosh-
er-Jordan Residence Hall, bonding with fellow Bridge kids in
the common misery of summer classes, halfheartedly recall-
ing the opportunity for a better education. My peers were a
mixture of first generation, low-income, geographically iso-
lated students for whom the University found it necessary to
assume a summer of preparation before freshman year. As a
person who fit all of these characteristics, living in conditions
that would've led some of the best high school students to
drop out, I was the perfect candidate: Upon completion of the
program, I was academically ready. But this emphasis skewed
my idea of what college would be. I was entirely unprepared
for what was waiting for me in Mary Markley Residence Hall.
The moment I arrived back from the short break between
summer and fall terms, I knew it wasn't the same Ann Arbor
I'd left. The entire city was infested with parents, students
and all their belongings. The students were cordial when
their parents were around, yet pushy and disinterested when
they weren't. My first Football Saturday I walked down State
Street and wondered if the students on the lawns of the frater-
nities were the ones pushing beyond "what is" to "what could
be." Sitting alone on the street, I tried to reconcile my previ-
ousexcitement to be among like-minded peers with the lone-
liness I felt. My walk around campus soon became a sprint
back to my dorm, where I packed a bag, got on a bus and went
home to Muskegon.
I adjusted, but it took two years and the process is far from
over. I can't give sugarcoated statements on how it's OK now
when at times it's not. In this place, I have felt as equally iso-
lated and alone as I have felt understood and appreciated.
The process is continuous.
One of the first assignments of my junior year brought it all
together. The sheet attached to the back of the syllabus held a
bolded question, "What is college to you?' Two questions
were posed in the explanation: What is college supposed to
accomplish and what does it actually accomplish?
What is college to me? A series of expectations, oftentimes
entirely incorrect. Something that cannot and should not be
defined, so the only expectation left is that it changes every day.
I came to college expecting to be transformed into the model
undergrad as easily as my peers and I was frustrated when I
didn't. I have changed, but from my own volition to question
my experiences delineatingthe ideal undergrad. It is from con-
stantly reworkingthe definition of "what is college?" that I dis-
covered my passion for education reform, focusing on college as
a learning experience that pushes for growth and doesn't allow
other people's experiences to define the validity of my own.
Caught in between the expectations from home and
school, I spent a majority of my time trying to reconcile the
differences. It took my first year here to realize I couldn't
assimilate to either role exactly as it was ascribed. It took the
second to understand I shouldn't have to.
Terra Molengraffis an LSA junior and a senior photo editor
for The Michigan Daily.
* The New York Times headlined
Paris Hilton was recorded saying a photostory "The Detroit of Call-
that she thinks gays are disgusting. fornia." Seriously NYT? When was
She later apologized, saying, "I meant the last time you've set foot in Motor
to say I'M disgusting." City?
WORST
AUsTEN HUFFORD/Daily
A record number of women are participating in the recruitment pro-
cess for Panehellenic sororities this year. About 100 more student
are rushing this year.