The reason I picked the University of Michigan for graduate school is an easy question for me to answer. I did my undergraduate education here, my research interests were fostered and supported here during undergrad, and my intellectual curiosity was brought into full bloom. So why would I have wanted to go anywhere else when there were so many positives already here?
Many people told me that there was no way I would get in here, that U-M was known for not accepting undergrads into grad programs. I applied anyway, determined to prove everyone wrong. And I did.
This is where the simple, straightforward answer ceases to be.
At times during my graduate career, the reasons I came here have been put into question.
When I began the graduate program in Sociology, immediately following the completion of my undergrad education in English and Sociology, I learned a lot of lessons that hadn’t figured into my undergraduate education.
I learned that there were lot of departmental politics at play that were not readily apparent in undergrad, even to someone like me, who had been active in the department at many levels. There were conflicts between faculty members that ran long and deep. There were rules that seemed archaic. There were the problems that exist in any major bureaucracy.
A lot of people mistakenly think that staying in the same program makes adjusting to graduate school much easier. I disagree. At least in my program, the people that tend to teach undergrad classes are not the same ones who are heavily involved in the grad program. That’s not to say that I didn’t have any connections that carried over, because I did, but for the most part, I felt just as new as every other grad student in my cohort. Other than already knowing my way around campus, that was the only concrete advantage that I had in terms of adjustment.
One thing that did help me, though, was having written an honors thesis in undergrad, for which I won my department’s award for the best undergrad thesis that year. Coming into grad school, I had firsthand experience in conducting my own research and writing a paper of significant scope and length. The experience of thesis writing was by far one of the most memorable parts of undergrad, and I had felt so supported by faculty in that endeavor, that was one of my main reasons for seeking admission into the grad program.
Unbeknownst to me, however, my name had made it through the rounds of the department, and so, my reputation coming into grad school preceded me. My reputation was good, so that wasn’t the issue. It just meant that there was a lot of added pressure on me to succeed in the program.
These high expectations proved to be too much when I became chronically ill. I could no longer devote the long hours expected to work. During my first year, at the point at which I was my sickest, I could only do half-hour stints sitting at my computer, writing. Then I would have to take at least a half hour break. I struggled a lot with the disjuncture between the expectations that I and others had set up for me, and the realities of what I would be able to do with my illnesses.
This is something that is a constant struggle for me, and at low points, made me question my staying in the program. But ultimately, I’m glad that I made the choice to go to both undergrad and grad school at U-M. It hasn’t been easy by any means, but there’s not much I would change about the last almost five years of grad school, and four years of undergrad preceding that, if given the chance. I experienced a lot of personal growth during undergrad, but especially grad school, and that has been invaluable. I am psyched about my dissertation topic and feel at home with myself writing about the organizations I am studying.
My research area is fairly narrow, and I am grateful to have an advisor and committee that have seen the importance of my research. I have often wondered if that would be the case at other universities. I can imagine that when I wanted to do an undergraduate honors thesis on the lives of short women that some professors would have balked. And I can only imagine that when I decided to study organizations that deal with conditions of short stature for my dissertation, that I probably would not have gotten a positive response all around. But this program knew from my experience in undergrad what my research interests were, and rather than rein me in, has let me expand my intellectual horizons.
I’m not always the most positive person in the world, but I am proud to say that I am a Wolverine. And I am grateful for every opportunity I’ve been given to gain intellectual curiosity and further my education at this University.
Published in: Student Voices