Being close to home was important to me when considering all my college options. I wanted college to be a fun experience and I already knew I loved Michigan. For one thing, I was born and raised in Michigan. I grew up taking road trips “Up North”, camping, skiing, and swimming in Lake Michigan. I spent some time swimming in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, but the salt water was uncomfortable and aggravated my eczema. My time swimming in the Great Lakes was salt-free and kind to my skin and eyes. I have explored and visited 48 of the 50 states and while the camping and environment is diverse and different, my heart enjoys the warm Michigan summers and the nights cooling down so that I can open the windows and enjoy the fresh air.

I am fortunate that Michigan has several excellent and top-notch schools. It was easy for me to decide that a Michigan school would check my location box. The next critical criterion was finding a school with an excellent ABET engineering program. Understanding the top engineering schools would have additional access to research and funding, I knew top-ranked engineering schools would be important. However, I knew I would need to dive deeper. Engineering is broad and I specifically wanted a school that had a good mechanical engineering program. I looked at data on the number of mechanical engineering degrees awarded, research opportunities, graduation rates, starting salaries, and the number of internships. I also toured the facilities and carefully noted if labs and classrooms had state-of-the-art equipment.

My last important criteria were how diverse the campus was in culture, environment, and academically. Some of the Michigan colleges were in remote areas. These schools were not the right fit for me because I wanted to experience people from diverse backgrounds. I was looking forward to meeting people from countries I have not visited and learning about their culture. As a minority myself I wanted a place that embraced diversity, inclusion, and equity so that I could continue to grow as an individual and better participate in a global community.

Overall, I was fortunate to be accepted to many top-notch Universities, but my heart always came back to Michigan. It was a hard decision because I wanted to spread my wings and experience another geographic location and immerse myself in a new community. However, after analyzing the pros and cons of the out of state schools, cost, and my requirements, I knew the University of Michigan was the right place for me.