My grandparents — one a collegiate football player who broke color barriers in the NFL, and the other, a retired Detroit kindergarten teacher whose own parents mandated she complete college before marriage — gave me a lesson in life-changing education through travel.
In the summers of 1989 and 1992, we traveled across North America in a motor home. National parks and campgrounds were our anchors as we saw the land and communities change in front of our eyes.
After years as a Detroit resident with frequent trips to Ontario, Canada, I fell in love with Alberta and British Columbia (Banff and Penticton are treasured visits), and marveled at the beauty of the Grand Canyon and Painted Desert. My grandmother tested my high school Spanish limits in Tijuana, and I learned firsthand how generations of native people passed down history and traditions in America’s heartland.
I also learned the value of planning and documenting important milestones. My grandparents used an atlas to meticulously plan their annual motor home travel for decades. My grandmother not only kept daily journals but ensured that my cousins and I documented our adventures as well.
Throughout the trips, I sharpened my interpersonal skills by meeting and conversing with tourists and residents alike across North America, in big cities and small towns. Curiosity, courtesy, and communication were the foundation of these life-changing educational experiences. Those basic elements are still essential as the University community focuses on the Life-Changing Education theme for the year on campus.
Alumni readily share how U-M changed their lives. The classroom and co-curriculars are foundational to all stories, but often the life-changing moments center on the people at the University — the professors and student group advisors, the friends who became spouses, business partners, or “chosen family.”
The breadth and depth of academic excellence, exposure to people from diverse backgrounds and regions, and co-curricular communities are all ingredients in the life-changing experiences born in Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Flint. It’s no surprise that student support remains a significant way alumni invest in helping students access a University of Michigan education.
To that end, the Alumni Association is thrilled to announce the launch of the Future Alumni of Michigan scholarship, a needs-based scholarship that helps students from all backgrounds access the life-changing education available at the University of Michigan. The first cohort of Future Alumni of Michigan scholars will be arriving on campus in the fall.
In this issue, you’ll find more stories about life-changing educational experiences, including from the remarkable group of alumni who decided to attend U-M over and over and over and over again, to the Sarosi family’s story of determination, among many others.
Ayanna McConnell is the president and CEO of the Alumni Association of the University of Michigan.
