My City July 2022

MYCOMMUNITY

U M-Flint has fostered my personal growth, but more importantly, it has changed my plans for the future. I am leaving this university with more con dence and preparation than I could have imagined when I walked in. I have been prepared for my career through fantastic advisors and details in structured courses, with the ability to study for the exams that facilitate my future. I also leave with a better idea of who I want to be, what I want to do with my free time, and how important it is to be involved and representative within your community. At every turn, UM-Flint has provided me with support for my next step, as well as faith and con dence when I lack it. Most recently, I have been given the opportunity to join a student-led project for my capstone, where we are working between three departments to compete in NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge. As a woman, it is often too easy to be doubtful of my abilities and my own strengths, but every person around me here has always been there to reassure my con dence and abilities. I am so incredibly proud of every piece of me that I have put into Flint, and every piece of Flint that will remain in me. W hen applying for colleges, I was given the same advice over and over – that it did not really matter where I attended, as long as it was an “accredited institution.” Everyone who told me that could not have been more wrong. Where I ended up determining the degree I choose, it shaped the relationships in my life, who I am as a person, my personal beliefs and values. Every thing that I have learned and so much of my future has been shaped by that one choice, one that I did not realize would be so impactful.‘e time I have spent at this university has been invaluable to me. I have grown in ways that I could not have previously imagined. I have developed countless skills, and I have learned the importance of leaning into the most uncomfortable of situations and growing from them.‘e world in front of me now seems limitless, and I know that when I leave here, I will have an unbreakable foundation to support me and help me continue my own personal and professional growth. O riginally, I had planned on graduating in the spring of 2021, but I saw an opportunity to expand my understanding of history and my prospects for graduate school in the UK by adding a second major, history. Scholarships from the history department have been essential for my continued educational pursuits at UM-Flint. Working with UM-Flint faculty, I success fully applied to the University of York and the University of Aberdeen, both graduate programs in archaeology. In November 2021, I received an o‰er to study historic buildings through the archaeology department of the University of York, and in February 2022, I received an o‰er to study archaeology at the University of Aberdeen. I accepted the o‰er from York and will be at tending graduate school there in September 2022. I have no doubt that this would not be possible without the support of UM-Flint professors and the institution as a whole. I didn’t have any great expectations when I started at UM-Flint eight years ago and now, because of the University, I have found myself on my way toward an impossible dream. 

Genevieve Heydt Bachelor of Science, Actuarial Mathematics Bartlett, IL

Kaitlyn Militzer Bachelor of Social Work Gaines, MI

Genevieve Rainey Bachelor of Arts, History Bachelor of Arts, Anthropology Holly, MI

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