Senior Spotlight: Maddy

In honor to commemorate our seniors leaving our lovely admissions team, we are highlighting their experiences at Eastern!

Maddy - Class of '21

Welcome to Maddy’s feature in our “Senior Spotlights” series. Maddy is from Clarkston, MI. She majored in Psychology and Communication, with a minor in Business Management. She was an amazing addition to our Admission Office, and we are so excited to share her story of being here at Eastern Michigan University!

What was it like when you were choosing colleges?

This is such a random memory, but being in high school I was super confused about the process because my parents didn't finish college. So we were all trying to figure it out together. My school had a night where they talked about colleges and my family was confused so we went. They gave me a big newspaper magazine of all the colleges in Michigan. I sat in my room and went through the whole book circling schools I wanted to go to. I was super interested in psychology so I specifically circled schools that mentioned their psych programs. I had narrowed it down to 5 schools I wanted to visit and Eastern was one of them.

Why did you choose EMU?

Eastern was my first campus tour. I kinda knew right away but my mom told me we had to go see other colleges. At every school, it felt like nothing was amounting to Eastern. The campus was beautiful. I had never seen a college campus like this before. The people were so friendly and ready to answer my wild questions. My tour guide was so kind. There were multiple families on my tour, and she tried to get 1 on 1 time with each person on the tour. When I went to the other schools, I didn’t get the same welcoming experience as I did when I came on my tour here. Eastern offered me something that I never thought I would be offered: a scholarship. I was graduating high school thinking that it was a miracle I was even going to college. So that was a pushing factor. The community was another factor. I could see people hanging out on campus and an organization gathering, and I really wanted to be a part of that. The diversity was also exciting to me because I came from a very undiverse town. I was excited to learn outside of the classroom and learn about different people and the outside world.

What were your experiences with clubs/involvement here at EMU? (say specific clubs/involvements)?

Freshman year was hard. I thought that it was a college problem that I was not getting involved with at first. It made me feel like I should transfer. But I knew I needed to finish out my first year. My roommate was a great friend. I would look at her being super involved on campus through her sorority and it made me realize I needed to find something. The first thing I joined was REC soccer. Next, I joined Active Minds. That group really stuck with me because it is full of validation and support. The icing on the cake was AVP. It gave me the friends that I needed. Being a part of an on-campus job really immerses you in a community and gets you excited about it.

What were your academic experiences here at EMU?

I had a really great academic experience. I was finally getting the grades I never thought I could get. I was a “C” student in high school. When I came to college, I was getting 4.0’s in classes. I used the writing center all the time, even though I considered myself a good writer. I went to the math lab and talked to students in my classes. I used all the resources around me, and they helped me so much. I decided to double major, and it made everything so much more exciting. My favorite professor was Rocky Sulfridge. I loved him. His course in Organizational Communication made me explore new career fields. I had supportive professors, and, even when I didn’t, I had so many resources to support me. I actually became a paid peer tutor, and even though it was only a few hours a week, it helped me feel connected to my community.

What was your experience with life on campus/Ypsi?

I love the city of Ypsilanti! My favorite places to go to are The Rocket and Go Ice Cream. I loveeee Go Ice Cream. It’s homemade ice cream. All the very typical college kid foods. I love it all. I tried to get out into the city as much as I could. Everyone always talks about how cool the city is. I love Cultivate. It’s my favorite hangout spot to just catch up with friends, drink coffee, all of that. My favorite park is North Bay Park, which everyone should visit at some point. I go hammocking near the water.

What is/are your favorite memories that you've made here?

I performed in the first annual Mental Health Monologues for Active Minds. They needed performers, so I decided why not. It was a super fun experience. I had the opportunity to share my experiences with mental health with a community I did not feel connected to yet. It helped jumpstart me into getting involved. Now, here I am, a senior and president of Active Minds, hosting the 4th annual Mental Health Monologues. Just thinking about the progression of that is such a good feeling, and gets me a little teary-eyed.

Any advice you could give to future students?

Make an effort. Don’t just think it is gonna happen. In high school, everything was so easy. I could sit down next to someone and instantly talk to them. At the beginning of college, you have to put in a little effort to feel comfortable in this amazing place. That doesn’t just go for here, it goes for any college. Also, be a risk-taker. You need to take some risks, and put yourself out there. There is no better time in life to do that than this moment.