Kira was very involved in the STEM program throughout high school, focusing heavily on computer science and related fields. Michigan Tech was not initially on her list of preferred schools until she and my husband visited and toured the campus. After the tour, she knew that’s where she wanted to be. The S-STEM scholarship was instrumental in solidifying her decision and provided a huge advantage.
We only learned about the S-STEM, or Husky Paws scholarship, during that first tour. When it was mentioned, I immediately looked it up on my phone and realized she would need to write an essay for it. At the time, the program’s funding level was not published, and we did not know it was limited to only six students until we were up there moving her in.
The distance, eight and a half hours away, was a major concern, particularly the thought of not being readily available if something went wrong. However, Kira was set on Tech. I believe the distance was appealing because it allowed her to remain in Michigan yet still be far enough away to create her own identity, establish new friendships, and build a new community for herself.
The remoteness of her choice was the biggest concern. She chose a school that was eight and a half hours from home, in an isolated area known for at least one blizzard a season. The lack of quick availability meant she truly had to be ready to manage and advocate for herself.
Although Michigan Tech was the first place we visited, and I had to put it on her list initially, it became her first choice by a wide margin after all the tours were complete. Michigan Tech does a superior job of selling itself to potential students compared to the other state schools we toured.
Starting out with only 13 students in the group, she had to quickly embrace that small community and forge friendships. Not knowing how she was adjusting was a huge unknown initially, but the Summer Bridge Program opened her up completely.
When she came home in October for a literal 36-hour visit, spending 16 hours in the car over two days, she was a complete 180 from the person who had left. The Summer Bridge Program allowed her to ease into university life with a small group of peers, rather than facing the chaos of a regular move-in week with thousands of students. She did mention that by the time school started, she had been on almost a dozen campus tours and felt the extra orientation was unnecessary.
The Summer Bridge Program genuinely helped her break out of her shell and work with like-minded individuals. It also helped her understand herself and her study habits. For most of high school, she could ace tests easily; I believe AP World History or U.S. History was the only class she ever struggled with. The program provided crucial additional one-on-one help, meetings with advisors, and established her academic path.
I believe she would have had a much different first semester experience without the program. Her excitement was immediate; she even texted us during class (which she wasn’t supposed to do) when she found out she got the scholarship.
Knowing that the program closed any financial gaps was what truly cemented her decision to attend. This year, she has been working for the program. She found “Prep for Tech” week and the regular orientation week boring, feeling she didn’t need most of it since she had already been on campus for three weeks.
As someone who went through the program, she was thrilled to interview to be a peer mentor for the incoming class. She was excited to return to ongoing work with the program, as she hadn’t wanted to commit to the full year without knowing how her semester would go. Recently, she texted us that she would be visiting her high school over break to promote the STEM program. Her choosing to go back to high school, even for work, is a huge sign of the program’s positive impact.
The most important takeaway for parents is this: you don’t have to be overly concerned about sending your students far away. A student who gets into the Summer Bridge Program is already set up for great success and will have a good first semester and year. The program will only elevate that success, particularly through the “learning how to learn” component. We’ve done it twice, and they will be fine. Knowing that she is helping to impact other people this year, since we set her up in August to mentor, makes saying “see you later” much easier.