"TheStoriesBehindtheSpartans"isacampaignthatisworkingtoshowwhatdrivesthepassionsofthosethatmakeuptheSpartancommunity.

Weaimtocaptureeachindividual'suniquepast,howthathasaffectedtheirexperienceatMichiganStateUniversity,andhowitcontinuesto

shapetheirfuturegoals.

Thankyoutoallthosewhohave

participated!

The Stories Behind the Spartans

PresentedBy:

KelleyFitzpatrick◌ Senior◌ InterdisciplinaryStudies◌

ASMSU,AlphaIotaSigma,HumanResourceAssociation

“WhenIcametoMSU,IthoughtIwouldbegoingtocollegeandthatIwouldbelearningthingsinmyclassesandjustgettingbasicknowledgeandthatthisknowledgewouldhelpmegetajobinthefuture;thatwaskindofmywholegoalofbeinghere.ButwhenIactuallygothere,Irealizedthatthat’snotthereasonthatIcamehereandthereasonthatIstayedhere.Ultimately,beingatMSUhasexposedmetosomanydifferentcultures,andsomanydifferentpeople.Irealizedthatmyultimatepurposeanymorewasn'tjustgoingtoclassandtakingnotes;myultimatepurposewastotakethisopportunitytolearnfromthestudentsaroundmeandtolearnaboutthedifferentculturesandpeople’sdifferentbackgrounds. Icamefromareallysmalltown,asuburbofnorthernDetroit.Don’tgetmewrong,Ilovemyhometownwithallofmyheart,butitwasandstillisaveryhomogenouscommunity.Nearlyeverypersoniswhite,nearlyeveryoneisprotestant.Icamefromaplacethatmademefeellikeeveryoneisgoingtobethesame.Youcomehere,andeverythingisjustcompletelydifferent.Thatepiphanyhasabsolutelyshapedmyfuture.IhavebeenstudyinghumanresourcessinceI’vebeenhere,butwhenIgraduateIamgoingtobegoingintodiversityandinclusion.

TerranceBeebe◌ Sophomore◌ FoodIndustryManagement◌

CouncilofStudentswithDisabilities

IamnotaninspirationforlivingmylifeasafunctionalpersonwithadisabilitybutIaminspirationalbecauseIamdoingsomuchtoimpactmycommunityasidefromthedisability.It'simportanttotakethatideaandthestrengthIhavefromfightingeverydaywithmyselfandmyphysicaldisabilityandpushthrough.Butabovethat,Ineedtousemystrengthandmyhardshipsasawaytoeducateothers.TheproblemsIfacewithpeople'sassumptionsofmyphysicalbeingiswhatpeopleacrossmarginalizedgroupsexperiencejustinadifferentwaythanhowIdo.AsaSpartanintheseverytryingtimesforoursociety,itispivotaltorecognizethoseassumptionsanddemonstrateunitedfrontsofsolidarityevenwithinthemargins.”

“Ontopofbeingthefirsttogotocollegeinmyfamilyandworkinghardformyselfandmyfamily,Imakelargerstrivesbecauseofmyphysicaldisability.TherearesomanypeoplewhoseethephysicaldisabilityandregisteritassomethingthataffectsthementalprocessesorthatinsomewayIamincapableofworkinghard,handlingconflicts,orevenmakingitthroughcollege.OfcoursethisismyassumptionofhowothersperceivemebutIknowthatsomepeopledoactuallyholdthatbelief.Andthatinitself,themisunderstandingfromsomeoneelseinmyabilitiesbecauseofmyphysicaldisabilitymakesmewanttoworkevenharder,toprovethosepeoplewrongwhodoubtorpitymeforbeingdisabled.

SarahVang◌ Junior◌ PublicPolicy◌AsianPacificAmericanStudentOrganization(APASO)

MyjourneyindiscoveringwhatitmeanstobeAsianAmericanactuallykickedoffwhenIgottohighschool.It’sinterestingbecausebackathome,peoplesawmeastheonly‘Chinese’girl,butcomingherepeopleusuallymistakemeforbeinginternational.Itdoesn’treallyhelptoothatHmongpeople,wedon’thaveacountry.Sowhenpeopleaskme“whereareyourparentsfrom?”,IsaythatmyparentscamefromLaosbecausethat’swherealotofHmongpeoplereside,inSouth-EastAsia.ButmyparentsarenotLaotian.Wedon’thaveacountry,wedon’thaveahomeland.

SoifyouaskmewhereI’mfromIsayI’mfromDetroit,becausethat’sreallywhereI’mfrom.Butifyouaskmewhatismymotherland,Ican’tgiveyouananswer.”

“ItwashardtomeasalittlekidtoexplaintopeoplethatI’mnotChinese,JapaneseorKorean;I’mactuallyHmong.NotalotofpeopleknowabouttheHmongethnicity.Ialwaysquestioned, howdoIfitin?Whenwelearnabouthistory,itusuallyjustcoverswhatwefindinhistoryclasses.YouneverreallyhearaboutAsianAmericansbeinginvolvedwiththat.Theonlytimethatwearementionediswhentalkingaboutthesilkroad,ortrade.Idon’treallyconnectwiththat.

AhmadAboAl-Borgol◌ Senior◌ SupplyChainManagement◌

InternationalStudentAssociation

IfIcouldn’tpassthischemistryclass,howamIgoingtopass

thenexteightyearsofschool? IwentbackinthesummerandI

wasthinkingaboutswitchingtobusiness,whichissomethingIalways

wantedtodo.Butasaninternationalstudent,ifyou’regoingtodo

somethinglikebusinessyoumightaswelljuststay.

“IliketothinkthatIamverylucky.WhenI

wasapplyingtocollege,Iappliedtolikethirty

universitiesallintheUS.Iwasapplyingtobe

apre-medstudentatthetime.Iwantedtobe

aneurosurgeon.IgotacceptedtoMichigan

StateUniversity,anditwasthebest

universityIgotacceptedto.Iwasn'teven

supposedtocometoMSUbecauseIhad

alreadyacceptedanofferinNewYork.My

fatherthoughtitwastherightthingforme

becauseMSUisamuchbetteruniversity.I

didn'twantitatfirst,becauseIreallywanted

tobeinNewYork.ThenIcametoMichigan

StateandItookmyfirstscienceclass;it

wasn'tevenanythingintense,justgeneral

chemistry.Iknoweveryonesaysthatclassis

horrible,butitisreallyhard.Itried,andI

failedthatclass.

IsaythatI’mluckybecauseIfoundmyselfina

universitythathasthe#1SupplyChainManagement

program.Itworkedoutgreatforme.IamdoingwhatIlove

todo.Iamlearningmoreaboutbusinessandmoreabout

supplychainandsupplychainsecurity.Iloveit.Iwentfrom

thinkingthatIamgoingtobeforcedinto8yearsof

schoolingversusnowIamdoingwhatIlove;Iamdoing

business,andhopefullystartingsomethingbig.”

EmilyLiebau◌ Junior◌ InternationalJournalism◌

MestizaCommunity,AsianPacificAmericanClub,PilipinoAmericanStudentSociety,VIMfashionmagazineandRHA

“AtMichiganStateyoucanmeetanyoneanddoanything.Youhavethefreedomtopickandchoosenotonlywhatyouwanttodowith

yourmajor,butyoucanpickwhatdifferentfamiliesyouwanttobeapartof. I’majunior,andthroughthisyearIhavemetsomanydifferentpeoplethroughdifferentprograms.I’veworkedforthefashionmagazineasaphotographer,I’manRA,I’mCo-PresidentofAPASO

(AsianPacificAmericanStudentOrganization);fromdifferentorganizations,youcanmeetpeoplelikeyou.Youcanalsomeetpeoplewhoarenotlikeyou,andconnectinsomanydifferentways.It’sreallyexciting.Ialwaysfeellikewhenyoucomeinasafreshman,it’skindofoverwhelmingthatthere’ssomanythingstodo.ButattheendofthedayI’mstilljoiningnewthings,I’mstillmeetingnewpeople.I’vemetsomepeoplethisyearthataremybestfriends.Therearealotofopportunities.Whetheryouwanttobeinvolvedinsomethingthathastodowithyourmajor,orsomethingtodowithyourhobby,youcan.Photographyisoneofmyhobbies,soIloveshootingforthefashionmagazine.Ilovemeetingpeopleandtalkingwithpeople,becausejournalismismymajor.BeinganRAhashelpedmewithtalkingtopeopleIdon'tknowandintroducingmyselftothem.”

KieranTodd◌ Senior◌ PublicPolicyandEconomics◌

AllianceofQueerandAllyStudentsandQueerTransPeopleofColorCoalition

ComingtoMSUeventually,Icouldn'thaveaskedforabetterenvironmentof

thecommunitythatIfound.TheLBGTresourcecenterhasbeencrucial

andcriticalinshapinghowIseemyself,howIinteractwithothers,

andhowItrytoadvocateforothers.Theyallowedmetoexplorewithin

myself,andtoreallygetagrasponwhatIwasfeelingforyears.

“Iamatransferstudentfrom

WestPoint,whereIwentfor

twoyears.LeavingWestPoint

atfirst,Ididn’tknowIwouldbe

atMichiganState.Ihadthree

backsurgeriesbecauseofan

incidentthathappenedthere,

andwasdowninthedumps.It

wasareallydepressivetime.I

wasathome,Iwas

volunteering,Itaughtmyself

guitar,Iwasworking;Iwas

recoveringfrommyback

surgeries.Ialsobegandealing

withalotofgenderidentity

thingsformyself,whichwasa

lottodealwithat19yearsold.

Ithinkthatgoingforward,withouttheexperienceI’vehadthrough

MSU,withouttheotherstudentleadersIhavemetandwithoutthe

friends,peers,andmypartnerthatI’vemetherethereisnowayI

would'vebeenjustashappyorhappieranywhereelse.

WhileIdothinkwehaveawaystogohere,I

thinkthatsometimesIjusthavetositbackand

reallyrememberjusthowhappyIamwith

whereIamatnow.”

Steve Cleaves-Jones(CJ)◌ Senior◌ CommunityGovernanceandAdvocacy◌

BlackStudentAllianceandUAB

IwasinalotofprogramsthattargetedAfricanAmericanhighschoolstudentsthattriedtoupliftthem.Iapplied,andwastoldIcouldgetfinancialaidandtonotbeafraidofthedebt;Iwastoldtogogetagoodeducationbecauseitwouldhelpmeinthelongrun.Ibelievethatgettingahighereducationwasthekeytochangingmycircumstance.”

“Icomefromahumblebeginning.I’mfromDetroit,I’vebeenthereallofmylife.Iwasraisedinsplit-parenthousehold,somyparentshadjointcustodyofme.Becauseofmyfamilystructureandhowitis,IalwaysdreamedbigbecauseIwantedabettersituation.Myparentsareveryloving,butwhenyou’reablackpersoninAmerica,thestruggleisjustthere.ButIalwayswantedbetterformeandmyfamily.Ihavethreesiblingsandthey’reallyoungerthanme. I’vealwayshadthisrolemodelperspectiveonlife,thatIalwayshavetosetastrongexample.

Goingthroughhighschool,Iwasagoodstudent.Igottheopportunitytostartapplyingtocollege.ThatwassomethingthatIdidn’tevenconsideruntilthesummerofmy11thgradeyear.Oneofmycousinswhohasbeentocollegereachedouttome,tookmetoacampus,andgotthatconversationstarted.

OliviaBrenner◌ Junior◌ Women’sStudies◌

Queercommunity,Jewishcommunity,Women

“IalwaysknewthatIwouldprobablyendupatMSU,I’malocalkid;I’mfromHaslett.ChanceswereprettygreatthatIwasgoingtoenduphere.Butitwasn’tanywherethatIeverreallywantedtogobecauseitissoclose,andItookclasseshereinHighSchoolandIgrewuponthecampus,essentially.SoIneverreallyfeltthatdeepconnectiontoMSUthatIfeellikealotofpeopledo.Idon'thaveanyofthegear,Idon'tgothesportsthings.Butitreallyhasbecomeabitofahome,andI’msogratefuleverydaythatIamabletocomehere.IamaJamesMadisonstudentandthathasbeenamazingandsochallenging.It’sreallyshownmewhatIwantto do.Iwanttobeanactivist,probablynon-profitwork.ThetypeofactivismIhavebeenabletodooncampusandthetypesofexperiencesI'vebeenable tohavethroughthathasreallychangedme.Ithasmademeabetterperson.Iwasn'tagreatpersoninhighschool.Ibelieveyoucouldcallmeabitch,veryeasily.Iprobablystillam.ButIknownowthatthereisalotmoretome,thatIcanbemore;Ihavethatcapability.”

NickMells◌ Senior◌ EnglishMajor◌

Black&QueerCommunitiesandInterfraternityCouncil“I’mfromDetroit,black,queer,andfashionabletoday,Iguess.

Ithinksomethingthathasreallyimpactedmyacademic

careerhereorjustmeingeneralarealltheidentitiesIhold,

andallthethingsItrytomanage.Ithinkthathasbeenmore

soplayingalargerroleinwhatIwanttodointhefuture.

HopefullyI’llbealawyersomeday,orateacher,orsomething.

Iwanttoimpactthewaypeoplelive.Idon'twantthemtogo

throughthesameexperiencesIdid.

IthinkMSUisdefinitely

curatingsomeofthose

experiencesforme,soIcan

helpotherpeople.Ifyou

needme,I’mhere.Ihave

feltreallyoutcasted before,I

usedtoliveinWilliams.Itwas

aweirdtime,Itransferred

January2015.Iknewnoone.

Ijuststartedjoining

organizations,andIfelt

reallyenculturatedhere.I

feellikeIoweMSUadebtof

gratitudebecauseone,

SpartanAdvantageis

awesome;thankyou.And

two,theyhavestucktheir

neckoutofmesoIwantto

makeitthebestIcanhere.

It’snoteverydayyoucan

gotocollege;it’sa

blessing.”

◌ AmericanIndianandIndigenousStudiesMinor ◌