Q&A: In Conversation with Solomon Dudley
July 6, 2021
A current transfer student on the transition to UM-Dearborn
Transferring to a new university is an exciting time in your academic career. Health and Human Services major Solomon Dudley reflects on his personal journey and the lessons he learned along the way.
What made you decide to transfer schools?
Solomon Dudley: Coming out of high school, I always knew that I was going to start at a two-year community college and transfer out. I really geared my experience at Schoolcraft toward transferring, as multiple students do. I didn’t participate much, I just really focused on the classes that I needed to transfer. A year-and-a-half in is when I decided to transfer to UM-Dearborn.
What led you to UM-Dearborn?
SD: Originally, I was thinking of transferring to a historically black college or somewhere out of state, and when I started looking in state and at the options here, I was considering the Ann Arbor campus, Michigan State and Eastern Michigan. When an academic advisor at Schoolcraft brought up UM-Dearborn, I honestly did not know how much of a gem this was. It just kind of slid under the radar, but the more I learned about UM-Dearborn, the more I started to focus on working on the classes that I would need to take to transfer here. I didn't finish the MTA, but I essentially geared my classes toward what I would need to start at UM-Dearborn.
What is the MTA?
SD: The MTA is the Michigan Transfer Agreement. It’s essentially what most transfer students would be following going into an institution. I didn't know about Dearborn from the beginning, but if I knew about Dearborn from, let's say, the time I graduated high school going into Schoolcraft, that's what I would have followed. On my transcript there would be a stamp saying "MTA-certified," meaning that I’d completed the 62 credits that most Michigan institutions would define as their base courses. Once you finish those base courses, you can transfer to any institution within Michigan that participates in the MTA.
What was your transition like?
SD: The transition from Schoolcraft to Dearborn was pretty smooth. There weren’t many bumps in the road. The growth period happened when I got to campus. I’ve learned that what you do and where you get involved can have a huge impact on your success so even before I stepped onto campus, I was already on Victor’s Link checking out what student organizations I could get involved in.
What organizations did you land on?
SD: Right away, I became an Orientation Leader, which I was very excited about, then I participated in the Marketing Association with the College of Business. From there, I got involved in InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, I am a team manager for Men’s Ice Hockey and Lacrosse and my biggest roles right now are, Community Assistant at The Union and Program Assistant for Orientation — and all of that's happened in pretty much a year and like a couple months! I knew I wanted to make up for what I didn’t do in high school, so I got involved and figured out what works for me. I really like working with orientation. I’ve really learned the ins and outs of, not just orientation, but the way our university runs. I’ve learned just how robust this campus is. Even though it's a smaller university, it's still a machine and every person in every part of that machine is crucial.
If I had not come to UM-Dearborn, I probably would not have made these fantastic relationships or had these personal growth experiences at a bigger school where I may not have gotten involved as easily.
How have you acclimated to the location of the campus?
SD: Of course I grew up in Southeast Michigan, but I didn’t know much about Dearborn other than The Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. Now that I’m here, I feel like I’ve become a part of the Dearborn community. I’ve gotten to know the individuals that live here and the great work that’s happening here and the surrounding communities as well. The interesting concept of being a Dearborn student is that we’re all Michigan students. I have my student tickets, I go to the football games, I support the arts community and theater program in Ann Arbor — I even auditioned for the marching band on Ann Arbor’s campus. There is a population of cross-campus students that commute to Ann Arbor often, since it is close. But Dearborn is my campus and I’ve really grown to love it for what it offers me, not just as a campus, but as a community.
The marching band — are UM-Dearborn students welcome to participate in clubs and activities at the UM-Ann Arbor campus?
SD: Yes, there are students at UM-Dearborn that are a part of the marching band. As Michigan students, we are able to audition — I believe UM-Flint students are able to audition as well. Initially, I was trying to split my time between Dearborn and Ann Arbor, but there’s a lot going on here at UM-Dearborn. The more I've gotten involved here, I've also gotten really busy. I can essentially create the type of experience that I want, number one, because the size of the community makes activities accessible. Every student that wants to get involved has that ability.
How does it feel to be a part of a small campus community?
SD: It's been a great experience overall. I have the ability to speak up and to be heard in a small class size. You get to go to their office hours and you have a little bit more accessibility. I’ve loved it. I know every single one of my professors and I'm pretty sure if we had to hold a conversation right now, I could do that with the majority of them. I think it’s really special to be able to hold a conversation with someone who you respect and hold in high regard. Not having to compete with hundreds of other students is great.
What’s it like being at a campus that’s close to home?
SD: I’m coming to the reality that I don’t think I would’ve done as well out of state as I’m doing right now. My friends live in Southfield, I still get in my car and drive maybe 30 minutes or so and I’m home. This is what a lot of college students go through when they’re making decisions. It’s not just based on the school choice or tuition even. It’s based on whether you want to leave the state and have to get on a plane every time you want to see your family.
Since we are a commuter campus, it also makes it easier for students who live locally to work part-time at a job they might have held since high school. Personally, I worked at McDonald's as a supervisor for six years and it’s been one of my most prominent extracurricular activities. Most students on the Dearborn campus work or have something that they do outside of class and I think UM-Dearborn does a good job at appealing to that demographic.
What do you love about UM-Dearborn?
SD: I recognize the type of learner that I am and for what I need right now, UM-Dearborn is perfect. It's a beautiful campus with beautiful people and when graduation comes, I know that I would have done everything that I could do here on this campus. Some of our professors hold a professorship at the Ann Arbor campus, so we’re working with the same professors but, with class sizes of 22-23 students, we have the ability to get to know our professors on a much more personal level. I still have room for growth but I'm coming to the realization that when I graduate, I'm going to be a Dearborn alum and I think that’s special.