<p>Thanks for the responses. Being from Jersey and being in difficult academic courses I have experience with racism by other students. I have learned to channel my frustration about race into my academics. Whenever I’m faced with racism or a lingering stereotype, I usually just try to do my best in whatever I do. I try not to fall into the common stereotypes and usually I prove people wrong. I just hope that Ann Arbor can give me the opportunity to meet different people of different backgrounds. I hope it really is similar to Jersey because I love Jersey. The different kinds of people make this state truly diverse and really shine. Although there is self segregation like you stated above I think the main flaw of Jersey is that students and young adults are very clicky. I hope the people at Michigan are openminded. Because I’m going into unfamiliar territory. I’m very open minded and I hope to express my ideas and experiences with other people.</p>
<p>Entertainer, I think you would be perfect for Michigan. I grew up about an hour from there and my parents worked in Ann Arbor so ever since I was 9 years old I would spend days walking around campus dreaming of attending school there. It has ALWAYS been diverse. It wouldn’t be Michigan if it wasn’t.</p>
<p>As a student at UM my freshman year, I had a Jewish roommate and next door was a fiery Mexican woman and her best friend who was a kind, conservative Lebanese Muslim (the contrast between their personalities was rather hysterical.) They were both from Dearborn, which is a town not far from A2 that has one of the largest populations of Middle Eastern people in this country (as a consequence, there is some AMAZING middle eastern food out here–I’ve yet to find anything like it in Jersey OR New York for that matter.)</p>
<p>I later roomed with a 2nd generation Indian engineer who rambled about philosophy when she was drunk and who did a hilarious impression of her mother. One of my best friends from college, who was best man at my wedding and still very close, is 2nd generation Chinese, fluent in Mandarin and French and an excellent ballroom dancer. Because he is tall, he is affectionately known as ‘‘The Six Foot Wang.’’</p>
<p>Walking to and from campus there you get totally accustomed to hearing people blathering on their cell phones in other languages (not unlike riding NJ Transit, lol.) It happened often enough that I can now rather easily tell the difference between the sounds of Japanese, Mandarin, and Korean. You won’t go to school with only black Americans, but probably black Africans as well, or black people from Europe. People come to school at Michigan from all over the world, from all different experiences and backgrounds. It’s fantastic.</p>
<p>^^In addition, U of M is known to admit many OOS from NJ. Maybe poll that population on their experiences by doing a NJ member search? I personally don’t think you could have selected a better school for diversity.</p>
<p>Like I’m so excited about going to Michigan. I just want to try hard this time. I want to be involved, meet different people, partyyyyy, and just work really hard for med school. I’m sure my personality and the way I am will speak for itself. I have no problems meeting different people, its just that some people have problems with African Americans. Either way I hope I have a fun experience at UMICH.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry about it, and I like your attitude. </p>
<p>However, I do feel like people are painting a very rosy picture for you which may not be 100% accurate. Diversity is a really super strong point for Michigan, but there are students at Michigan who are unlike you and haven’t experienced much of it before. They will graduate better people for being at U-M, but they’ve got some learning to do. I think the biggest issue for black kids and international students and other “minorities” at Michigan is not racism or intolerance, but rather some initial ignorance.</p>
<p>I have been really moved by hearing seniors say things like “I came from a small town and before coming here didn’t know many people who had a different religion or race than my own… I learned how to respect/learn from/get along with/work with all kinds of people, and it was the best thing in the world.” That’s awesome, but as people get from Point A to Point B there’s going to be some learning. People here really embrace the institutional value of diversity because it become obvious to them how much better their education is for it, but not everyone arrives on campus experienced or enlightened. </p>
<p>Try to take that in stride and understand what is going on, and you’ll all learn a lot from each other.</p>
<p>Can’t wait to have you here–campus is lonely without students!</p>
<p>Haha…really interesting post. I have been to the midwest a few times and throughout all of my travels, I have met people who have never come into contact with a black person before. It is very funny at first, but then i start to realize that some states are really homogeneous. I don’t really take ignorance too seriously and I have dealt my own fair share with black teachers that criticize me for my passivity. To be honest I’m a kind of person who likes meeting new people, but isn’t active towards doing it. Partly because I’m very shy. At the same time I love partying, socializing, and learning about different kinds of people. Dancing has helped me overcome the issue of race and discrimination. I hope to continue dancing at U-M.</p>
<p>“I have been to the midwest a few times and throughout all of my travels, I have met people who have never come into contact with a black person before.”
There’s a big difference between the majority of the midwest and urban areas like Ann Arbor. I’m from a diverse suburb in the midwest that’s very similar to Ann Arbor in most respects, and I can safely say that the vast majority of the population is very racially tolerant. There’s definitely nobody here that’s never seen a black person. But if I drive 30 miles or so west, all of a sudden I’m basically in the middle of Hicktown.</p>
<p>Entertainer, be sure not to call people who haven’t met a Black person before ignorant because of it. That’s certinly not going to give a good first impression of your race.</p>
<p>I lived in a number of places, and I never met an Asian person before I moved here. Didn’t mean I was ignorant or there is something wrong with me. I just never lived in an area where there were Asians.</p>
<p>I didn’t call it ignorant about someone not ever meeting a particular race. The only ignorance i was speaking about was, if they actually come on campus and act a certain way to a particular race of people because they are following a common stereotype.</p>
<p>Okay… Sorry, it was confusing.</p>