From Home Town to Class Clown
A Low-Income Student’s 7 Recognizable Features of Ann Arbor
—By Madylin Eberstein
Let’s time travel. It is 2018, and I am in yet another freshman icebreaker circle. Just as I begin to wonder which sick turn of cosmic justice has landed me here this time, all eyes are on me and the questions start. Where are you from? What do your parents do? My throat tightens as I try to find the right words. As much as I try to not draw attention to myself, I have already realized that my new home, Ann Arbor, is a magnet for people unlike me.
For those who were born and raised in the many poor, underdeveloped communities sprinkled across this country, life in Ann Arbor and at the University of Michigan, especially, can be jarring. And today, as more and more low-income students make their way into higher education, this middle-class culture shock has become increasingly relevant. According to the Obama administration’s report, low-income youth must defeat a growing competitiveness among four-year universities, as well as a persistent “lack of guidance and support” throughout their youth in order to be able to consider college in the first place. Defying these odds, we low-income students have found ourselves in a part of society never intended for us, and as a result, we are forced to confront all the ways in which our lives have been different from our peers’. Moving from small hometowns or troubled urban centers to a polished, middle-class city has left students like me with many burning questions regarding our status, identity, and prospects. How can people afford to live here? Where are all the local trailer parks? Which of my classmates will drop out due to an expensive, untreatable medical condition this time? Severe addiction or homelessness? None of them? Weird.
Despite these cultural differences, I actually feel quite at home. Between the rampant debt throughout campus, local price hikes, and living at the mercy of our slum lords, there are so many recognizable qualities about life at U-M, and believe it or not, there are even more ways in which life in Ann Arbor feels eerily familiar.
1. So Many Construction Workers
Strangely enough, I have yet to find a better source of comfort on campus than the various construction crews working throughout the city. So many times, I have dashed through the North University crosswalk, trudged through piles of wet sludge as I walked past the Kraus building and its band of workers gathered outside. On my way, I try to flash my Carhart backpack and breathe in their clouds of cigarette smoke that smell so much like home. Avoided, ignored, and at times, outright mocked, these men are treated like our servants in Ann Arbor. Back home, they are our fathers, uncles, coaches, neighbors, and friends. Lucky for me, there is always some construction project underway in Ann Arbor.
2. You Have to Walk Everywhere
Ann Arbor is also known as a “walkable community.” Not only do students and other residents frequently partake in leisurely strolls up and down Main Street, but they have also become well aware of the city’s abysmal parking situation. Driving is simply not an option, and upon my arrival in Ann Arbor, I noticed that this local quirk felt quite familiar, indeed. Once more I could experience the magic of my youth, those glory days of battling my parents to lend me our one working vehicle so I could get to school on time. On my way out, they might shout some obscenity for all the neighbors to hear. Yes, I think I will walk this time.
3. Everyone is More Stylish Than You
When was the last time you sat down in class next to an 18-year-old Mother Mother fan rocking platform Docs, a chain belt, and a septum ring? Or the last time you were walking downtown and noticed you were the only person on the block not wearing a Canada Goose jacket? A typical Ann Arborite might answer, Why, just the other day! After years of wearing cheap, outdated second-hand clothing, that warm, fuzzy feeling of panicked insecurity that crops up during these moments has become something like a close friend of mine. Or is it wrong to equate my Payless shoes literally disintegrating in 7th grade English to the stress of not owning a Gucci belt?
4. Your Peers Seem Nervous About the Future
Unsurprisingly, academic anxiety and existential crises are commonplace here at the university. No one seems sure of what to do after graduation or what their futures may hold. After hours of consulting with their parents, friends of parents, and parents of friends—all of whom hold six-figure salary positions and college degrees—and fighting off endless nepotistic job offers, students are still on edge, and I get it. The all-consuming anxiety of having an intimate network of experts, professionals, and otherwise successful adults to constantly offer you career advice must be a painful stressor. Maybe, if my peers beg, I can ask my dad to put in a good word for them down at the factory.
5. Food—So Close Yet So Far
Twenty-five pounds ago, I was a very hungry junior in high school. My mother and I survived on rice and ramen noodles, and every day I would bring a single peanut butter sandwich to school for lunch. For dinner, we usually just went to bed early.
Confined to local cuisine and often inhibited by the sizable walking distances within the city, Ann Arbor residents are often forced to go without, too, and otherwise rely on third-party delivery services. Deprived of the on-campus Taco Bell we were promised, the local Ann Arborite might begin to feel like me in high school: going to bed hungry. I thought Mom and I had it bad before, but moving to this strange, dystopian city without proper açai, fresh seafood, or a quality New York bagel, has taught me what it truly means to live in a food desert.
6. Everyone You Know is Unemployed
After interacting with any group of U-M students, it might seem that Ann Arbor is facing a devastatingly high unemployment rate. In fact, most of the time I am the only person in the room who has been able to find work, the rest of my poor classmates forced to live off of their parents’ bank accounts. I must say, this problem feels strangely similar to the hordes of impoverished adults around whom I grew up, barely able to stretch their unemployment checks from one week to the next and fighting to find work in a failing economy. Surely, this is an epidemic, and I do not wish to minimize the plight of such struggling students. In fact, if there are any reading this: I’m here for you.
7. Yet You are Surrounded by Hard-Working People
All jokes aside, Ann Arbor is a spectacular place, uniting people from all different backgrounds and experiences. I do not resent my more privileged peers, and in fact, I have come to find their dedication inspiring. The young adults with whom I live and work are bright, worldly, and aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty—metaphorically speaking. Even amid my darkest bouts of frustration, even when I am feeling particularly disadvantaged living in this strange city, meeting other young, hard-working people truly does make me feel right at home. Go blue.
Feature photo by Siora Photography on Unsplash.