Robert Bielby
Home Town: Dryden, MI
High School: Dryden High School
Major: Political Science and Psychology
Year of Graduation from UM-Flint: 2007My decision to come to UM-Flint was based on two factors. The campus was located close to home so I could stay close to my family and save money as an undergraduate while I prepared for what was intended to be law school but became grad school. Also the school offered me a generous scholarship and a great educational opportunity through the Honors Program.
I think the thing that sticks most firmly in my mind about my UM-Flint experience is interaction. Much of the selling point of the university is the student-faculty interaction that is offered, but there is much more than that. Now that I am on a much larger campus, I see that the level of student-student and student-administration interaction that is offered at UM-Flint is much greater than is available on many other campuses. The school fosters a sense of community where people tend to care for each other and work together to promote a better learning and social environment. I recently returned to campus over winter break and was happily greeted by a number of fellow students, had meetings with some of my professors, and got a big hug and a hand shake from Vice-Chancellors. There is nothing that matches the feeling of family that exists at UM-Flint, and that is what made my experience there so great.
Currently, My fiancée, who reluctantly transferred from UM-Flint, and I are attending Stony Brook University on Long Island, recently named the research university flagship of NY. I am pursuing a Ph.D. in Political Science in a top ranked program and was able to get in thanks to my research experience and close faculty interaction that was offered by UM-Flint and its excellent Honors Program. My fiancée was also recently accepted into the Honors College here (1 of 60 out of 3000 applicants) thanks to her UM-Flint education. Our UM-Flint experience has spurred us into further endeavors that may not have been attainable otherwise.
