These last few weeks has helped me become even more conscious of my identities and how my daily life is affected by them. I can describe the plights of the black queer woman with ease, but some of my identities have become more salient throughout the duration of the program.
For one, as many people know, I am a Detroit native, but I’m also a first-generation college student from a lower class background. I came into the University of Michigan about 3 years ago not knowing what the heck I was doing and with minimal assistance from my family, but I eventually learned how to do this college thing pretty well. I always felt a little out of place in Ann Arbor because the backgrounds from which my peers came were vastly different from my own. I learned how to adjust, and assimilated into the place where I called home for the past 3 years.
This is probably the most time I’ve spent in Detroit since I left and I am feeling some kind of culture shock. For one, whenever I interact with people, they adjust they speak and assume that I’m not from Detroit, showing surprise when I tell them I’m from the East Side. When I rode in an Uber, the driver was confused that I was a college student from Detroit, as if that was an anomaly or something. Oftentimes, I find myself feeling like an outsider in my hometown and I’ve spent a lot of time trying to piece together why that is.
Hey Drew. First, congratulations on being a first-generation college student! That is a wonderful accomplishment! I imagine there is tremendous pressure to be successful and represent your family well.
On a different note, you have an interesting, yet unfortunate dilemma. Feeling like an outsider in your own town sucks! However, I would argue that there is a positive aspect to that situation. I say this because people seem to expect any minority from Detroit to fit a particular, stereotypical mold. Yet, you are living proof that Detroit (East Side or any other side) has much more to offer than what people expect. I imagine you will continue to have this problem until attitudes eventually change about Detroit.