College Days: Jennifer Edmonds

 Dr. Jennifer Edmonds sits at a desk in a classroom in high school. She looks to the left. She sees another girl. She looks to the right. She sees another girl.
Jennifer Edmonds sits at a desk in a classroom in college. She looks to the left. She sees a boy.
Edmonds, coming from an all girls’ school in Detroit, Michigan, went from a high school of 600 students to classes of 600 students.
“Maybe there were 600 in my high school--all girls--Catholic. [In comparison,] my organic chemistry lecture…fit 600,” said Edmonds.
While Edmonds, now assistant professor of business, only lived 45 minutes away from the University of Michigan, where she majored in chemical engineering, the University of Michigan was leaps and bounds away from her upbringing.
According to Edmonds, she was not allowed even to talk to boys until she was 14 years old.
“I lived in a very traditional house. You can’t talk to boys on the phone until you’re 14. You can’t date until you’re 16,” said Edmonds.
Once at the University of Michigan, Edmonds let loose, or at least as loose as one can be as a chemical engineering student.
While Michigan’s engineering program was a four-year program, many students completed it in four and a half years or even five.
“Here, students take 18 credits almost like it’s no big deal. It was a big deal to take 15, usually 12. You did all your general education stuff the first two years and what was left was only your major,” said Edmonds.
Edmonds became acclimated to the academics of higher education within the first two years at Michigan.
“Freshman year was just okay, not great. I would get Bs and Cs [in college], when in high school I got As and Bs,” said Edmonds.  “Maybe a year and a half of that, and then you drifted towards your major, and you couldn’t do that anymore.”
Beyond her academics, Edmonds threw herself into several different extracurricular activities. While she believes she should have joined them earlier, Edmonds joined several clubs relating to chemical engineering.
“There was a chemical engineering club, a minorities in engineering club. Most of them were engineering clubs. You socialized with people in your major, because they knew this is a time to study. Most of the social stuff I did, I did with engineers,” said Edmonds.
One of the extracurriculars Edmonds did not do with engineers was the African dance group she became a part of after taking an African dance class. A dancer from her childhood, she took the course on a whim while at Michigan and was later approached by the instructor to join the group.
With her studies all in a row, Edmonds used her time at Michigan to learn lessons about herself, and she did not even notice.
“I think you do so many different things in college. I was able to be a student before that. I didn’t know how to date. I didn’t know who was out there to date. I figured out in college what makes a good friend, and who ends up not being a good friend,” said Edmonds.
Hindsight into her five years at Michigan gave Edmonds the perspective to truly value herself and who she surrounds herself with.
“It comes from dating. You date bad guys, and you realize ‘Wait, I don’t deserve to be treated that way.’ Then you extend it to your friends and how they treat you,” said Edmonds.
Edmonds’ college days were truly revolutionary to her studying habits, her social habits, and who she eventually became as a person.