My Experiences at Michigan State University 

Haoshu Duan

            I did my master in public policy at Michigan State University as a BA-linked (3+2) student from 2014 to 2016. The academic training during my master program laid solid foundation for my current doctoral studies in sociology.

            The first time I got to know this program was in 2013, when faculties from MSU came to advertise this BA-linked program at Zhejiang University, my Alma Mater. I was a junior-year sociology student at that time. However, I wasn’t quite sure whether I should continue my graduate studies in sociology or I should try out other different fields. The introduction of the master program in public policy made me realize that going for public policy might be a good option for my career choice, since the training of quantitative methods in this program will make me standout in application pools either in job markets or in doctoral studies.

            I was told that the first year of graduate school could be the hardest before I came, getting adjusted to a new culture, trying to get used to studying in a different language, however, I found out that building up your friend circle was a biggest challenge to me especially. My first year at Michigan State as a master student was not very smooth. I was overwhelmed by cultural shock and writing my undergrad thesis at that time. I remembered clearly that I worked on my course of my master program during the day time, and skyped with my advisor on my undergraduate thesis… That was not a fun time. However, I feel very grateful to have my academic advisor Dr. Bali offering encouragement and timely advice either in school work or in cultural assimilation. Her upbeat spirits helped me kick out all the gloomy emotions and overcome the difficulties throughout the transition year.

            The second year was a great leap for me, academically. I took two classes from sociology department and finally decided that I would like to pursue a doctoral degree in sociology with a specialty in demography. I took a family class which was taught by Dr. Ayala. I was not very confident sharing my arguments and opinions during the seminar in the beginning. Most of the classmates were already 3th-year Ph.D. student and they all seemed very brilliant and experienced in doing research. However, Dr. Ayala told me not to compare myself with other people, and the most important part is that I keep making progress day by day.  She also encouraged me to state out my opinions even when I wasn’t sure they are “great points”. Gradually, I become much more comfortable speaking in the seminars. And I realized that I felt in love with family demography ever since then. The social stratification and inequality, most of the time, starts with the family structure and might influence individuals’ over their life course. Looking back, I am still glad that I took that class which shed a light on my future research interests.

            Indeed, the academic experiences at Michigan State University absolutely prepared me well for my current doctoral program at University of Maryland. However, I did regret that I could learn to have much more fun and hang out with more friends at that time. I missed the football season when the whole campus got so jammed and people went crazy during the games, I missed the nice autumn in Upper Peninsula, I missed the walking in the snow when the wind froze my entire face…

            There is no doubt that the professors at Michigan State helped me stand out in my master program. I would never regret the choice of coming to the 3+X program I made before.