'24 BS Environmental Science and French, 2024
Meet Mary Kelly, a 2024 BS Environmental Science and French alumna from Plymouth, MI. Mary currently resides in Ann Arbor, MI, where she is a current graduate student at the University of Michigan.
Brief Description of What You Do
What at NMU helped you most in your current role?
My coursework and professors in the EEGS department were probably the most helpful in preparing me for graduate school. I learned and experienced things in EEGS that I wouldn’t have gotten to do if I had gone to a larger undergraduate institution. I am grateful for my professors for teaching me, and for serving as mentors. In addition, the NMU honors program and a few courses in the English department (HON 101, HON 495 and EN 420 with Dr. Wood!) also played a big role in strengthening my critical thinking and writing skills. Finally, while I haven’t used French in my graduate studies, the language learning skills that I gained while a French major at NMU have been quite helpful as I pick up different computer languages.
What advice would you give current students?
I would encourage current students not to limit or pigeonhole themselves. College is your time to explore and say “yes” to as many things as you can reasonably handle. That said, be sure to check in with yourself and your goals each semester to make sure you’re doing okay academically, socially, and emotionally. Meet with your advisor every semester, prioritize self care, make friends outside your major, and get some sun on your face on the occasion that it’s out from behind the ever-present U.P. clouds. Use your limited time at college to better yourself, set goals, and achieve them.