Article: One family, 28 consecutive years of Michigan Grads.
I encourage everyone to read this great article about a woman from Jackson, MI who went from living in a refugee camp at one point to putting children through the University of Michigan for 28 consecutive years. A great read, and a great family:
http://blog.mlive.com/bradosphere/2012/07/column_one_jackson_county_fam…
Article says "Every year since 1985, at least one child of Fay and the late Steve Odeh has been enrolled in the University of Michigan, graduate school, medical school or law school." but then it says the youngest child "begins his final year of law school at Fordham University in New York in August, so the 28th year of kids in college will be the last."
Something doesn't seem right about that. If he's been at Fordham for two years, and he is the last of the kids in school, didn't Michigan cease to have an enrolled Odeh sibling 2 years ago? Unless the youngest one transfered (which seems unlikely given the family's affinity for UofM, or unless there is another sibling who just graduated from a Michigan program without being mentioned, the article seems messed up.
Anyway, that satisfied my need to waste time. Thanks for posting this. Good thing they don't have a Bump in the family.
I think the article means that there have been 28 years when one or more kids has been in post-secondary education of some kind. And all of those kids started at U-M for undergrad. They may have gone elsewhere for grad school.
The streak isn't 28 years of kids at U-M. It's 28 years of kids in college & grad & professional school.
It is really cool that they all went here for starters. One of my lecturers, in grad school, said her immigrant parents settled here in Ann Arbor expressly so that all the kids in her large family could go to U-M (and live at home to save money). Stories like this remind me of why I'm so proud that U-M is a public school where this kind of thing is really possible.
I see, you're right. My reading comprehension skills remain subpar. There was a comma in there that should have made everything clear to me.
I have 2 teenages, one will be a freshman at Michigan this Fall. I guess I should quit fretting about paying 1 tuition bill, eh?
I thought from the thread title that someone from their family actually graduated from U-M each of the last 28 years.
Great story though.
Wow, that's a high-achieving family.
Pretty awesome. The part about Fordham Law School was a little confusing, but it is amazing how they've basically been at UM almost as long as I've been alive. Testament to the quality of the education.
I knew Jaffer in college. Great guy. Really smart and focused. I studied for Orgo exams a couple of times with him, and he was the only one in the group who could stay focused for more than an hour without wandering off to check his email, talk to people, grab a bite to eat, etc.
And I thought it was unusual that at least one of my brothers (or myself) was enrolled at Michigan for 16 consecutive years.
We have 32 graduates in my extended family... but that is over 3 generations.
Hey this is Ramy Odeh. Thanks for the nice comments about my brother. I wish I had his studying ability too! As the first comment notes, the article is a bit unclear. I did graduate a couple years ago, and now I'm at Fordham. So unfortunately unless one of goes back for another degree, we're done there for a while, until we start sending our kids there!
The amazing thing in the story is your family, not the university, but the story does make me feel good as an alum because it shows what kind of people the university can attract.
Than having your family profiled on M-Live is having the article cross posted to MGoBlog!
Congratulations, Rameh and its about time you started accumulating some MGopoints!
Wow, thank you so much! Yeah we're from a small town about 30 miles northwest of Ann Arbor, but we've always considered A2 home. It's such an amazing place.