What’s the first thing you think of when you hear the words Central Michigan University? I’m going to be honest, for many years, the first thing that came to my mind was pretty critical:

"party school."

I recall being a freshman in high school, hearing that some of my graduating friends were heading away to CMU, and immediately assuming that they were choosing the school because it wasn’t that difficult to get into and was known for its wild, crazy party scene. I never bothered to take the time to learn more about the university, and rode along through high school with this subjective stereotype of CMU in mind.

My senior year, I received a letter in the mail regarding CMU’s Centralis Competition. I saw the Central Michigan letterhead and thought, “no way this place could ever be for me, I need to be taking my academics seriously.” My mom and I read through the letter describing the competition and Central’s Honors Program, and we became a bit more intrigued: they were offering multiple full-ride and full-tuition scholarships. They basically made an offer that I couldn’t realistically or financially pass up over petty stereotypes, so I decided to compete, and won a scholarship. The Honors Program’s generosity is why I get to attend CMU today, and is ultimately why I ended up coming here; if it wasn't for the scholarship, I probably wouldn't have even considered it.

After being here for almost two years, I’ve seen the stereotype in a new light; Central kids definitely can party hard, but that’s not all they do. This university is full of amazing people who are doing amazing things, and people on the outside still think that we’re all just here for a good time. Prior to coming here, I was under the impression that what most set Central Michigan apart from University of Michigan and Michigan State was their crazy party scene. And yet, I know people that attend both of the afore-mentioned schools who, in my opinion, go way crazier, way more often. So what the heck is happening here? Why is Central getting judged so harshly?

Has anyone on the outside bothered to look into what we do here at Central?

Let me give you just a taste of the awesome things Central Michigan University has to offer.

CMU has:

A nationally recognized Leadership Institute.

An award-winning Honors Program.

A 21 to 1 student-faculty ratio.

150 Study Abroad programs in over 40 countries.

A world-renowned SAP (a business software) certification program.

A nationally-ranked Apparel Merchandising and Design program.

A major program for Meteorology and one for Recreation & Event Management (the only Michigan university to offer these).

The best college TV station in the state (for 13 years in a row).

The most teacher education alumni in the state.

A nationally recognized Alternative Breaks program.

The most TERP10 (another business program) Certificate-Recipients in the country.

An island research station (the only school in Michigan to operate one).

A brand new biosciences building on its way.

A 100 percent job-placement rate for physical therapy, speech-language pathology, and audiology grads.

Fewer than 20 students in over a third of its classes.

3 hours per week of free, one-on-one tutoring available for all undergraduate students.

And the list goes on and on and on. Like I said, this is just an overarching peek at what us Chippewas are getting done. Within my first semester here, my prior opinion of CMU was completely obliterated. I can see now that Central is exactly where I am meant to be. I find new things to love about this school every week, whether it's cool things to get involved in, new classes to take, or faculty that inspire me. I’m not saying that parties and the occasional ruckus doesn’t occur here, but, for goodness sake, we are so much more. So the next time someone tells you that they go to Central Michigan University, save the judgey-eyes; the correct response is, "Fire Up Chips."