After years of facing an unpredictable home situation and struggling to meet friends, Aleyah Williams, 18, has found a comfortable environment and active social life at Macomb Community College.
Growing up, Williams lived in the Downriver community of Brownstown Township with her mother and three of her brothers. She was happy, well adjusted, and had many neighborhood friends. Little by little, everything changed. By 9th grade, her brothers had moved out, and her mom relocated to Mississippi. From that point through the end of 11th grade, they “started hopping from home to home,” forcing her to repeatedly switch schools. She began to feel like an outsider.
“It was hard,” Williams relates. “It’s not like I knew anybody, because I kept on moving.”
Their journey eventually brought them back to Michigan. Shortly thereafter, Williams’ father took her in, and she finally found some stability. She completed 12th grade at Harper Woods High School, alongside her older brother and younger sister. Their friends became hers, and she even made some new ones on her own.
Following her graduation, Williams came to Macomb upon recommendations from her mother and oldest sister. From day one, Macomb has challenged her to grow her social network.
“Many of my classes made us interact with each other,” says Williams. “It broke a lot of people out of their shell.”
Now in her second semester, Williams is focusing on her general studies, but is also considering working toward a communications degree. Among her favorite things about coming to Macomb, she enjoys the flexibility in setting her own schedule, as well as the helpful and understanding faculty.
“I enjoy going to class every day,” relates Williams. “I don’t think I would want to be doing anything else with my life, other than coming to Macomb and learning.”
Long term, Williams would like to pursue a marketing career in social media advertising. She’s gotten a taste of this during her on campus experience in Macomb’s Marketing and Communications department through the Federal Work-Study program.
“I get to do something I am passionate about every day,” says Williams, “whether it’s researching different social media (platforms) or actually coming up with different ways to improve our posts.”