Maureen Paul was so nervous before her first class at Macomb, she felt physically sick.
“In my head, everyone else knew what they were doing except me,” the former St. Clair Shores homeschooler said. “I felt more alone than I really was.”
Quickly, she realized that she belonged.
“All of my professors and everyone have been so welcoming at Macomb,” said Paul, who now carries a 3.9 GPA and is the recruitment and retention coordinator for Phi Theta Kappa, Macomb’s honor society. While working three jobs, she’s also found an outlet for her lifelong love of volunteering by joining Macomb’s alternative spring break trip to clean beaches in North Carolina, and an alternative weekend building wheelchair ramps in Indiana.
“I’m busy all the time now,” she said. “I just don’t sleep a lot, but that’s OK.”
Paul is taking advantage of a transfer agreement between Macomb and Madonna University, which allows her to take three years of classes at Macomb, then transfer to Madonna for her final year at Macomb’s University Center in Clinton Township. That’s saving her time and money on her way to a degree in hospitality management and a career in event planning.
“I really like how easily Macomb has set it up,” she said. “It’s so much cheaper going to Macomb. I’m probably the only one of my friends who’s going to graduate with no debt.”