Resources & Research

This spring, more than 6,000 undergrads will receive their highly-anticipated diplomas from the University of Michigan; I’m proud to be one of them. For some of these students, several of whom have called Michigan home since childhood, graduation will mark the end of their time in the Wolverine State. Like many Michigan grads who came before them, they’ll take their first-rate education, their soon-to-be-tapped potential, and their dreams for the future elsewhere.

But the scene need not seem so dismal – at least not anymore. Because today, more than ever, many of these students will choose to take their uniquely developed talents, their can-do attitudes, and their passion for their work into cities like Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Traverse City, and various other communities throughout Michigan.

In recent years, staying in Michigan after graduation seemed the less-glamorous, only if I have no other options choice for graduates. However, remaining in-state to contribute to Michigan’s ever-developing and increasingly entrepreneurial landscape is becoming a bold, even renegade option for students hoping to make a difference in their own corners of the world.

I can speak to this developing phenomenon because I’m a product of it. A year ago, I was convinced that the most courageous post-grad move I could make involved packing my bags and relocating to Washington, D.C. Fast forward two semesters and I (like many of my fellow spring graduates) have come to realize that perhaps the most daring and adventurous option is to use the talents I’ve spent the last four years developing to take an active role in Michigan’s reinvention.

Michigan’s reinvention is key because, on the whole, millennials have been found to value the difference that they can make in their respective localities. Staying in Michigan allows millennials to pursue not only individual success, but to directly affect their changing and growing communities, something essential to their own personal fulfillment.

Additionally, almost two-thirds of millennials have an interest in starting their own business. As Michigan has shifted focus to building a new economy, new spaces of innovation supporting local entrepreneurs and startups have popped up all over the state’s map. This unique and increasing demand for entrepreneurship in Michigan attracts millennials boasting individual talents and looking for opportunities to use them.

This space to develop professionally, however, would perhaps be less thrilling if it were not mirrored by an equally stimulating space to engage personally. Millennials find a plethora of places in which to pursue their interests outside of work in Michigan, whether those interests are playing sports, watching sports, venturing through nature, or even delving into history and exploring the occasional museum. Millennials seek to create a home for themselves and for their future families; they appreciate the concept of work-life balance, and they’ve found that here in Michigan.

In short, students who stay in Michigan today grasp an incredible opportunity to have a hand in determining what Michigan will become tomorrow. In this atmosphere dedicated to growth, business owners, families, educators, and lawmakers continue to cooperate with the commitment of developing stronger, more vibrant communities in which graduates can prosper professionally and personally. Because for everything that Michigan has to offer, its future development and success will be determined by its greatest resource – its people.