Introduction

My name is Sara Short and I am a sophomore at the University of Michigan studying Sport Management with minors in Classical Civilizations, Writing, and Law, Justice, and Social Change. 

That is the professional introduction you read on my about me page and is the introduction I give at the start of classes. But I don't think it accurately captures who I am or what I care about. I love reading but hate writing. I am an avid user of the Wikipedia rabbit hole. I have fun facts memorized to be used as ice breakers. I love the aquarium. My study music is the soundtrack of the sims.  

Many people at Michigan feel defined by their majors but it couldn’t be further from the truth for me. I care about my peers and my classes but I don’t know if I have the passion I see in my premed friends. I know many people change their majors in college but for me, it's never really been an option that's on my plate because of the LSA language requirement (my sister is fluent in Spanish but I am hopeless at language acquisition). My friends joke that the reason I have more minor credits than credits for my major is that I was really meant to be an LSA student. My peers in major have always known that they wanted to work in sports or they have a parent working in sports that makes it feel achievable. I feel really connected to my academic department here at Michigan but not so much connected with what my career will be. It just is the abstract concept of sports and I think that is really hard for me to identify with when others identify with the concept of being a doctor. 

I think I provide valuable insight into social justice and a unique perspective to my major, as I joke that I have an untraditional sports background. I did theatre in high school and the last time I played sports was in middle school. That in itself can feel isolating as everyone assumes that you have this shared connection with a love of sports. I think sports has a unique place in the world as a place of community and understanding but it requires a lot of work, which is what I want to do.

This piece came from a tweet I made about being lonely at college and feeling isolated not only at college but in the world because of your experiences. It came from a lack of understanding of who I am at my core and I think a lot of that comes from the perception of my major. It is viewed as a major for affluent straight white men who don’t want to be academically challenged. Sometimes I myself play into those assumptions. Who are you if you aren’t passionate about sports and don’t know every statistic? Who are you if you don’t have a hometown team? Who are you if you regret your major?

This piece is divided up into three different sections, my queerness, being a military kid and my mental illness. While I wrote them in a certain order, and thought of them in a certain order, there is no right way to read them. They are designed to play off each other and get a deeper understanding of how these elements work together and are intrinsically intertwined. They are meant to explore the idea of how these exasperated my experiences here at Michigan and even earlier than that. 

This piece started as an outline and thoughts but written words have eluded me on this topic for a long time. I have written this piece on planes, in airports, in my bed, at my desk, alone and with others, and at times in my notes app walking to and from class. This piece will be messy and confusing, just like how I feel about this topic and how my process was. I think it will seem disjointed but I feel like that’s the flow of how I think.

Much of the work on this project has been self-reflection, reading books of similar narratives, or even taking a physical pen and writing away from my computer. I read texts about the other I on the page and metacognition about writing about yourself. One of the most impactful pieces was a collection of essays, The Opposite of Loneliness. As you can imagine, the title intrigued me but it was all written by a student at Yale and was unedited and from journal articles. She had a different college experience from me but it was a very valuable insight. It was a weird process that felt like at times, I was doing nothing, much to my chagrin during peer reviews. 

Loneliness and isolation are feelings I am still dealing with and struggling with and I do not think I am alone. When I started this project in January, it was a lot more pronounced. Now, as we enter the warmer months it feels more manageable and like I am able to provide context and advice instead of being in the thick of it. 

I do not think this project will fix everything or have a neat little bow, but I hope at the very least, you understand me more.