May 28, 2026
In our social media-curated world, it’s easy to believe that people who succeed in college do so effortlessly. They get great grades in high school. Their parents encourage and support them. They step immediately into college and float out after four years with a degree.
Samuel Wright will tell you that this curated vision can be misleading and potentially harmful.
Wright earned his associate degree at GRCC, then received a transfer scholarship to James Madison College at Michigan State University. He is currently poised to graduate with a 4.0 GPA. He also has a full ride scholarship to MSU’s College of Law beginning next year.
Oh, and by the way…he is 45 years old, a former high school dropout, and has a record.
A Rough Beginning
“I grew up in Newaygo County, which is a rural community,” Wright said. “My mom died when I was in third grade, leaving my dad at home with three kids. He struggled with his own grief and threw himself into his work. That impacted all of us kids.”
Wright recalls that he changed schools six or seven times before 11th grade. He didn’t have a good relationship with his dad, and found himself either couch surfing with friends or staying with his grandparents. That trauma shaped the next several years of his life.
“I got good grades in school but I never applied myself,” Wright said. “I did fine on the tests without doing the homework. If we had stayed anywhere long enough, the teachers would have caught on. But we kept moving, so no one got to know me very well. By the time I reached 11th grade, I couldn’t see the point. My dad quit school in 8th grade. My mom graduated from high school but that was it. Higher education was never discussed in our family; it was all about work. So I followed suit and started working odd jobs.”
Wright admits that he was arrested multiple times in his late teens and early twenties. Somehow, he finally found a decent job and career path in telecommunications that didn’t require a college degree. That settled him down and he did very well for the next 20 years.
“My wife and I lived in Seattle,” Wright said. “I had a lot of responsibility and a great income. We traveled the world and hung out with successful people. The problem was that I didn’t like what I was doing. I could make and spend money, but it was all just work.”
A Pivotal Move
After Wright and his wife adopted their daughter, they made some massive life changes, including a move back to Michigan. While his wife could work remotely, Wright realized it was time for him to change course. A billboard for Michigan Reconnect provided the catalyst for him to come back to school.
Wright came to GRCC as a nontraditional student. He was in his 40s. He had a family. But he says that GRCC made it comfortable for him.
“I am so thankful for my GRCC experience,” Wright said. “The advisors, the admissions people, the professors…everyone helped me. There was a huge financial value to attending GRCC, but I also felt fully prepared once I got to MSU. There’s no way I would have been accepted to MSU straight out of high school, much less have received a transfer scholarship! At first, I felt a little bit of imposter syndrome there, but the work was not overwhelming. And I am one of only eight students in my class to graduate with a 4.0. That says a lot, not only about my work ethic, but about how GRCC prepared me to succeed.”
Figuring out exactly what he wanted to do took a little bit of exploration.
“I wanted to find something I was passionate about,” Wright said. “I started at GRCC with the goal of becoming a teacher. I wanted to be that person who impacted students like I had been. However, I discovered that I was on an elementary education path, and I wanted to teach older students. I briefly explored computer science but ruled that out. Then I came across International Relations and that flipped a switch.”
When Passion Meets Opportunity
Wright says he and his wife have visited more than 20 countries, and they always loved learning about other cultures.
“Living in rural America is like living in a bubble,” Wright said. “You think about people outside your bubble as ‘other.’ You don’t imagine that they could have a wonderful life or not want to be Americans! As we traveled, I saw people who had no money but great lives. That opened my eyes.”
Now Wright hopes to combine that interest in other cultures with something related to immigration law or information governance.
“The faculty at James Madison helped me find specific interests,” Wright said. “I did a lot of research into disinformation campaigns by foreign state actors, and how that impacts our democracy. There’s a huge incentive to push inflammatory content that polarizes society and drives us apart. Immigration is also an incendiary topic. I hope to have an impact in one or both of these areas.”
As Wright prepares to enter law school this fall, he wants others like him to hear a very clear message.
“Don’t let your past define you,” Wright said. “I made a lot of mistakes as a young person and put myself in bad positions. But I am not the same person I was then, and neither are you. I bet on myself, and I’m succeeding. There are millions of people who have ‘safe’ jobs they don’t love. Instead of chasing a dream, they stay rooted where they are. However, the reality is that nothing is ‘safe.’ You only have one life. Find something you are passionate about and go after it!”
Visit the Michigan Reconnect web page to learn more about the program and other tuition support options at GRCC.
This story was reported by Julie Hordyk.