Business graduate conquers challenges – Today@Wayne

Coming out of Chandler Park Academy High School in Detroit, Adrian Russell won a scholarship to Eastern Michigan University. But, as a first-generation college student, Russell says he didn’t take classes well enough, missing too many 8 a.m. sessions and losing his scholarship.

His family paid out of pocket to attend his sophomore year, and he returned with a 3.7 grade point average — but he took a gap year to earn money by working at Target.

Ready to return to college, Russell transferred to Wayne State and enrolled in the Mike Ilitch School of Business’ MPrep Scholars program, which provides underrepresented students with academic support, mentoring and industry exposure. Russell majored in marketing with a minor in political science.

“MPrep has helped me to be more focused, focused on work and thinking about my future more often,” Russell said.

However, the challenges are not over. Russell’s grandmother, Leslie, was diabetic and suffered from strokes and heart problems. While Russell’s mother and stepfather worked day in and day out, he took care of her, making her breakfast, taking her medication and giving her insulin injections.

After a long illness and disability, Leslie passed away a year ago. Yet her memory still looms large in Russell’s life.

“She was one of my friends,” Russell said. “She was always so proud of me and how motivated I was. I told her that I will do whatever I set out to do in this world. She is still definitely an inspiration.

And no doubt she would be proud. Through MPrep, Russell got work experience at Ford, and after helping the department successfully land two new customers, he was offered a full-time job with the automaker after graduating in May.

He will start his new position with Ford in the fall.

While he’s excited to enter the workforce, he also plans to take the LSAT this summer and consider law school based on how well he scores.

“One thing I hate in life is being told you can’t do something because you’ve never tried or because you think you can’t,” Russell said. “I always try to do everything. If I fail, I fail – but at least I learn something.”