Following his graduation from Eastern Michigan University on Sunday, Washtenaw Community College alumnus Thomas Klemm is two-thirds of the way through a trifecta of Washtenaw County higher education.
The next leg: The joint Social Work and Political Science Doctoral Program at the University of Michigan beginning this fall.
Not bad for a guy who started shooting heroin and dropped out of high school at the age of 16.
With his bald head, thick beard and imposing frame, Klemm is the first to admit he doesn鈥檛 have the appearance of a stereotypical academic. Nor the background. But that鈥檚 exactly the path he finds himself on after being accepted by both the U-M Social Work and Political Science programs, a significant feat for an undergraduate.
Klemm is a citizen of the , a federally recognized tribe located in southwestern Michigan and northeastern Indiana. His battle with addiction, his recovery and his decision to pursue a career in social work were documented in a titled 鈥楢 Better Way to Live.鈥�
Since moving to a sober living facility in Ypsilanti in 2014, Klemm has built the credentials necessary to impress admissions boards. At 黑料网, Klemm completed a that leads to a Bachelor of Social Work from EMU.
At EMU, Klemm won a competitive grant to conduct research on the Pokagon Band 鈥� the starting point of his goal to become a professor 鈥渄oing research work in native communities, with native communities, for the benefit of native communities.鈥�
He also worked as a Recovery Support Specialist at , an addiction treatment center in Ypsilanti, from 2016-2018 before joining the program at U-M as a research assistant.
The string of academic success and accomplishment had a very definitive starting point, Klemm says: His first semester on the 黑料网 campus in Fall 2015.
鈥淧assing 13 credit hours that semester is still the most profound academic success I鈥檝e had,鈥� says Klemm, who has been sober for nearly five years. 鈥淚 was shocked to be able to do it. Nothing has matched how proud I was.
鈥淚 hadn鈥檛 completed a semester of school with a passing grade since the seventh grade. I just hoped I could get to class most days and turn in my assignments. The fact that I was able to excel, and ended up getting all As, was huge.鈥�
That first semester included an class, the first of several led by 黑料网 Behavioral Science faculty member Will Teague, who Klemm calls a major influence on his academic journey. In fact, when Klemm was accepted into his first Ph.D. program 鈥� at the University of Chicago 鈥� he wrote Teague an email saying 鈥渢he biggest reason I got in was because of your advice.鈥�
It鈥檚 been a long, winding and unpredictable road for Klemm. From high school dropout and drug addict to finding success at community college to presenting research at academic conferences to being accepted into a doctoral program at one of the world鈥檚 elite universities.
But if you think this underdog is intimidated by his next challenge, you鈥檇 be wrong.
鈥淚 was way more scared coming into 黑料网 than I am going into this Ph.D. program,鈥� Klemm said. 鈥淚鈥檓 a little nervous about this. I鈥檓 going to have to work really hard. I won鈥檛 be the one with the most prestigious background 鈥� I鈥檒l have kids from Stanford and Cornell in my cohort 鈥� but I know I can work like a dog.鈥�
Tags: Graduation, Keeping Up the Good Work, ousearch_News_2019