Third time’s the charm

Pride.

I’ve had many exchanges with both this word and this feeling, and I think that I can speak for a generation of Spartans, as well as any current Michigan State Spartan, that we hold a great amount of pride in attending a school as great as ours. But my pride runs even deeper because I am lucky enough to be a third-generation Michigan State student in my family.

My grandpa, William Ruth, attended Michigan State College for forestry in the early 1950s. My dad, Thomas Ruth, graduated from Michigan State University in 1987. Now, I am attending Michigan State University as a freshman in the graduating class of 2020.

My dad has recalled many stories of my grandfather throughout his lifetime. One in particular, however, made me realize how lucky I am to be where I am today.

As a forester, my grandfather planted trees, including ones here on MSU’s campus. He cared for them and he watched them grow. It may seem so simple, but it is also incredibly special to walk through campus surrounded by so many giant, beautiful trees… trees that could very well have been planted by my grandfather almost seventy years ago.

It makes me reminisce about moments with him, but also challenges me to make both him and my dad proud. When I was accepted to Michigan State University as a journalism major last summer, I had no doubt that I wanted to spend the next four years of my life here doing just that.

It wasn’t because I felt forced to go, since my grandpa and my dad went there. It was because I wanted to not only to carry on another generation of cheering on the Spartans in Green and White, but because I felt an enormous sense of pride.

I knew way before my acceptance, as early as my first MSU football game, that I was meant to go to Michigan State. And being here with all of my fellow Spartans, being the third generation in my family to bleed green, brings me the greatest feeling of pride I could ever have.