Big Changes Start With Gratitude

My wife and I made a pretty big life decision this winter. We moved back to the Atlanta area, where our lives together began. 8 years ago this month, we moved to Ann Arbor to be closer to my family. My parents and grandmother were in Northern Michigan and my sister, with her four kids, lived in Canton. We wanted our future kids, now 5 and 7, to have a relationship with my grandmother and be raised with their 4 cousins. Within a couple of years my sister and her family decided to move to Nashville and greener pastures and my parents started to live in Florida for longer stints and purchased a place to call home. This past fall my grandmother passed. I am so happy that I was able to be close enough to be there for my parents and grandmother at the end. Now that my sister is in Nashville and my parents are in Florida, it made sense to move back to Georgia where Nina’s family resides. We are now within a day's drive from my family and an hour or two from Nina’s. Not to mention being closer to all the friends we left 8 years ago.

Before we fully jumped into planning the move we had to talk with our employers. Nina works for Michigan Medicine and I work for the Ross School of Business, both a part of the University of Michigan. Nina was given the green light to work from GA permanently as her role is one that can be done from home. My ask was a bit more challenging as my role has a lot of student/faculty face to face interactions. I could not have been more surprised by the response of my supervisor, Tim Webb, and the managing director of the Office of Undergraduate Programs (OUP), Paul Kirsch. They told me that I could stay on, virtually, until the end of the calendar year if needed. I was amazed and felt so valued. I am beyond grateful.

As I jump into the new world of job hunting I wanted to share my gratitude for all the things OUP and Ross has allowed me to do and other experiences that have made me who I am professionally.

The students who I have had the privilege to interact with over the years are the number one thing that I am grateful for. Big shout out to the ones who worked for me in various capacities: Peer Coaches/Mentors, RIS Course Assistants, MBA Graders, to name a few. Every career and learning opportunity I had at Ross was directly influenced by my interactions with you.

I was able to work with incredible faculty who valued my opinions and insights. We were able to work together to make positive changes to programs and courses. All in the hopes of bettering the student experience.

Learned a cool simulation that we added to one of the courses, BizCafe.

Understanding BizCafe allowed me the opportunity to work with the NFL’s Professional Development Program, Business Academy. A partnership with Ross.

Being a part of that allowed me to meet with Zaire Franklin and Eric Taylor. They invited me to work with them on using the simulation for their nonprofit, Shelice’s Angels. One the most impactful experiences of my life.

I was able to support a course that partnered with The Washington Campus in D.C., Carson Scholars. I witnessed the intelligence and thoughtfulness of the students from the Ross School. The questions they asked and the conversations they had with an incredible line-up of speakers thoroughly impressed me.

The Entrepreneurship Minor program gave me the opportunity to be an academic advisor, which led to working with hundreds of energetic students with big and small ideas to better the world around them.

Before I was employed by Ross, I taught and coached at a couple of schools. First at Chamblee with the middle school girl’s basketball team and the high school Ultimate team. Then at South Pointe Scholars with the girl’s basketball team. It is amazing that the kids I worked with are now grown adults doing amazing things with their lives. 

The relationships that I have been able to create, develop, and maintain continue to energize me and keep me moving forward. I will continue to lean into them throughout my career and life. 

Thank you to all the people who have been a part of those experiences. I hope we continue to positively impact each other and the world we live in.

Rob Bobowski