Friday, September 08, 2000

College taught him one thing: It's up to you

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By John Johnston
The Cincinnati Enquirer

        Everyone has a story worth telling. At least, that's the theory. To test it, Tempo is throwing darts at the phone book. When a dart hits a name, a reporter dials the phone number and asks if someone in the home will be interviewed. Stories appear on Fridays.
        There was never much doubt which college Brad Townsend would attend.

Brad Townsend (Enquirer photo) | ZOOM |

        It was as though he was born with blood that ran green and white, the colors of his beloved Michigan State University Spartans. And it was as though his definition of success included earning a degree from that school, a concept he still struggles with.

        “I grew up with Michigan State,” says Brad, 28, sitting in his Anderson Township apartment, where a big green Spartan flag hangs on a wall. “My father went to school there, my uncle did. I had grandparents who lived in Lansing.

        “When I got the acceptance letter, there was no question I'd be going there,” he says. “I was probably the only incoming freshman who knew the fight song and the alma mater and all the tradition.”

        In the fall of 1990, a few months after receiving a diploma from St. Xavier High School, he arrived on the East Lansing campus.

        And then the party began.
       

Academic probation
        “I met up with a lot of friends who were 21, so they were able to buy beer for me,” Brad says. He and his new friends “stayed up late, drank a lot, didn't get up for class.”

        When he did go to class, he might sit through only half of it, he says, then return to the dorm.

        “The weekend for us usually started Thursday afternoon. Somebody would have a party Thursday night, so we'd go.”

        Friday and Saturday meant more parties. Sunday was spent sleeping.

        At the end of the term, his grades were predictably poor. He was put on academic probation. He says his parents weren't overly worried, chalking it up to a rough transition to college life.

        But as time went on, his grades didn't improve much. The partying continued.
       

Party on
        “Personally, I don't feel that I was ready to go to school,” he says. In high school, his life had structure: He got up, went to school. Football or wrestling practice followed. Then he came home, did homework, slept.

        “I did real well through high school. When I left for (college), I lost all structure.”

        He switched from a chemical engineering major to accounting, but still the grades lagged. He says his father, who was paying Brad's expenses, grew impatient. They worked out a deal so that Brad would pay a portion of his bills.

        Still, Brad says, he took advantage of every academic loophole he could find. He maxed out his “repeat credits,” which allowed him to repeat courses he'd failed. His grades rose, but not enough.
       

Coming home
        And so in 1996, after six years as an on-again, off-again student at Michigan State, Brad Townsend came home for good.

        “I was crushed when I had to actually face up to the fact that I was going to come back to Cincinnati,” he says.

        Since then, he has experienced a series of ups and downs.

        Brad found work, saved money, and enrolled part time at the University of Cincinnati. But when his parents separated, he moved into an apartment of his own. That affected his finances, and he left school.

        He says he wants to go back to college when he has the money. In the meantime, Brad works in the frozen food and dairy department of a local grocery.

        “I love my job,” he says. “I enjoy getting up and going to work and dealing with customers. Maybe it's the start of something.

        “I'm about a year and a half away from completing my degree,” he says. “My hope is to finish at UC, and move back to Michigan and go for a graduate degree at Michigan State. I've told myself that one way or another I'm going to get a degree from that school.”

        His failures, he says, are “a pain in my side that I need to get rid of.”
       

Finally mature
        His mother, Thea Townsend, has told him that college isn't for everyone. Still, she says, he seems determined.

        Brad says there is a part of him that wants to earn a degree from Michigan State because the school is part of a proud family tradition.

        His mother sees it a bit differently.

        “Bradley, at this point, is mature enough that he says, "I need to do it for myself.'”

       

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