The social project that would help define Somya Bhagwagar’s college experience started on a bit of a whim.
The student from Saginaw, Michigan, had just arrived on campus for her freshman year and quickly noticed she was surrounded by many talented, successful fellow students. It was daunting at first.
“Just going to Michigan, I was a little intimidated,” said Bhagwagar, who graduated this semester from the School of Information. “I was intimidated by the power people had, the knowledge people had, and mostly the confidence that people had.”
Motivated by a desire to learn more about the people around her and inspired by photographer and blogger Brandon Stanton’s “Humans of New York” project, Bhagwagar began collecting stories and images for what she would call “Students of Umich.”
“At the time, I didn’t think it would be anything,” she said. “I thought there would be no real repercussions if it failed, so I might as well try.”
It started with stories featuring her friends and roommate. Soon, she was asking to spotlight more casual acquaintances and those she’d meet through the random encounters that come with college life. By the end of her freshman year, she was approaching strangers on the Diag.
In 2019, Bhagwagar brought her brand of storytelling to the College of Engineering for #HerEngineering, an online portrait series of nine graduate students sharing their experiences as women in their field.
The “Students of Umich” project would expand to eventually include more than 100 stories from a diverse swath of U-M students. Topics have ranged from personal identity, religion and family issues to sensitive subjects like eating disorders and surviving sexual assault.
“There were several points in time that people would cry in front of me when telling their stories,” Bhagwagar said. “It was emotionally draining at times for me. People are telling you their deepest struggles and their hopes.”
Bhagwagar now is taking the lessons she’s learned from “Students of Umich” and her college experiences to Chicago, where she’ll work as an online marketing analyst.
U-M provided a place for experimentation and creative enterprise without a fear of failing, Bhagwagar said.
“The School of Information and the University of Michigan was kind of this bubble where I could try anything and fail, and it would be fine,” she said. “I don’t think I’d be as big of a risk taker if it wasn’t for U-M. Taking those risks and moving forward has really made me the person I wanted to be.”
