October 02, 2022
City Academy (2009), John Burroughs (2015), Beloit College (2019), Rutgers University (Ex. 2024)
Michael Strawbridge still remembers singing “Celebrate” while watching the bulldozers break ground on City Academy’s new campus in 2003 during his first year at the school, at the time based out of Mathews-Dickey Boys’ and Girls’ Club.
“I remember the hype of getting that new building and how cool that was,” Michael said. “Now I come back and see this campus and I remember when it was just dirt and us celebrating having this property and getting ready to build.”
Much like City Academy’s campus, a lot has changed in the last 19 years of Michael’s life. After graduating from City Academy, Michael went on to attend John Burroughs School where he was a three-sport athlete (football, track and field, and wrestling), sang in the choir, and served as the Chief Justice of the student court his senior year. The academic standards at John Burroughs School could be daunting, but Michael says he learned from a young age at City Academy to find his confidence.
“City Academy trained me to know my worth and to know what I could bring to the table and never lose sight of that. And those are the kind of things that you need being at a challenging school like Burroughs. It helped me find my way on those hard days and I feel like I was always able to rise to the occasion,” Michael said.
Upon graduating from John Burroughs, Michael attended Beloit College in Wisconsin where he was on both the football and track and field teams, while double majoring in political science and media studies. Michael was initially hesitant to attend school too far from home, but he had attended Camp Timberlane in Wisconsin with City Academy, so he felt more comfortable going away.
Michael is now in his fourth year of his PhD program at Rutgers University in New Jersey. He is studying political science and is scheduled to finish the program in May 2024 and then hopes to become a professor at a research university where he can continue to explore political psychology and political communication. He credits his 4th grade teacher Shalawn Fennoy with giving him his first chance to teach a subject in front of a class. With so many years studying political science, it’s only natural that Michael also has ambitions of running for office one day.
“That’s been a long term aspiration of mine,” Michael said. “People who’ve known me my entire life know that’s something I’ve been talking about — senator, representative, president — I’ve been throwing that out there and manifesting that to myself since kindergarten.”
Michael also expressed how proud he is of his mother, Michelle Strawbridge, for serving as the Board of Trustees chairperson at City Academy. “That’s an example of how involved parents are and how committed parents are to City Academy. Her kids haven’t been there since 2011 and she’s still bought in.”