It’s not every day that students spend a lot of time with their parents during college, but for Lydia Pink, college has been a unique experience filled with quality time with her dad.
Fifth-year sonography major Lydia Pink is the daughter of the university’s president, Bill Pink. Previously, she attended Grand Rapids Community College, where her father served as president from 2017 to 2022.
Pink was born in Oklahoma, where she spent 12 years before moving to Michigan to be closer to her grandparents. She enjoys spending time with her family, doing puzzles and playing tennis and pickleball.
Currently, Pink is interning at a hospital in Indiana, where she performs ultrasounds to gain experience in her field.
Pink reflected on what inspired her to choose her major, stating that she always knew she wanted to go into the medical field.
“I actually got an ultrasound done on myself on my gallbladder,” Pink said. “She was showing me all of these things, all of these structures, and I was like, ‘I don’t know what you’re looking at, that kind of intrigues me.’”
Being the daughter of the university’s president is a unique position for a college student, and Pink reflected on her experiences in this position at both Ferris and GRCC.
“It has been a different experience here than it was at GRCC when he was the president there, and I went there for a year,” said Pink. “I think it’s because when I transferred here, that was his first year here too, and so it was very widely publicized. I think that made it a lot more interesting.”
Additionally, Pink reported that she never thought much about her dad stepping into his current role because she was only in eighth grade when he started his job as the president of GRCC.
“I kind of never thought about it because I was kind of young, but I guess I never thought he would be at a D2 school, and, you know, a school that’s super successful, so I guess that was the part that I didn’t realize,” Pink said.
Many of Pink’s experiences have been positive, and she is grateful for the opportunities she has had throughout her time at Ferris.
“[I’ve had] a lot of cool opportunities, like just last month it was Ferris night at the Pistons game, and they were interviewing my dad on the court, and so we got to go courtside for a while and kind of see what that was like. So yeah, it’s come with a lot of cool experiences,” said Pink.
However, even with all of the good opportunities come a unique set of challenges as a result of Pink’s position as the president’s daughter.
“I think when people hear who I am or know who I am, they automatically assume things about me, and I think that kind of has always bothered me,” Pink said. “Not like them holding it over my head, but they assume that I have everything I want. They assume very big things of me that are not true most of the time.”
Despite some challenges Pink has faced, she reported that she has had an overall positive experience in her position at Ferris.
“I don’t think there’s a lot of bad, I would say, probably just the assumption that people have, like I get everything I want, you know, I can do whatever I want at Ferris because of who my dad is,” Pink said.
Pink revealed her favorite part of being the university’s president’s daughter, emphasizing the importance of time with her family.
“When I was on campus, for sure, just having lunch in his office and being able to hang out with my dad during the school day,” Pink said. “Having that little break and my parents living close and doing all these activities with them, I think that’s what I love about it because I’m such a family-oriented person.”
While Pink has been presented with many unique opportunities she has enjoyed, she is ultimately grateful for the extra time she gets to spend with her family, as it is not an experience all students get to have during college.
Pink is not exactly sure about what she wants to do after graduation, but she would like to work in a hospital somewhere and has considered doing so near Grand Rapids.