The Student News Site of Sacramento City College

The Express

The Student News Site of Sacramento City College

The Express

The Student News Site of Sacramento City College

The Express

It’s OK to be a little different

City College student Michael Armstrong is seen here in a dress shirt, a rare occassion for the noncomformist who attends classes in the Los Rios district in order to gain knowledge and wisdom. | Trevon Johnson | trejohn12@gmail.com
City College student Michael Armstrong is seen here in a dress shirt, a rare occassion for the noncomformist who attends classes in the Los Rios district in order to gain knowledge and wisdom. | Trevon Johnson | [email protected]

The dirty t-shirt, holey jeans, glasses and Afro will make you look twice. After you ask him how his day is and he explains how rotational pulls and vectors are affecting his mood, you’ll raise an eyebrow. Once he continues about how he tripped over his foot because he is quite clumsy, you will crack a smile.

Some say Michael Armstrong is a perfect combination of Screech and Steve Urkel. He does not prefer that comparison. He considers himself a knowledgeable gentleman. Everyone agrees Armstrong is unique.

Armstrong, 27, is in no way a conformist. He does not dress conventionally, he does not talk like anyone else, and he does not do what anyone else does. He is one of a kind.

After a few bumps, Armstrong is on a road to redemption. Some of Armstrong’s bumps include being discharged from the military, suspended from school and mourning the death of his mother.

“Education is everything to me,” Armstrong says. “It’s how I got my mother’s approval.” Armstrong, whose mother died at the beginning of April, slows his speech and lowers his head at the mention of his mother.

“She thought me to learn all I can,” Armstrong reminisces. “I’ll never know when I’m going to need to know it. She was wiser than I ever knew. I wish I listed more.”

His mother’s death has motivated him to get more focused on his education and his future.
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“Michael was devastated at first, but then he directed all his emotion on school and his education,” says Odessa Locicero, who Armstrong says knows him the best.

The death of his mother is not the only disappointment Armstrong has suffered. Armstrong was discharged from the Army after two months of service in 2010. Armstrong originally joined the military to help pay for college and seek an opportunity to travel. After it was discovered that he had a respiratory issues, Armstrong was discharged and sent home.

After returning home, Armstrong was excited to get back to school and start over. Armstrong’s eclectic taste got him in a bit of trouble when he was accused of having a weapon on campus. Armstrong claims the “weapon” was a replica of a Hmong walking stick. This incident caused Armstrong to be suspended from school for a semester.

“I felt it was unfair that I was suspended,” Armstrong says. “I learned from the experience, though, and that matters.”

Tough his road has been rocky, Armstrong says he has tried to learn from every experience. Armstrong strives to be knowledgeable in any subject he encounters. He has a vast wealth of knowledge, and it grows by the minute. He has attended City College for seven years on and off. Presently he is studying sociology, taking a class at Cosumnes River College.

Armstrong feels he must redeem himself, not just for him but for his mother.

“I love my brother,” says Felicia McBride, Armstrong’s younger sister. “I believe in him.”

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