The mother of a white roommate reportedly tried (unsuccessfully) to get her daughter reassigned because of Michelle's race. Robinson said that being at Princeton was the first time she became more aware of her ethnicity and, despite the willingness of her classmates and teachers to reach out to her, she still felt "like a visitor on campus". There were also issues of economic class. "I remember being shocked", she says, "by college students who drove BMWs. I didn't even know parents who drove BMWs."