When I first arrived at Bucknell, it was a little bit intimidating to be surrounded by foreign faces. I remember not being able to recognize people, but I found comfort in the fact that the hundreds of first-year students roaming around vaguely resembled the students from my high school. I flew across the country to Lewisburg from Los Angeles, and I tried to bring California with me to my new school. I thought that it would be easier to assimilate if I recreated my home in Los Angeles at Bucknell.

I was talking to a friend on my first-year hall in Vedder, and he said something about Vineyard Vines. I asked him what type of wine that was because I had never heard of that before. I was eating at the caf with a group of new friends, and a girl revealed that she was from ‘The City.’ Little did I know, ‘The City’ no longer applied to Los Angeles and instead represented NYC. I tried to apply my experiences from home to Bucknell, but it wasn’t working. I tried to be who I was in high school, because I was convinced that my identity was already solidified.

After a while, it became clear that Bucknell was not and never would be Los Angeles. Bucknell gave us all a new common denominator, and we had the opportunity to augment what high school provided as a foundation. We were able to expand our comfort zones and develop new interests. After a while, I stopped looking for what was safe and comfortable for me because I genuinely enjoyed what was challenging and unexpected. I found Bucknell Student Government, T.E.A.M., Alpha Chi Omega, and many other incredible clubs and organizations because I wanted to be with other people who would challenge me, prove me wrong sometimes, and influence me with new ideas and cultures.

As a Bucknellian, I am confident to graduate and enter a new phase of my life because I’ve been exposed to so many different perspectives. I look at orange and blue and think about how proud I am to represent the institution that helped me develop into the woman I am today.