Campus Conversations

Here Goes the End to Fall Break

October 20, 2011

What can I say? I was more than happy to pack up a small bag and get home to spend some time with my family.  It was my sister’s birthday weekend and my family and I were at the pumpkin patch at Pomona this Saturday looking for any that caught our eye. There were tons, and we carried them back home to get them carved for fun. I did not end up choosing one, but it was totally fine because I returned home to homemade carne asada nachos and tacos with some red spicy sauce. I did not know how much I missed food from home until I took a single delicious bite out of my plate of nachos. Yum! I got back on campus this past Sunday and it was a bit strange. Before I left for Oxy, I told my sister that I was “heading back home”. Home for the last 17 years has been with my parents. However, these past 7 weeks have proven otherwise. I’m currently living in Newcomb in a triple and I’ve been having a great time. Classes are a challenge, but I’ve meet so many friendly people that I always look forward to spending time with. I’m smiling while I type this because I never thought that I would ever say this about my experience at Oxy. I remember applying to a whole lot of East Coast schools during my senior year. When it came down to the nitty gritty, it was between UCLA, Berkeley, and Oxy. Oxy has always been that school that was a 5-minute walk away from my high school. My college counselor was the one that really opened my eyes about the opportunities that Oxy could provide to me. I thought that I liked the feel of a big university, but after attending lectures, having lunch at the ‘Marketplace’ and interacting with the students here a few months ago, that made me realized that even though I had initially considered other schools my ‘nirvana’, they were not. In all aspects, I believe that it can be very difficult to select the ‘right’ school for you – the criteria that that is judged upon is based on the individual. Oxy’s been treating me well and I’m glad to be here. I have to say is that I’m so thankful to have met a great group of friends! My college experience would have been pretty ho-hum without these ladies (here are a couple of them):

By the way, I realized one thing. I haven’t actually sat down to watch television ever since I moved into college. Thank goodness for Netflix, because I could watch Mad Men over and over again!

‘Nuff said.