Student Voices is a blog run by the Office of Admission, where current students write about various experiences including academics, sports, student groups, and other extracurricular activities. Hear what our students have to say.

Students Julia Eubanks and Wafa Abedin
Getting Involved: Why I Joined ASOC

At my first year orientation, former ASOC president, Jacques Lesure, gave a speech centered on the idea of discomfort; change only rises from the discomfort of moving and shaking.

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students at the UN building
Oxy at the United Nations 2019

Each fall a select group of Oxy students are awarded the opportunity to move to New York City and intern full time at the United Nations. Throughout the semester we will be sharing their updates as they navigate their roles working with various UN agencies.

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IPO photo
My First Weeks at Occidental: Tales from an International Student

The unique and challenging nature of studying abroad has been well documented in the Student Voices blogs, but this piece is different from all of them. This is a real-life record of the first few weeks of an international student who is planning to stay here for four whole years.

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The Night view from Griffith Observatory
Gotta Get Back to Oxy!

It has been a summer full of tours, reading and socializing. But the prospect of returning to campus for a new semester is a compelling one.

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Gabrielle Saliamonas Clearing an Attempt
An Insider’s Look at Oxy Athletics

Inhale. I close my eyes and try to mute the sounds around me. Moving my chalk-coated fingers ever so slowly around the pole, I make the micro-adjustments for my next attempt.

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Zachary Galen and friends at Experience Oxy
Choosing Oxy

Occidental College actually flew beneath my radar at first—I had not even known of its existence until I began filling out college applications last fall.

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activists against gun violence
Media that Makes an Impact: A Summer at Brave New Films

My name is Serena Francisco, and I am a rising junior and a double major in philosophy and Diplomacy & World Affairs.

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Darla Howell Teaching English
A Spring in Nanjing

At 8 p.m., I receive a text from my new friend Swanki, a Nigerian medical student studying at a college near mine in Nanjing. He texts me saying that he’s outside my dorm waiting to pick me up so we can grab food and later visit Xuan Wu Hu (Nanjing’s largest lake).

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LifeMoves Internship Location
Fighting Homelessness: My LifeMoves Internship

I’m Margot Heron, a rising junior with a double major in Critical Theory and Social Justice and Spanish, and this summer I am working as an intern for LifeMoves.

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Environment California Work Team
Saving the Environment, One Field Manager at a Time

Hey y’all! My name is Liz Frissell and I’m a rising sophomore at Occidental. This summer I’ve been working for Environment California, the largest nonprofit organization in the state.

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