I was quite reluctant to start my freshman year at Ashland University in 2014. College was always part of my educational plan, but I just did not feel the same level of excitement of starting school as the friends I had graduated high school with. I had a super close knit (15-plus year) friendship with my pals at home, and it was difficult to imagine not attending the same school with them for the next four years! My first semester was full of rough patches, but I never decided to give up completely on Ashland, and I thank my 18-year-old self for sticking through. By the end of my freshman year, I was starting to feel at home on campus. I have always been an involved student at AU, since the first day, but, by second semester, I was named as an executive member on the Campus Activities Board! By the end of spring 2015, I was in love with Ashland’s campus and people! During my sophomore year, I joined fraternity and sorority life in Theta Phi Alpha, and now call my sisters my best friends. During my four years at Ashland University, I was surrounded by supportive professors in the dietetics program and Student Life! I really do feel like Ashland takes our motto “Accent on the Individual” to heart. Graduating last May was a day I never thought I would be emotional about when I started school in 2014. In my senior year I was able to live with three of my closest friends, watch my younger sister join Theta Phi Alpha, be named a back-to-back co-leader of CAB, and help freshman at AU feel right at HOME! After graduation, I decided to take a leap of faith and start a new journey into the world of higher education. The first job I applied for was an opening in our Graduate Admissions Office, and I have been there for almost five months now! I am also serving as an advisor in my very own Theta Phi Alpha Chapter here at AU. The ending of my days at AU are far from over. A thank you to my 18 year old self for continuously choosing Ashland even when it did not feel like home right away. I wouldn’t be who I am without AU!
