My most memorable Behrend experience...

Is actually the day I took my first official tour at Behrend. This was March of my senior year, and I had come to meet with the track and field coach. I was incredibly nervous, but so excited. Throughout high school my pole vaulting coach had always told me to “trust the process.” After meeting with the Coach Cooper, the head track coach, he sent me a very sweet messages and in the last line he told me to just “trust the process.” That was how I knew that this was the school and track program for me.

My favorite location on campus is...

The gorge. I have a German Shepherd-Terrier puppy and she loves to go on walks. Her favorite place is the gorge especially during the warmer seasons. We love to hike, explore, and swim! When exploring, we came across a rope swing and I got to cliff jump and black flip into the water. If you ever get the chance, I definitely recommend taking a hike!

Advice I would give to incoming students is...

To take a breathe. Whether living on campus or not (first years not from Erie must live in the dorms), your life is much different. You are in a new environment, surrounded by new people, and taking classes completely different from high school. You’re going to feel lost and confused. You might feel like you made a big mistake. Take a breathe. Stick it out. Join a club. Go out of your comfort zone. I wanted to transfer half way through my first semester. I was overwhelmed, missed my family, and missed my friends. I was across the country, felt absolutely alone, and was convinced life was against me. I stuck it out. I built relationships with others through my extracurriculars and classes. I joined a sorority my spring semester. I pushed myself to stay and give it 100% effort to make this place my home and eventually it felt like home. So take a breathe. College is what you make of it. Its scary, stressful, exciting, and wonderful. The next four years you are going to face so many obstacles that grow you into a completely different and amazing person. Everything happens for a reason and you’re hear for a reason. You got this :)

I chose Penn State Behrend...

Because I fell in love with campus. I actually found Penn State Behrend on accident. I was college touring September of my senior year and was looking at schools in Ohio. I am originally from California, but knew I wanted to go out of state, wanted a ROTC program, a strong nursing program that would allow me to graduate in 4 years, and a pole vault team that pushed me to be better without being my whole life. Because of this, I used a website called NCSA and all the schools that it showed me were in Ohio or the East Coast. When touring my Ohio schools, I just felt like none of the places clicked immediately. Nothing stood out to me or felt right. My mother and I went to visit my brother who went to Gannon University, about 15 minutes from PSB. On our way over, we saw a sign that said “Penn State Behrend Next Exit” and we decided to stop by. As soon as I climbed out of the car I fell in love with campus. I walked around campus and felt at home. And to my luck, PSB checked all my boxes for athletics, ROTC, and education. Bonus points, my brother was only 15 minutes away!

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