What is the best thing about your college or university?

There are SO many good things about U of A, I absolutely love it here. If I had to pick one though, I think it would be my dorm. It’s one of the older dorms, but it really feels like a home to me. It helps that all of my friends live in the same dorm too!

What has been the biggest surprise or adjustment?

I’ve had two big surprises since moving to college. The first is how quickly I made really awesome friends and developed a way of living for myself. We spend a lot of our free time with each other and basically live in the kitchen doing schoolwork or cooking food. The second adjustment for me has been remembering that I’m an adult and have the freedom to get whatever groceries I want from the grocery store. I’ve discovered I buy a lot of bagels.

Any advice for students still in high school?

I have so much advice for high school students!

I think one of the biggest things to remember is to make the choices about your life for you and not for something or someone else. I almost didn’t go to the U of A because of other people’s opinions on what I should do, and I will forever be glad that I didn’t listen to them. Another good thing to keep in mind is that academics are important, but they aren’t everything. Speaking from experience, don’t let it overtake your whole life. It’s not worth it. The last piece of advice I have is to learn how to cook things. My friends and I try to meal share and cook food for each other for most of our dinners. It has by far made our lives both a lot easier and a lot more fun. I highly recommend making shredded chicken in a crockpot for easy meals.