| Major: |
International Studies, Middle East |
| Hometown: |
Astoria, New York |
| Favorites: |
Walking around campus and acknowledging its beauty |
| One thing I am: |
Extraordinarily passionate about my family |
Coming from New York where things are happening so fast and people could be really rude sometimes, it was surprising to walk from place to place on campus and for people to stop and say hello. I got a little scared at first. In New York, you do what you need to do, and you don’t think about what is surrounding you. Here you have to think about what is surrounding you because people are thinking about you—they actually care.
I’m Dominican American, and I used to see diversity as a power struggle between whites and Latinos. I worried that I would not come across people who looked like me at Middlebury, and I thought that I’d be better if I stuck with my Posse. My freshman year, I had an epiphany when I realized that diversity is not only color. I didn’t think diversity could exist in such a broad manner.
Now I’m more open to understanding people for who they are. It’s liberating to know that I can relate to someone who is not necessarily from my circle.