I knew from the start, the moment I stepped foot on Loyola's campus, the sun shining down, clear blue sky, and the kind faces of students greeting me, that I wanted to go here. There was no doubt in my mind that Loyola was the perfect fit for me: medium sized, small class sizes, an abundance of club and extracurricular activities, and strong sense of community amongst the students and faculty.
Loyola has truly been the most amazing, fun, yet academically challenging endeavor I have taken on, but I wouldn't have it any other way. The best part about this school is the sense of community, brought about by the generosity and kindness of the upperclassmen to first year students. The college transition for new students can be stressful and nerve-wracking in itself, the struggle to make new friends, be more independent, and especially interact with the upperclassmen.
BUT, that was never the case at Loyola: last night I took a leap of faith, and reached out to a senior whom I had seen around campus, and knew she was a kind, outgoing individual, but had never spoken to before. I had applied to become an Evergreen, an organization which students apply for leadership positions to work with the orientation program at Loyola. The Evergreen staff works to support students through their academic, social and personal transition into the Loyola community.
Evergreens serve as positive role models for the incoming first year students, as well as an outstanding member of the Loyola community. I knew from the start that this was something I would want to apply for. Throughout my four years of high school, I was an avid participant and executive member of the peer leadership program.
Naturally, I chose a school like Loyola with the Jesuit tradition of service and leadership, two ideals that are important to me. Growing up in a small, tight-knit community, I developed a passion for community service and leadership. Similar to the Evergreen program at Loyola, the peer leadership program at my high school consisted of a group of upperclassmen who worked with the freshmen through their academic, social, and personal growth and transition into high school.
I've always been the type of person who lived life with a positive attitude, and embraced ambiguity with an open-mind. As a peer leader, both academically at my high school, and socially within my community and youth group, I genuinely cared about the well-being of others.
Last night, I reached out to a girl who's a senior at Loyola; I've seen her around campus, and saw how much she loved being an Evergreen and apart of the program. I explained to her that I sent my application for Evergreens, and about how I participated in a similar leadership program at my high school, so learning about the Evergreens at Loyola made me so happy and excited!
The reason I reached out to her was simple: I wanted to ask her about advice and her experiences about the program. I told her that I was most nervous about the individual interview, which was strange for me because I love talking to people, but I was worried about making a good impression while remaining genuine and myself. In that moment, I knew there was nothing more I could do than await a response. But I wasn't prepared for the outpour of support and kindness that came afterward.
She was so appreciative that I had reached out to her asking questions because this shows how dedicated I am about doing my best. She went above and beyond, taking time out of her night ( it was 12:30 am when she responded!!), giving me thoughtful tidbits of advice that were not only helpful, but extremely detailed and personal. By taking that leap of faith, she commended me on reaching out to a current Evergreen that a barely knew to ask for advice because that takes a lot of courage, and she could see how much I want it.
She helped alleviate all my nerves, explaining the entire process, breaking down the individual interview, then the group interview. She gave me everything from advice, personal experiences telling me things she did when she going through the interview process, and from her 3 long paragraphs, I really got to know her as an individual and a friend.
It's moments like these that make my heart so happy. I was so beyond thankful for everything she had given me, her advice and input was far beyond what I could have expected. It truly meant the world to me that she took time to write detailed answers. I'm so glad I reached out to her because everything she gave me was so incredibly helpful and helped to alleviate jitters and nerves.
To know that I can reach out to someone whom I barely know, and for them to genuinely care and take time to help someone is truly the reason why I LOVE Loyola. No matter what happens during the application process, I am beyond blessed and happy to have developed a newfound friendship with someone as passionate, kind, and down to earth as her. It's people like her who are so willing to help anyone out as an upperclassman which makes me feel so welcome in the environment. She gave me some of the best advice about becoming an Evergreen that I never would have gotten had I not taken a little leap of faith reaching out to her.
I could ramble for hours on end about how I have the best school ever; although I have only been there for a semester, in such a short amount of time, I have developed a love and attachment to Loyola that is evident (mostly because I flood everyone's newsfeed on Facebook with gushing posts about how much I love my school). I couldn't be more excited about becoming an Evergreen; not only from my Evergreen Anna, whom I rave about to everyone I meet about her generosity, sense of humor, and dedication to the program, but now all the Evergreen friends I have made this semester, simply by reaching out and branching outside my comfort zone.
My Advice to you: NEVER BE AFRAID TO DO SOMETHING OUTSIDE YOUR LIMITS! After all, you never know what the outcome will be: more often than not, it will exceed your expectations. :)
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