"I felt really lucky. I remember sitting in this big circle of people and being like ‘I just met you all and I love you so much’!
This was back at college Orientation, before the start of our freshman year. My high school peers had never made me feel this way. It was always 'wanna see pics from my family vacation to the Galapagos?' or *insert preppy quote here*. They never really seemed to see me. ✧✧✧ "Flashback to Orientation. I first encountered two of my peers awkwardly stumbling around, unsure of what to do. One of them said,'our parents aren’t here either so we’ll join you and make a family!'
"We spent the rest of the night collecting more ’orphans’ until we had a big pack of kids. This big ol’ group of misfits who were all so nice, funny, and unique. That night was the most social I have ever been. People tend to overlook me sometimes, but I don’t mind it because I don’t feel the need to show off to gain others’ approval. My high school peers always took pride in the sports they played or how much money their parents made. They never focused on the little things like including others, or the big things, like making real friends.
✧✧✧ "My new friends and I wandered into the cool night air to explore the Allegheny College campus, our new home. We stopped near that hill by Schultz and laid out on the grass to watch all the stars sparkle above Bentley’s tower.
"I felt like I had gone through a portal of sorts into a new place, one where I no longer felt inferior."
Gracie Keener (‘22). Art, Science, and Innovation/French
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