Stepping Out of the Comfort Zone
and Meeting the Funny Girl called Fate.

I’M FROM THE SUNNY suburbs of Southern California and never really expected to leave. So naturally, I stayed in California for my first year of college. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite what I expected, and I was a little disappointed.

Ironically, that year I met Victoria Rangel ’06 at a community service event in CA. Without knowing she was a Sweet Briar alumna, I had mentioned how I was unsatisfied with my current university. She suggested I transfer to Sweet Briar. I was familiar with the school because in high school I had actually gotten the paperwork to apply to SBC.

I came out to visit that May and fell in love with the College. Some say I haven’t been the same since.

Terrified and anxious, I transferred to Sweet Briar in the fall of 2005, not knowing what to expect. I didn’t realize how hard it was going to be to meet people since I had never had that problem before. But everything is different when you’re 3,000 miles away from home.

I adjusted to everything and continue to every day. I moved here on my own and as a result developed a profound sense of independence. Yet, the friends I have made and the resources here have helped me adjust.

Transferring to Sweet Briar College quite possibly has been the most difficult thing I have ever done, but I’ve been taught that the only way you can appreciate life is to step outside of your comfort zone and experience things on a totally different level.

I have been able to enhance my awareness level and create a sixth sense that allows me to connect with all kinds of people.

I thank my roommate for this, actually. She is a Japanese foreignexchange student. I love hearing her opinions on everything, from pop-culture to politics. We are so alike; it is as if we were the same person, only from different sides of the world. As a roommate, she became my best friend and I’ll never forget the things she taught me. Sometimes, I think that I transferred here to meet her. Fate is a funny girl.

- From the Spring/Summer 2006 Sweet Briar Alumnae Magazine