My first semester at UMass, Amherst started with a smooth transition into my dorm in Orchard Hill. Being able to stay in an all-freshman dorm building has allowed me to achieve my goal of extending my inner circle and I was able to create many new friendships. Although it is a hike, Orchard Hill provides me with the perfect environment to both be part of the UMass community, while having the calm and quiet to focus on my studies. This semester I enrolled in five courses that were mainly focused on meeting my gen-ed requirements as well as my English major requirements. I enrolled in an English lecture in which I was able to explore different forms of literature with a focus on gender and race. This class allowed me to look at short stories, essays, research papers, and films with a new lens and the class taught me how to connect my observations so that I was able to develop a thought-out analysis paper for the end of the course. Along with this class, I also enrolled in a gender and race seminar.

This seminar was helpful along with the class because we were introduced to all the resources available on campus to help us with research and writing. I spent a lot of my time outside of class in the Dubois Library which offers endless resources and helpful tools to help me write and study. I can’t quite describe the feeling that I had during my Psych 100 lectures. It was amazing to be able to sit in a class that I had always wanted to take and that I truly wanted to learn more about. During this semester, I attended events held by many different clubs on campus so that I would be able to choose the club that I thought would best fit in the upcoming semester. I plan on joining the University Programming Council which will allow me to help plan community events.

I am so grateful for the opportunity that MV Youth has given me. Attending college was a dream that MV Youth made my reality. Thank you for all the support!