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“One of the things that drew me to ���ҵ��� was its commitment to community service.”

“I’m a person who picks up on vibes—I know, it sounds like such a Gen Z thing. But once I visited ���ҵ���, I knew in my heart I was meant to be here. The palm trees, the people—they greet you and give you a hug. During the new student orientation, there were carloads of people, groups of kids driving down the street and cheering at you. You don’t get that anywhere else but ���ҵ���. In high school, I studied and lived with a host family in Italy and learned Italian, and now I’m majoring in Italian. During my visit to ���ҵ��� in April, I met Marie Bertola who teaches Italian here, and when I told her my major, she whipped out a piece of paper so she could set up a Zoom meeting with me. I’ve stayed in touch with her, and she is the most welcoming person I could have asked for. She’s also the reason I’m living in Casa Italiana. One of the things that also drew me to ���ҵ��� was its commitment to community service, which I want to get involved in. At my high school, I was a student ambassador and helped to start a service club on campus that raises money for the homeless in San Diego. We saw how much it helped, and still does. I talked about that project during a school tour and a panel discussion, and someone later came up to me and said they decided to be a student there because of my talk. I hope I'll have that kind of impact at ���ҵ���.”