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The Yale Alumni Magazine is owned and operated by Yale Alumni Publications, Inc., a nonprofit corporation independent of Yale University. The content of the magazine and its website is the responsibility of the editors and does not necessarily reflect the views of Yale or its officers. |
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"I wasn't really a good student in high school. On a two-year mission for my church, I learned how to study and dedicate myself. Theological study energized me. I liked the ideological give-and-take, defending ideas and reading scholarly books. "I had weird preconceptions about the Ivy League. I thought people would actually be wearing sweaters around their necks and going on yachts all the time, and be arrogant. That's not true. People are very open-minded, and if your idea has merit behind it, they will respect you. But you can't be intellectually lazy."
"I'm in the marching band; I was dressed up as a lumberjack for our last show. In high school I played the trumpet, but here I'm in the drum line, playing snare drum. I'd never played snare drum before, but I practiced a little bit over the summer and tried out. Yale gives you the opportunity to try anything you want to do."
"In the graduate school, they really do bring us together. I have friends from all different disciplines all across the school, and have seen similarities across disciplines. For example, I have an economist friend who uses the same math techniques as I use in biomedical engineering. I work on medical image processing and plan in the future to create tools to aid doctors in oncological research. "Coming to the North, I had a great deal of culture shock at first. People are more in a hurry. But once you get past the initial differences, they're great."
"Two years ago, I went on a delegation to Sudan. In the midst of war, refugee camps, and devastation, families were still worshipping God. That was a defining moment for me. There was no doubt that this was where God was leading me. Divinity school was an obvious next step after working as an editor and activist. Being a student is a somewhat selfish endeavor because the goal is self-knowledge and personal growth. At the same time, the hope is that I'm going to give back to my community afterwards. Christ is and will always be at the center of my education."
"I come from an area that is predominantly white, and I'm Puerto Rican. That's part of the reason I did Cultural Connections [an introductory program for freshmen]. We got here six days before everyone else, attended panels, had good discussions, and did some community service. When school started and we had to move to our different housing, we had separation anxiety, but it was great to have that strong foundation of friends. Everyone here has a unique extraordinary talent, but people are so humble. No one is broadcasting what makes them amazing."
"When I was eight years old, I told people I wanted to be an oncologist and go to Yale. I didn't know what Yale was, but my parents bought me a little Yale sweatshirt and I would wear it around. Now I'm doing the oncology nurse-practitioner track. I get the science, which I'm fascinated by, but I also get to have a relationship with the patients. I hear their stories and get to know them. I am responsible for my own patient at the hospital two days a week. When people ask me how I feel, I just say, 'I have never been so overwhelmed, but I have also never been more proud of what I'm doing.'"
"I was raised in a Christian family and read linguistics at Cambridge. I knew I wanted to do post-graduate theology, but not go into the church yet. My classmates are great fun, and easy to talk to. The academic system here is really different from in the U.K. There seems to be a lot more freedom to choose. After Yale, it's likely I will go on to seminary and train for the priesthood."
"Yale has been really cool. I'm meeting interesting people, and my friends in Durfee and I are all really close already. Coming in, I thought there were going to be a lot of nerdy types, but everyone is really laid back. They have lives. I haven't met a single person who isn't doing something extracurricular. "Track is a big deal for me. It's a lot of work combined with Directed Studies, but I'm managing. I'm getting interested in philosophy, which I'd never been exposed to before. "The best event I've been to, outside of class, so far was the a cappella jamboree. It made me wish I could sing."
"Freshman year is hectic, but a lot of fun. New Haven is so urban compared to what I'm used to -- it's a big city to me. I was surprised at how amazingly outgoing everyone is. People move faster. I have to remind myself that they're a different breed." |
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