I come from a predominantly Latino community back home and it felt strange coming to an environment that was completely the opposite. At first I felt like I was just a little brown dot in the center of a large white canvas. Everyone shared the same features, but I was the different one. My skin, my eyes, my hair, everything was different and at a certain point I didn’t know whether I was good enough or not. I felt like an outcast, but it didn’t take long to discover that there were many others who were just like me. There were different cultures, different backgrounds, different ethnicities and I felt less alone. The white canvas that I once saw was now filled with all sorts of different colored dots and I was convinced that I no longer needed to worry about being good enough because in the end, every color is beautiful.

I quickly formed a friendship with a girl who I related to a lot, and from then on all my fears and insecurities went away. I was proud of who I was and where I came from; and I wasn’t going to let anyone make me feel inferior anymore. With this new mentality, I actually started to enjoy myself. Welcome week was a blast! I have never been given so much FREE STUFF IN MY LIFE!!! Free food, free T-shirts, free EVERYTHING!!! I literally have enough laundry detergent and  M&Ms to last me all year!! I even got to see a drag queen show that would put a lot of girls to shame (I’m not even kidding! They walk better in heels than I do!). From drag queens dropping it like its hot, to a hypnotist hypnotizing students, and to a comedian singing like a hobo, the shows I saw were great! Welcome week is what made me see that the college life really is as awesome as people say. I just wish that every week was like the first week. I am now into my second week and there is work to be done. Good thing it’s almost the weekend and its not just ANY weekend, its Labor Day weekend! 🙂

I was right when I thought that UI would be the perfect school for me because even though I had a rough start, I absolutely love it now! I came to UI wanting freedom, independence, and of course a good time…that’s exactly what I got. I’m loving it here and I am looking forward to the next four years of the best years of my life. <3