The CHASS New Student Welcome Week was a great success! Students from all parts of the college were able to meet new people and experience a small fraction of what NC State has to offer them. I helped table for the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, which gave me the opportunity to meet some of our new students! They were all super great and are excited to be with such an awesome and diverse department.
I was able to speak with students like Ava McCormick on why I love our department and my own successes here at NC State. I told Ava, who is an anthropology major like myself, about some of my favorite classes and advice I have as a senior anthropology student. I also got to hear about how excited she was for the types of classes we offer in the department.
Events like these are great to get more connection and involvement from our students, because being involved is the best way to make friends and meet new people. These people are in your classes, can give you advice and change the way you look at things.
While talking with them, answering questions on who we are and how to get involved, I was able to ask them a question: Why did you choose your major?
“My mom and I are immigrants from Vietnam. She has two degrees from the universities back home, but when we moved here, no one would hire her. She had to get a job at McDonalds and we didn’t live in a safe place. Seeing how hard she worked and the risk of where we lived, I wanted to be a part of the change in decreasing crime rates. I wanted to study the mind of a criminal in order to help with this problem.”
– Ben N., sociology
Ben’s testimony of the struggles of being an immigrant and the risk of working low paying jobs in high risk areas is inspiring. His place at NC State is valuable. His story and reason for coming to our department is going to leave a lasting impact on his peers, his teachers and even myself.
“My hometown has a high rate of reoffending and I wanted to be a part of the change. Criminology gives me the chance to study the patterns of crime and how to help my family and community.”
– Mckalia M., criminology
Mckalia’s story of how her hometown changed her perspective on life and the passion it has given her in her future endeavors was eye-opening. We look forward to having students like Mckalia with her resounding efforts to make her home a better place for everyone.
I also asked a few students why they chose NC State, and there was one answer that hit the nail on the head.
“Every time I toured campus, I felt an immense sense of community. The teaching here is personalized and there is such a niche presence from the faculty and students I noticed from day one. There is also this shared sense of enthusiasm that is unbeatable.”
– Claire S., anthropology
Claire’s statement is something I feel everyday. Being surrounded by people who are in the same department as me, but with vastly different life goals and career choices is awesome and I feel so honored to be in a community of such amazing people.
Thank you to everyone who gave me the opportunity to interview them for this story.
This story was written by Department of Sociology and Anthropology student ambassador and anthropology and history major Olivia Fiser.
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