As Pace students return this fall and get to see the friendly faces of their community, the recently graduated Class of 2023 is beginning their exciting college experiences. From Santa Clara to Cambridge, the past seniors are experiencing brand-new cities and lifestyles, very different from the comfort of their Atlanta residences. While rush provided an earlier and very exciting start at southern schools, students at northern and west coast schools began their move in process much later. Some students like Maddie Swartz and Ava Byrne are beginning their study abroad experiences while students like Kate Webb and Bianca Vaneri moved overseas to schools in Europe. The former seniors are finally off to their new homes and the Pace community is excitedly waiting to hear from them.
In west Philadelphia, Eloise Gaudet is getting settled at The University of Pennsylvania. Gaudet was excited to start at the new student orientation and loves Penn so far, even if she’s not too sure about the food. “I like having people all around me because you are never bored or lonely,” she said. She also enjoys meeting all different types of people around campus. Gaudet is majoring in bioengineering and is excited to start her course and learn more about the topic. She is also taking physics, chemistry, multi-calc and computer science. With a science and math-heavy course load she is a little nervous, but looks to explore the campus more and meet her teachers and classmates as the semester goes on.
At southern colleges such as The University of Georgia, The University of Alabama and Texas Christian University (TCU), rush was in full swing as the students arrived and many received their bids at their respective Bid days. Brooke Brumfield and Brooke McCullough pledged Tri Delta at Texas Christian University and Janie Cross pledged Kappa Kappa Gamma at Alabama. “Rush was super fun and a great experience to go through to meet new people,” said Cross. “I was really worried about homesickness and missing my friends but meeting hundreds of new girls, going into the houses every day, and burning up in the heat, you bond with all the girls about the whole experience and don’t have time to miss home.” Cross also said the nerves of preference round were abundant throughout the campus and she and her roommate barely slept the night before. She and all of her new friends ended up happily in their sororities, and her friends from Pace were all excited about theirs as well.
Maddie Swartz is going overseas for the fall semester and is currently in Paris. Swartz is attending the University of Southern California in the spring but in the meantime, she’s taking her classes in France. “I am nervous about communicating and taking the metro to class every day because I don’t speak French and I am not used to taking public transportation,” she said. Luckily, she has visited Paris with her family multiple times and is excited to get to explore more. Swartz also notes that she knows her roommate already from camp so is excited to reconnect with her and start the semester. She is loving Parisian life so far and is extremely excited to travel all around Europe.
At Wake Forest in Winston Salem, Ronak Lalaji has already settled in and begun his semester. “Moving in was very easy and only took around 2 hours, and I am really happy with how my dorm turned out,” he said. He has met a lot of new people and has already made great friends. He warns other college freshmen that the homework “hits you in the face” and that his classes are fast-paced and work-heavy. Lalaji is very excited for football games to start and so far is very happy with his college experience.