What were your expectations for the Macalester Community before arriving on campus?

I knew it would be fun and diverse. Looking at the Facebook page, everyone seemed really nice and geographically diverse, which was something that I was looking for. I didn’t actually expect it to seem as small as it does. But I’m coming from a graduating class of 28 and it’s 500 something here, so it’s much bigger, but it still seems like a really tight community.

So has your perception of the community changed at all since you’ve been here?

I think it’s what I expected, just better.

What do you like most about the Mac Community?

People are just really nice. And they seem to be genuinely interested in talking to each other and figuring out geographical differences. Everyone seems to agree that it’s really cool that we all come from different places in the U.S. and outside of the U.S., so we have cool conversations.

Is there anything that surprised you when you when you got here? About the people or the community?

People are really open, which didn’t necessarily surprise me, but it’s just something I’m not used to. I guess what surprises me most about the Mac community is how many people I already know. Coming from a small class, I knew that the Mac community, although small, would be huge compared to the one at home. But it really doesn’t feel that big! Also, I was surprised by how liberal everybody seems to be – I mean really! Where are the closet conservatives? But I could get used to that.

Is there anything that you think the Macalester community is missing?

I was saying that I really think the diversity is great, but it could use more diversity. We’re definitely geographically diverse. We’ve got a ton of international students. But I think honestly there could be more diversity in terms of types of schools people are coming from, and it could be more economically diverse. I know diversity was one of Mac’s biggest selling points in Admissions, and even then I was slightly skeptical. Sure, twenty percent of Mac students are international, something like twenty five percent are students of color and people are coming from all states. But I think the students of color are slightly skewed toward students of East Asian origins, and economically most of us are in the same boat. So I hope that in the next four years there is more diversity, and I know Mac is working on that.

What do you hope for in the Macalester community for the next four years?

I’m looking forward to having a lot of really close friends that I can still have ten or twenty years from now.

What do you hope the Macalester community will look like fifteen years from now?

I’d say fairly similar to now. Hopefully more diverse.