ESC Alumni Spotlight: Hulda ESC ’17, Kenyon ’21

At ESC, we are proud to support our students through application season and beyond. We love hearing about all of the amazing things ESC students go on to do at their chosen college or university! We recently had a chance to catch up with ESC Class of 2017 student, Hulda, who now attends Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. Here’s what she had to say about her experience at Kenyon so far:

 

What are you majoring in? How did you choose your major?

I am majoring in sociology, because I think sociology can help me understand the world around me better. Sociology can combine things like economic, political science, psychology, and anthropology together, which can help me get a comprehensive view about what is going on in the world and what created the world we live in now.

 

Tell us about one of the most interesting classes you’ve taken at school.

I think the Politics in Modern Arabic Literature is one of the most interesting classes I have taken at Kenyon so far. In this literature class we read novels from different Arab countries, and we were divided in different groups to do presentations about history, literature, and critical reading. The professor always adds things outside literature itself when we go over the novel every week. We learnt about not only new criticism, but also how feminism developed and how colonialism mentally affects people.

 

What are some of the activities you are involved with outside of class?

I am really involved in the international organization at Kenyon and I am helping to found a student organization about world culture and language (we haven’t decided the name yet). Through this group, we hope to fill the gaps in student organizations at Kenyon related to world language, and, more importantly, to help connect different students organizations together (ex. the Asian students organization, Black student Union, International Student Group, etc.).

Also, I am helping to write for the newspaper at Kenyon. We go over things happening on campus every week and interview professors, faculty, and student leaders. It is very enjoyable work and not really time consuming.

 

What surprised you most about American college life?

For me, at a US college, I can really try things that I might not do before. Academically, I never thought that I would try to take any literature and art history classes, and I wouldn’t even imagine that I would enjoy them so much. Further, I explored some student organizations in my freshman year, and I finally figured out things that I really want to devote myself in and really care about, which, to be honest, are quite different from what I thought before.

Also, I love to meet people that share similarities but also have different backgrounds. Especially international students in Kenyon, as we are all from different countries, and it is really interesting to talk to people that have different thoughts about things, like politics and even how to celebrate the weekend.

 

What one piece of advice would you give to a current ESC student about to start their first year of college?

ESC is really a good step to get started, because ESC can help you with not only the application process, but also with things that will be important in college, like how to email professors, how to maintain good relationships with professors and faculty, and how to write well. ESC can really help you to gain some very important skills that can really help you get used to the new environment in college.

 

We wish Hulda (and all ESC alumni) a happy and successful spring semester at college!