当他们拿到毕业证书时，2024届毕业生(我们第一次见面是在2020年) share their reflections and memories of their time as students at Oxy. The students below are pictured as first-years and again as seniors.
盟友广岛市东北方
专业:认知科学
她是家里第三个上西方学校的人, 深田艾莉(盟友广岛市东北方)对大学后会发生什么有了一个想法. But nothing could have prepared her for a first year spent remotely, taking classes in the middle of the night from her home in Tokyo. 尽管她离学校很远, Ally很快就融入了Oxy的沉浸式学习体验, 参加 PPE肖像项目 玛丽·贝丝·赫弗南教授和克莱尔·莫里西教授. Beyond working with healthcare workers during the early stage of the pandemic, Ally's Immersive Learning Program cohort of 15 students grew close, 每天通过Zoom一起工作和学习. “这给我带来了很多快乐. 这是我四年来的亮点之一。.
来到洛杉矶开始大二是一个受欢迎的改变，但随之而来的是比往常更多的恐慌. "For a year we were told to fear interacting with other people. We were all masking up everywhere we went and making sure we were sanitizing everything. It created a small barrier in interacting with people on a ‘fun level.’”慢慢地，但肯定地, 艾丽建立了深厚的友谊，这些友谊很快就会跨越全球——“这给了我毕业后去旅行的理由”——并认识到自己在这条路上的优先事项. When we first met Ally in 2020, she was set on a path toward nursing. 虽然她的道路从此改变了, the cognitive science major still sees a future in supporting people's health.
“萧条, 焦虑, and disordered eating were amplified by the situations people were in [during the pandemic],她说. 看到家人和朋友与心理健康作斗争, 以及在寻求支持时经常遇到的障碍, 为阿利开辟了一条职业道路，她接下来将前往爱丁堡大学攻读咨询研究硕士学位.
Despite having missed a year in Eagle Rock, Ally has made the most of exploring her surroundings. 她已经完成了第一年的目标，利用校园健身房(“这是我快乐的地方”)，并在步行距离内找到了一些最喜欢的餐厅(包括Joy), 美女的百吉饼, 斯卡夫在约克街, 她曾兼职工作的地方).
克里斯托弗·哈利伯顿
主要:外交 & 世界事务
当克里斯托弗·哈里伯顿大二来到学校时(他在丰塔纳的家中远程学习了第一年), 他遇到的第一批人并不是他的同学, 但是最新的一年级新生. The diplomacy and world affairs major entered campus life as a resident adviser in Stewart-Cleland, 一年级学生宿舍. "I feel like I missed out on really bonding with my entire class,他回忆道 of his sophomore year. In addition to living with brand-new students, there were masks and social distancing to adapt to. 但克里斯托弗并没有让这段经历成为他四年西方学生生涯的方向.
When we talked to Christopher in 2020, he had his mind set on creating connections across campus. 虽然这个目标被推迟了，但他的第一年, he made Oxy's track and field team in spring 2022—a worthwhile risk he needed to take. Christopher observes that he "100 percent found my closest friends on the track team. 他们帮我走出了自己的幻想.“作为学生运动员, 他的参与已经超出了轨道范围, 努力实现正义, 股本, diversity and inclusion across all of Occidental athletics through the JEDI Committee. "体育运动 is a bridge that connects people from all walks of life," Christopher notes. “还有什么比这更好的方式来促进关于心理健康的对话, 种族和性别来帮助引导讨论?"
他作为一名助理律师和学生运动员的参与，让克里斯托弗对2024年成为一名西方学生意味着什么有了全面的了解——这让他很惊讶. “The growth from where I was my sophomore year to senior year is a completely different person, 完全改变了我原来的样子.虽然他一度考虑转学, Christopher has spent the last year as a senior fellow with the Office of Admission. As a tour guide he's had a unique inside view of the Oxy campus, 以及他最想念的部分:“四方广场。. When it's super hot and everyone is by the fountain or at the benches, it's just a different vibe. 我真的会想念那种感觉和文化.”
凯尔克莱恩
专业:城市与环境政策
After spending 13 years at the 331-year-old William Penn Charter School, 凯尔·克莱恩准备在西方学校重新开始. This fresh beginning would be a slow transition into college life due to the pandemic, 尽管凯尔在那一年发现了一线希望. “I’m grateful for that moment because it allowed me to grow a little bit personally. Spending time with myself and my family really expedited the process of coming out of my shell."
在那一年的远程学习中，一个城市 & 与Bhavna Shamasunder一起上环境政策课程，使Kel对环境正义和城市规划产生了新的热情. “我以前从未探索过那个地区, but the work in that class was so interdisciplinary that it really resonated with me,他说.
2021年夏天，他来到校园，参加了本科生研究中心的夏季研究项目，与格雷琴·诺斯(生物学)和克莱尔·莫里西(哲学)教授一起研究了围绕黑莓迁徙的环境伦理，继续了这一跨学科的研究。. 而在一个新的和严格的学术环境是他从大学预科学校自然过渡, 凯尔感到他的经历发生了明显的变化. “去一所以白人为主的PWI学校，你会下意识地得到这样的信息:‘你的学术水平不如你的白人同龄人.“在奥施康定，我想重新开始.原本看似遥不可及或不适合他的机会突然变得特别适合凯尔, 并得到了朋友和同学的大力支持.
"I've tried to take advantage of every opportunity that's been thrown at me," says Kel—and it shows. 他的本科生涯包括通过美国大学的Kahane oxy为联合国开发计划署工作.N. as well as interning for a local environmental justice organization, in addition to on-campus work within student government and sustainability research. The sum of these experiences has prepared Kel for his next steps after graduation. “我已经找到了我想成为的人，”他说. And we’re excited to see his social impact on the world continue to grow.
莱斯利·加西亚
专业:心理学
“我告诉自己不要太投入,莱斯利·加西亚回忆起她在十大正规网赌平台的第一年. Throughout her four years at Oxy (the first being spent on remote learning), her attempt to keep student activities at a distance was repeatedly thwarted. The jazz musician instead created a long resume of student club initiatives, 帮助制定音乐系的课程, and engaged with faculty mentors in research—among other activities.
我们第一次见到莱斯利是在她2020年的第一个秋季学期. As a neighborhood local (she’s been hiking Fiji Hill since she was a kid), Leslie knew Oxy’s campus well but had yet to become immersed in student life. A job in the College bookstore her first year helped build bridges with staff and students, 参加Oxy的沉浸式学习项目让她与一群特定的学生建立了联系, but it wasn’t until sophomore year that Zoom connections turned into three-dimensional friendships. 对莱斯利, 远程学习的第一年给我带来了一线希望，让我可以较慢地过渡到大学生活. “Coming in on Zoom gave us a breather from the stress we had in high school, because I know a lot of people in our class were busy with a bunch of extracurriculars.”
不太间隔的一年似乎给莱斯利一进校园就带来了爆发力:在她的心理学专业和辅修音乐和神经科学的课程之间进行平衡, 莱斯利帮助了新来的乔纳森·理查兹, 音乐客座助理教授, build the jazz ensemble program; started the Live Performance Club to create opportunities for student musicians to perform on campus; and found a mentor in her adviser, 帕特里夏·卡布拉尔, 她曾协助他进行心理学研究. “Most of my time is dedicated to the music programs and music scene on campus,莱斯利说。, 谁会把为埃兰总统的就职典礼安排“举起每一个声音，歌唱”作为核心记忆. 她的和谐之旅将在毕业后继续:莱斯利计划在研究生院将她对音乐和心理学的兴趣融合在一起. 鉴于她在高中和奥施康定的成绩, 我们知道她的研究生生涯不会局限于学术领域.
玛丽亚·保拉Muñoz
专业:媒体艺术与文化
玛丽亚·保拉Muñoz开始了对洛杉矶的介绍 ... 不在洛杉矶. 像她的同学一样, 玛丽亚花了一年的时间远程学习, 在她的案件中，她在华雷斯城的家中, 墨西哥. 但和其他14个同学一样, 通过洛杉矶艺术沉浸式的学期，玛丽亚对她的新家有了独特的了解，她不仅积极地研究和学习洛杉矶的艺术作品.A. but found the people that would become some of her closest friends for the next four years.
为了到达法国，我在埃尔帕索工作了一年，又在墨西哥度过了一年, 玛丽亚准备去她的新家了. 作为一名学习电影的媒体艺术与文化专业的学生，“L.A. 这是该去的地方吗?”她说. 大二那年, 她终于可以在他们的新宿舍里见到她的网友了——在保利多元文化大厅里的三人宿舍. “三人间不是最好的, 但和我在一起的朋友们才是最精彩的,玛丽亚说。. "I don't think we could have gone through the college experience without each other."
一旦进入校园, 玛丽亚很快就掌控了自己的沉浸式体验, landing an internship at Warner Music Group (then by CEO Steve Cooper '68), 她在那里工作了三个学期，然后转到华纳兄弟的开发实习. (“这是我最喜欢的.A. thing I do—go work at a studio lot and head back to classes at my liberal arts college.)四年来，她每天往返于实习地点之间，同时还致力于绿豆的学术工作和校内工作, 招生办公室, 以及本科生研究中心. It's clear that she's inherited the work ethic she has long admired in her family. "I know what I want and I feel ready to graduate," she reflects. 她一生的奥施康定朋友肯定会为她加油.
詹德专利
专业:政治
我们第一次在校园里见到詹德专利是在2020年, 这位来自芝加哥的拼写冠军渴望开始他的大学生活，一场流行病也不会完全打乱他的计划. 他从课后园艺中心打工攒下的钱帮助他在校园附近建立了一个立足点, 如果不是直接在校园里. 赞德在大学一年级的时候，和奥克西的同学住在鹰岩附近，他上了远程课程，尽可能地熟悉了十大正规网赌平台.
Zander在高中时期就养成了强烈的学术参与倾向，他把同样的精力带到了十大正规网赌平台:在他大二和大三的时候担任住宿顾问, 在校园里建立一个举重俱乐部, and representing the College as a senior fellow in the Office of Admission. 也许他对Oxy最明显和最有影响力的贡献是担任学生会主席，在这一年里，他不得不通过一个试探性的工会来引导校园里的地缘政治话语和学生工人长期变化的可能性. "One of the biggest ways I've grown is becoming more of an attentive listener,他说.
他在校园里的领导能力和积极倾听使他个人成长，同时也延续了他在布劳恩大厅担任RA的第一天所目睹的Oxy文化. “我清楚地记得，有一群刚搬进来参加季前赛的一年级新生非常热情，也很健谈, 问我一大堆问题，简直就是在审问我,他回忆道. "Most people here are more than happy to talk and learn from each other. I think it speaks to the power of community at Oxy and its potential."