“Is this…Group 180?” I stammered, staring straight at the sign sticking out of her backpack. Nice one.

“Yes! You must be Henry. Glad you found us.” My peer adviser, Ruthie, exclaimed with a sparkle in her eye. “Welcome to March Through the Arch! We’re one of the last groups, but it’ll be worth the wait when we have a front row seat to hear Morty speak.”

I stepped into the sea of peppy Purple Pride t-shirts. The meandering line of first-year and transfer students curled around the sidewalk like a pack of purple ants feasting on a fallen popsicle. The scent of seven sunscreen brands stretched from Sheridan Road’s south intersection all the way back to Willard Residential College (housing tour here!). My orientation group patiently bopped along to Sigala’s “Came Here for Love” playing from Ruthie’s Bluetooth pod. It was my first morning on Northwestern’s picturesque campus in the effervescent City of Evanston. And frankly, I felt like a misplaced potato perched in a peach display as our group perambulated through the arch to Deering Meadow.

Growing up in a rural community, my quaint town of two thousand offered a general store, a post office, and a bookstore. I had only seen a crowd this large once in my lifetime when our whole hometown lined up to welcome a returning Olympian after her first gold medal. It was time to trade my Ben and Jerry’s pints for Jeni’s splendid delights. No more dirt roads and sulfide pond gas…I had upgraded to paved bike paths along the great Lake Michigan. Northwestern’s campus was breathtaking, but I felt completely lost that first day despite having downloaded three different map apps. Little did I know that Wildcat Welcome would whisk away my homesick fever and smalltown rapport forever.

Although my region’s alumni coordinator had gathered the lone three Class of 2021 Vermonters together for a pre-Northwestern pump-up brunch, I did not run into either of them until November. You could be the only student in your Northwestern class from your entire country and you would still find your special community within your first few weeks here! Our geographic diversity is a tremendous gift. Had I caved to my fomo and stayed in my home state, I would not have been fortunate to learn alongside students from 75 different countries and all 50 states and U.S. territories. We wholeheartedly value where you come from and why you’ve chosen to join us. Our faculty, staff, and students make it their mission to connect you with community members who share your identities and interests.

One special Northwestern feature that should not be overlooked would be how professors make rare large classes feel intimate by emphasizing peer collaboration. With a 6:1 student to faculty ratio, individual connections are powerful. While over 90% of my classes have been 6-20 students, my few larger ones still felt intimate. My Shakespeare professor, Dr. Susie Phillips, took it upon herself to memorize all 60 students’ names by the start of Week 2. In a cognitive psychology elective, Professor Rapp set up peer review groups before midterms for students like me who knew nobody else in the class but still wanted study buddies. In my eight student playwriting course, the incomparable Prof. Laura Schellhardt, insisted all her students visit her 1-on-1 office hours at least twice during the ten-week quarter in order to pass her class. And I’ll never forget my first fall quarter when my friend Matt was out sick from class. My petite Spanish professor, Rifka Cook, walked a full mile from her apartment to 560 Lincoln (tour here!) through a December hail storm to bring him some homemade soup!

Northwestern’s emphasis on community care is truly what sets their undergraduate experience apart. I never dreamed a medium sized university could make me feel equally supported, known, and appreciated as my own hometown. Here at Northwestern, we show up for each other. Prospective students from towns as small as mine often ask me if they would be at a disadvantage for having fewer connections. But I assure y’all that Northwestern students from rural communities are just as likely to receive research funding, be cast in shows and music ensembles, earn summer internship grants, et cetera. And y’all bring some of the most unique traditions to the table! Literally — for my turn to host Willard-wide munchies, I baked eight Lemon Bliss cakes in the 4th floor kitchen using my home bakery’s coveted recipe. I was inspired by my floor’s quarterly tradition to bake snickerdoodles and sing along to the High School Musical trilogy…a fitting film choice for fellow Wildcats.

Choosing Northwestern might be the biggest step outside my comfort zone I’ve ever made, but it has certainly been my most rewarding decision to date.

Henry Lang ’20, ’21

Major: Learning Sciences (undergrad) and Education (grad)

Hometown: Norwich, VT