WILLA WELCH NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY

By spendingthepast year split between BostonandMV,I think I canconfidently say that eachplacehaseverythingthat theother lacks.They balanceeachother out perfectly, eachhavingtheir ownentirely different meaning Bostonisalwaysnew;nomatter how many timesI gofor arunonthestreets of Boston,I alwaysfindmyself takinganew route.OnMartha?sVineyard,my routedraws aheart eachtime,beginningand endingat my home Thesamefamiliar routeevery time I put onmy sneakers I lovethenewnessand I lovethefamiliarity I lovehavingnew experiencesInBoston,andI lovecoming hometo thefacesand placesthat I?venever not known

Academically,I?venever facedsucha challengingyet rewardingyear of school I remember feelingtotal imposter syndrome duringmy first year computer sciencelab It wasthekindnessof oneof my classmates that mademefeel likeI wascapable.He askedmeif I wasokayand gavemehis number withpermissionto ask himany question,even stupidones That act of kindnesshelpedmemorethanhecould know.Inmy secondcoreprogrammingclassI dedicatedmyself tounderstandingrather thanjust doing,toaskingthestupid questions,andremindingmyself that I wasn? t alone I declaredcomputer scienceasmy major that semester.Sincethen,I havecoded games,animageprocessor program,and a functional binarysearchtree AsI enter my fourthsemester inBoston,I realizewhat I want inacareer I want tobeabletocreate and learnnew thingsevery day but still feel groundedinthecodeI?velearnedsinceI started inmy first semester

S C H O L A R S H I P

Peter Burke Middlebury College

Thispast year hasbeenabusy one! After spending thepast summer doingcomputer scienceresearch inBozeman,Montana,I returnedtocampusthisfall excitedfor another semester at Middlebury I continuedbothof my mathand computer science majors,takingarangeof coursesI enjoyed covering topicssuchasprobability theory,computational linear algebra,machinelearning,andwebdesign. Eachof thesecoursespresenteditsown unique challenges,and together they allowedmetoboth deepenmy understandingof topicsI hadalready beenexposed toinadditiontopresentingnew content whichexpandedmy overall abilitiesineach subject Further,beingat Middleburyhasmeant that I amconstantly surroundedby peersand professorswhochallengeand inspiremetobemy best aswell asofferingacollaborativework environment whichfacilitatesworkingat ahigh level Ever sinceI beganmy timeat Middlebury,I haveconsistently beenmet withthesmartest,most caring,and handworkingprofessorsand peers,and thissemester hasbeennoexception

Beyondmy academicexperienceof thispast semester,thisfall hasfelt likemy first timeon campustruly post pandemic.Withtheendof daily Covidmandates,I havebeenabletoexperience Middleburytoitsfullest extent Betweenfinding timetoski and further exploreVermont,competing at theNCAA CrossCountry National Championships,and theendof maskedclassesand officehoursover zoom,thissemester hasbeen packedwithfunopportunities Beingabletoski and hikehasbeensuchaspecial part of goingtocollege inVermont,and I continuetoenjoy these experiencesmoreand moreeachyear.Additionally, competingonthetrack and crosscountryteamsat Middleburyhasbeenalot of funaswell asleading tomeetingsomeof my closest friends I will always bethankful for MVYouthhelpingtoprovideme withtheseopportunities!