A SPARTAN SPOTLIGHT*

Picture a small town surrounded by mountains where people bike from place to place. A town where the loudest noises you hear are kids playing outside. Now picture a big, crowded city. Ten lane highways, towering buildings and an immense variety of cultures, voices and ethnicities. For Luca Bumm, a German student, who abruptly moved here this summer, that’s the world she has been thrown into, but is ready to seize. Like many people, she prefers being in her “comfort zone,” but feels “change is good” even though there have been times when she craves “home” and those who she left behind. “I miss my friends, but … I think it’s all new now and it gets better,” a hopeful Luca told us.

Even when we think situations are tough, there is always a bright side. “It’s an experience I can deal with,” smiles Luca in her easy-going way. It is one thing to live the experience of being in a country and city so different from your own; it’s another to not only enjoy it, but embrace the difficult side of it. Having someone in our midst who is conscious about it is something that is truly unique and maybe even inspirational. As a Freshman, Luca may not graduate with her peers in the Class of 2022, as her parents have plans to return to Germany where their business is based, but for this year, the Freshman is giving it her all. “I like it here even when I am sad. I always want to stay,” she assuredly said.

*Story written last semester. Maria Salazar was in the Fall semester Introduction to Journalism class. Her last entry won a “Best of SNO” award.