While it might feel like eons away, in just a few short days, the class of 2022 will walk across the stage in Chiles center and become a college graduate. Over the past four years many have experienced their happiest moments, many have experienced some of their hardest struggles – perhaps even both. We have laughed, we have cried, and we have grown a lot in the process.
The Beacon conducted Q&A’s with 6 UP seniors about the way they have changed over the past 4 years:
Kellie Krpan
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Major: Biology BS
Kellie Krpan as a freshman.
Photo courtesy of Kellie Krpan.
What have your largest growths been over the past four years?
“My largest growth has been within. I'm much more confident in class and with myself. I’m much happier with myself and my life. Even with uncertainty going into the last few weeks, I’m in a much better place now.”
What do you want to continue to improve upon in the next period of your life?
“I want to continue to grow in my work life. My current plan is to work as a scribe for the next year or two. I am taking the MCAT in September and then will take a year off before applying to medical school. I’m excited to grow in Portland and am also dreading adult life.”
How has being in college during a global pandemic impacted you?
Kellie Krpan as a senior.
Photo courtesy of Kellie Krpan.
“The time I spent at home with my family for 9 months will always have a special place in my heart. It was time with all of us home we otherwise would not have had. However, it also meant we missed out on a lot. I took my Junior fall semester off from UP and did courses online at PCC. I didn't see anyone from UP for 9 months. As a result of the pandemic I don't feel as ready to leave college as I expected too. Now, the pandemic is a very regular part of my life. Half the time I walk out of my own room in my house and think my face feels naked. I still catch myself thinking the people on TV need a mask.”
What do you wish you could tell your freshman year self?
“I would tell myself to calm down and dump that high school boyfriend.”
Riley Farrell
Pronouns: she/hers
Major: Organizational Communication
Minors: Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management and Business Administration
Riley Farrell at freshman move in with her parents.
Photo courtesy of Riley Farrell.
What have your largest growths been over the past four years?
“Over the last four years I have allowed myself to become the person I am today. I have – and still am – learning how I want to push myself, what boundaries I want to have for myself and not because the world said so, allowing myself to experiment with different parts of my personality and not judging myself for that. It hasn't always been easy, but I feel like the last four years have challenged and made me comfortable in my own skin.”
What do you want to continue to improve upon in the next period of your life?
“Moving forward, I want to keep challenging myself. Whether that's introspective or in different jobs and projects, honestly, I want to keep learning. There is so much we have yet to even scratch the surface of discovering, learning, and experiencing and I just want to dive headfirst into it all.”
How has being in college during a global pandemic impacted you?
Riley Farrell as a senior.
Photo courtesy of Riley Farrell.
“COVID has made me adapt a lot more than I thought I would. Whether it was realizing that I needed to rent a house close to campus and not stay home with my parents for my sanity or learning how to battle zoom fatigue & keeping your energy up with so many online classes and being confined to a limited number of spaces to do it all in, it challenged what I thought I needed. I was lucky and had a 6-year-old neighbor who I would play soccer with and helped get me out of the house , but not everyone got that, and I think we all had to reconfigure our standards of normal and what made us feel like us. It was like life was on pause in an alternate universe and we didn't know how much we needed to change our ways to make the best of it. But it also made you appreciate the things, friendships, and other parts of your life in deeper definitions.”
What do you wish you could tell your freshman year self?
“Embrace the fear. If it makes you uncomfortable, it's challenging you. If you're nervous, then it's because you have the chance to experience something truly wonderful. If you're telling yourself you can't, it's because you don't know how strong you really are. College is the best safe environment to allow yourself the freedom to fail. One test doesn't define you- if anything it makes you laugh and better for the next one.”
Victor Tu
Pronouns: He/him
Major: Applied Mathematics
Minor: Business Administration
Victor Tu at freshman move in.
Photo courtesy of Victor Tu.
What have your largest growths been over the past four years?
“I think my largest growth over the past four years has been how I carry myself and how I interact with others. Freshman year, I was quieter and carried myself in a way that drew the least amount of attention. But now, I am not afraid to act like myself in front of others. I feel more confident in my skin and I carry myself in that way.”
What do you want to continue to improve upon in the next period of your life?
“I want to keep making new friends. The best part about my four years here at UP is that I have made new friends and have hung out with new friend groups every year, while still keeping the old friends by my side. I want to continue this as I transition to the next stage of my life- hanging out with friends and meeting new friends makes me happy and gives me the most fulfillment.”
How has being in college during a global pandemic impacted you?
Victor Tu as a senior at UP.
Photo Courtesy of Victor Tu
“Like everyone here at UP, it impacted me substantially. However, looking at the positive side of things, I feel that COVID has allowed me to strengthen my existing relationships and increased my eagerness to build new ones. Firstly, I believe that my existing relationships with family and friends are now stronger; we care about each other's health, both physically and mentally, due to this always-existing presence of danger that is constantly looming over our heads. We get worried for each other when we are sick, we bring each other groceries from Freddy’s when someone has to quarantine, we take care of each other proactively. I feel that this pandemic and the series of shutdowns that we have experienced as a community has made us more eager to create new relationships. I have noticed that people are easier and more open to talking with me, even if they don’t know me; and that is awesome. Maybe it is the lack of social interaction for long periods at a time? Maybe it is because we’re tired of seeing the same friends everyday? Whatever it is, I feel that the UP community is starting to become its energetically vibrant self again, and that is also very awesome.”
What do you wish you could tell your freshman year self?
“I would tell my freshman year self to get out and do stuff. Don’t do homework alone in your dorm room, go to the library. Don’t workout in the basement of Schoenfeldt because it's closer, go to Beauchamp. Invite that friend you just met yesterday to grab a bite at the commons with you, you guys could potentially be bffs. Go join a club. Go get an on-campus job. On the weekends, grab some friends and go to that house party 10-minutes away. Be proactive and make the most of college, there are a lot of things and a lot of people to meet.”
Luke Allen
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Major: Organizational Communication
Luke Allen as a freshman.
Photo courtesy of Luke Allen.
What have your largest growths been over the past four years?
“The largest growth for me would have to be in my acknowledgment for what I can achieve and the realistic standard I should be holding myself too. It was hard for me to balance everything when I first came to University of Portland but now, I try to organize my time to ensure that I’m getting the best outcome for everything I am involved in.
What do you want to continue to improve upon during the next period of your life?
“I want to continue to improve my time management and my acknowledgment for how far to push myself. I want to ensure that I'm going into the world working everyday now that I’m putting my best foot forward.”
How has being in college during a global pandemic impacted you?
Luke Allen his senior year.
Photo courtesy of Luke Allen.
“It was very hard. Plain and simple it was a terrible time period in our lives. What seemed to be an early break from school that we were all excited for ended up being much more than that. Through all of it though my relationships with my peers grew as we all were going through the same thing together. This is the one and only thing I am thankful COVID has done for me.”
What do you wish you could tell your freshman year self?
“You’re gonna be ok. You don’t have to have everything figured out right away, you can take a breather and enjoy what’s around you because before you know it you'll be packing all your stuff up and going on to the next adventure.”
Connor Heffernan
Pronouns: He/Him
Majors: Political Science and Economics
Connor Heffernan as a freshman.
Photo courtesy of Connor Heffernan.
What have your largest growths been over the past four years?
"I probably focused on independence. I think, you know, I think that's probably the same for virtually all college students. Going into freshman year. I think I had a huge period of growth where I was just like, Alright, I'm on my own right now. Like, it's like, I want Paramore song, where it's like alright, as a real world play. I have to like get food and you know, just certain logistical stuff. But you start to you know, grow in your perspective as well. And so, I think I've undergone a lot of that during COVID. There's a lot of prospective work to that. I think everyone really went through and you're kind of talking about yourself or it's like a lot of people, you know, turned away from work a little bit and so I did stuff like that. And I really focus on your independence and perspective. I think it probably been my two biggest growth areas for college."
What do you want to continue to improve on in the next chapter of your life?
“I'd love to improve those even more. I mean, it you know, coming into senior year, I just it feels like Senior High School to around like, alright, like, each time I think like oh, this is the real world but you know, that was me going into college and not leaving college and like wait, I think I'm going into the real world.”
How has being in college during a global pandemic impacted you?
Connor Heffernan as a senior.
Photo courtesy of Connor Heffernan.
“Oh, the burnout, the burnout. It's insane. That's something I usually reflect upon, you know, just how historic right now is. My biggest regret has been not being able to be in Portland for 2020. There was a lot that happened that I wished I was part of. But, you know, it was a pandemic. It was safer to be with the family at home. There's so much that is normal for us, but we were told a lot, this isn't normal, like this isn't supposed to be normal.”
What is something you wish you could tell your freshman year self?
“I think I just tell him to, you know, do his best to stay present in the moment and that things you know, something I've learned is you know, things are going to change around ship but the the source of anyone's, you know, unhappiness or stress or anxiety is trying to go against the way that things change.”
Mia Werner
Pronouns: She/Her
Major: Environmental Ethics and Policy
Mia Werner as a freshman.
Photo courtesy of Mia Werner.
What have your largest growths been over the past four years?
“Over the past four years, I feel like I have grown up a lot. College years cram so much life experience and force me to grow into a short amount of time and I’m grateful for it. I learned how to face my challenges head on and developed a lot of perseverance. I feel more ready than I thought I would to be an adult now.”
What do you want to continue to improve on in the next chapter of your life?
“I want to continue learning and challenging myself even when I’m not in an environment like college that forces it upon me.”
How has being in college during a global pandemic impacted you?
Mia Werner as a senior.
Photo courtesy of Mia Werner.
“Being in college during the pandemic completely changed what I thought my college experience would be. My class lost so much “normal time” and it was so sad to have to give that up. I pushed myself to graduate a semester early because I didn’t love having to do classes online and I wanted to be done with it. I think I would’ve been able to cherish my college years much more if it weren’t for the pandemic.”
What is something you wish you could tell your freshman year self?
“I wish I could tell my freshman year self to slow down and enjoy it, not to rush to the end. College is such a special time to make a slow transition to adulthood and it’s important to really soak in all of it. Keep yourself open to new possibilities and invite every experience it has to offer. More importantly, go apply for the Beacon right this second because it’s the best part of UP.”
Haviland Stewart is the Living Section Editor at The Beacon. She can be reached at stewarth22@up.edu.
