Nina:

“I’m really enjoying NC State, it’s beautiful here, and the lectures are very interesting. The class sizes are much bigger than I’m used to, which is great because I like the diversity, but I do miss the close relationships I had with my teachers from smaller classes. I visit home often, because although the independent experience is important, I don’t want to lose connections with family and friends. “My focus is Animal Science, and most of my classes involve labs. I expected it to be more difficult than high school, but being successful here requires a different style of studying that I had to get used to. I’m also taking choir, which is a small group of 30, and it was so much fun performing in our Fall Concert.

“To relax I like to go for walks or ride my bike around Pullen Park, by myself or with friends, maybe sit on a swing or watch the ducks. With so many people on campus I thought it would be easy to make lots of friends, but the tendency of many is to stay to themselves. I’ve found out that if you branch out and reach out yourself, it can be a lot easier. “My advice to high school students is to go for any opportunity you can. NC State was my first choice school since I was little, and I didn’t think I had a chance of going because I was from a small town. Believe in yourself, have confidence, be involved, try hard, and more doors will open for you than you ever believed.”

Dean:

“Things are going really great, I love the campus, the people and the classes. I’m an engineering major, and the classes are hard, but my time at the Early College High School prepared me, so I wasn’t surprised. The engineering classes are so interesting, because our projects involve working on real-world problems, rather than theory alone.

“There are lots of clubs for those of us with engineering interests. The one I’m most excited about is Pack Motorsports, where we’ll be building an F1 race car. We’ll be racing it against other cars built by clubs at colleges across the country. I’m really looking forward to that. If I find I have time, there’s also an underwater robotics club, an aerial robotics club, and a rocketry club. I’m thinking about a career in robotics or manufacturing, so any of those could be helpful and interesting.

“One of the reasons I chose State was because the campus is really nice, with lots of parks and places to walk around and hike. I also love to read, and it has great libraries, and the area in general has lots of independent bookstores, which is wonderful. I’m so glad to be here, and grateful for the help that has made it possible.”