Honors Link

Naomi Sakaguchi

Moving away from home for the first time at 18 years old was undoubtedly one of the most nerve-wracking and stressful times of my life so far. I was worried about living with someone I had only met and spoken to a handful of times, making other friends, and just surviving on my own in general. I toured Oregon State for the first time during the summer before I came to school and decided to live in West Hall so I could readily engage in the Honors College community.

The weeks before moving into the residence hall for the first time, were filled with a mixture of emotions ranging from excitement to fear. On the day of, I remember feeling intimidated by the crowds of people involved in move-in day. I would not consider myself a particularly outgoing or extroverted person, so I worried about approaching new people and making introductions, but over the next 24 hours, I learned that everyone felt the same way and as long as I was willing and eager to converse with others, everything would fall into place.

The floor lounges located on every floor of West Hall provided an exceptional place for all the students to meet, bond and form friendships. I had always been told that everyone is outgoing and friendly for the first few weeks, then things start to die off, so as weeks passed I found myself dreading the day when we would no longer hang out in each other’s rooms for hours on end or play games in the lounge all night long. However, as we went through the first term and entered the second, the friendships remained as tight as they had been in the weeks they were forged. I believe that I was very fortunate in finding such a large group of people who genuinely liked the company of each other, and to this day, we still take all fifteen of us on an annual trip together.

The Honors College has given me something that I value just as much as the education, lifelong friendships.