Don’t let distance keep you away from the place you’re meant to be. Dickinson may be located in Carlisle, Pa., but we have students from all around the world who have found their home away from home here.
Lindsay Zwecker ’17
Atlanta, Ga
I am from Atlanta, Ga. I have two siblings and older sister and younger brother. My sister, Haley, is just a year older than me so I got to watch her go through the whole college process right before going through it myself. We were both athletes, looking to play at the Division III level. I have always loved the South, never thought I would ever even consider a school north of Virginia, but my high school softball coach had a different vision for me. She is originally from State College, Pa., and when we started looking at schools where I could play softball, she put Dickinson on my list.
I thought she was crazy. Never in a million years would I look at a school so small or so far away from home. But, during spring break of my junior year, my mom and I looked at some schools in Florida first and then she dragged me up to Pennsylvania. To my surprise, I hated the schools in Florida and loved Pennsylvania. I came back to Dickinson on an official visit the following fall and immediately fell in love. I knew this was the place for me—the students, the administration, the faculty, the campus all felt like a perfect fit. I was offered a spot on the softball team a week later, applied Early Decision and never looked back.
Now, as a senior I cannot imagine what my life would be like if my high school coach had not written Dickinson on my college list or my mom had not convinced me to just go look in Pennsylvania. Deciding to go to Dickinson was the best decision I have ever made. Although it is tough sometimes being so far from home and not being able to easily travel to Georgia on weekends or on breaks, it is all worth it. The person I have become and the people and ideas that I have been exposed to on this campus, that would really only come from a small liberal-arts school outside of the South, is a person that I never want to stray from. Being at Dickinson and choosing to break out of my comfort zone and go to a school in the “scary North” has changed my life in the greatest ways possible.
Francis Kline ’19
Culver, IN
When I first decided to come to Dickinson, it was a tough choice. Leaving the part of the country that I grew up in and knew so well presented quite the challenge. Part of me thought that staying local would be easier, but challenging what you know and what you are comfortable doing is just part of the college experience, so I went for it. I didn’t think I would knew anyone at Dickinson before I came, but within the first few days, I saw a kid I went to school with for two years and seeing him helped me feel more comfortable with this new environment.
Being one of two people from Indiana in my class at Dickinson, it was somewhat of a novelty, which felt strange since I was thought it was kind of boring, but people seemed interested in what Indiana was like. Having that apparently unique aspect about me which I never thought was unique was a welcome change.
My advice for making it seem like home is to get involved with the things that you love—for me, joining club soccer helped me find a group of guys who enjoyed doing the same things that I did, whether it was playing soccer or watching it. Later, I joined a fraternity, which has been amazing and has helped me find friends that I will no doubt have for the rest of my life.
All in all, being out east is certainly different than the Midwest, but being in a different place with all different types of people helped me expand who I am.
Malcom Davis ’19
Olivette, Mo.
I am from Olivette, Mo., a small suburb of St. Louis. I always freeze at the question, “Why did you choose Dickinson?” and the older I get, the more complex the answer becomes because I gain more experiences. Originally my answer was generic: “It made me feel like home and I get to continue to play football the game that I love.” The answer is not wrong but it is so much more beyond my love for football.
Currently at Dickinson I am on the football team, I throw shot put for the indoor track team, I am a member of Disciple Makers, the Liberty Cap Society and the Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC), and I am the Public Relations chair of the Intra Fraternity Council, event coordinator of Phi Delta Theta, and I work in the athletic offices. Sometimes, it amazes me how much I am capable of, which is often driven by all the support that surrounds me.
Personally I never thought that I would become homesick, but after having to stay a few times on campus during breaks when most people had the option to go home, it was hard to not begin to miss home. To deal with this, I decided to get involved with the Admissions Office and become a tour guide. It easily became my second home. When new students arrive on campus, the only familiar face is their admissions counselor. The counselors at Dickinson provide a great deal of support, which is carried beyond the admissions process. During breaks or any spare time, I find myself in the admissions office since there is truly my home away from home.
At the end of the day, whatever one decides to do at Dickinson, they will be granted the opportunity to own their experiences and make them unique to themselves to ultimately discover their home away from home. I am not exactly sure what will come after Dickinson, but I know it will prepare me for whatever life throws at me.
Addie Downs ’19
Athens, Ga.
I am not adventurous. I am a creature of habit. I also am extremely anxious; therefore, I never went to spend-the-night camp. The one time I did I called my parents four days in and became a day camper. I am also from Athens, Ga., which is one of the biggest football-crazed states in the country so it is noisy and insane and I wanted something new. I wanted a beautiful campus with Greek life that didn’t lose its mind and a campus where you could get to know the people. I came across Dickinson in a book with every college in the U.S. listed alphabetically. I wanted a small liberal-arts college somewhere far from home in a place that experienced seasons.
When I was a junior, we had a long weekend (for the GA-FL football game of course) and my parents and I flew to Pennsylvania to then drive through Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York. By the time I applied to Dickinson, I had visited three times. It just stuck with me. The people I met were wonderful and the campus was stunning (despite the rain) and I had “the feeling” everyone talks about—the one where you get excited and start to picture yourself doing everything you see everyone else doing. I applied Early Decision and paid my deposit the same night that I got my acceptance letter. I’ve never regretted it for a minute.
I have the most incredible friends and I’m learning so much and I’ve experienced fantastic things because of Dickinson. Picking a school is scary because it is completely new; you’ve never experienced it and maybe you haven’t ever left home but it is worth the stress-eating and fighting with your parents on what is acceptable to put in your essay. Dickinson is a place where you can, as cliché as it sounds, find yourself. You’ll be so glad you picked it.