Syracuse University

Syracuse University was fifth on Christen Westbury’s list of potential schools and colleges to attend after graduation from high school. But the minute she set foot on campus, she knew this was the place she was looking for to continue her studies.

“I visited a lot of schools in my senior year of high school, but I never had the same experience that I did at SU,” said Westbury, a member of the Class of 2012. “I just knew it was a good fit for me—the people were so nice and they were excited about being here, even in the cold weather.”

A native of South Carolina who now lives in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area, Westbury is a self-described people person who likes to have a lot of friends. During the first few weeks of her SU experience, she knocked on every door in her residence hall and introduced herself. “I would advise anyone coming in as a freshman to step out of their comfort zone,” she said. “Meet as many people as possible and try as many different things as you can.”

While earning Dean’s List grades in the College of Human Ecology, Westbury got involved in a number of other activities, including helping to raise money for Project Feed Me, a not-for-profit organization started by fellow student Patrick Alvarez ’12, which bought Thanksgiving turkeys and distributed them to families in New York City. A dancer since childhood, she also auditioned for—and was selected by—both DanceWorks and the Creations Dance Company. “Creations is one of the hardest companies to get into and I almost didn’t try out,” she said. “I second-guessed myself a lot, but was one of four freshmen to be accepted. It was such a thrill.”

Westbury credits the New Student Send-off event at Greenberg House with getting her off to a good start in her college career. “It answered a lot of questions and gave us a great understanding of what we would be getting into at SU,” she said. “The students who spoke to us were not much older than we were and we got to meet people from our area, which was helpful.”

This past August, Westbury was one of the students passing along information about life on campus. “I was excited to talk to the freshmen,” she said. “I had a great experience my first year at SU and wanted to share that with others.”