Comfort in similarities

At Thursday's dinner: Stephanie Clary (right), Natalie Garcia and Cindy Santos.


I am pleasantly surprised by how friendly all the Scholars have been. Maybe I was worried that we would feel the need to compete with each other, but the environment has been incredibly fun and comfortable. Most of the Scholars are very relatable, and I feel I have a lot more in common with them than with some of my friends at home. Some of us are graduating and embarking for the first time alone, and we share the same anxieties. What if I do terribly? Do I have any ability?

Graduation is supposed to be a time of celebration, but I have found my time wrought with feelings of inadequacy and impending failure. Being surrounded by my peers in journalism has reminded me that we all have the same worries and with some hard work and dedication everything will be fine.

-- Natalie Garcia, California State University-Fresno, Visalia (Calif.) Times-Delta