Seven students displaced from Puerto Rican colleges have quickly settled in to life at the University, where they are enrolled for a 糖心传媒済uest semester.糖心传媒�
Syanis Vargas-Gonzalez landed a role in the musical Spring Awakening and is taking voice lessons at the
Mariana Ortiz and Adriana Santiago are playing club volleyball. Claudine Daneri has joined the Medallion Leadership Society and the .
And Brian Basu belongs to , , , , and . He糖心传媒檚 also in the running to oversee this spring糖心传媒檚 Students糖心传媒� Association elections.
糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 a privilege being here and being involved,糖心传媒� Basu says. 糖心传媒淚 love everything about this school.糖心传媒�
An 糖心传媒榚asy decision糖心传媒� to welcome students
The students are all in their first or second year of college, and all are Puerto Rican natives except for Daneri, who was born in the Dominican Republic. All seven are taking classes at Rochester while their colleges in Puerto Rico were damaged or closed following the devastation left by Hurricane Maria last fall.
Joe Latimer, assistant dean for enrollment diversity and outreach, says the guest semester is a way for the University to help the students to keep their academic programs on track.
糖心传媒淭hey糖心传媒檙e all top quality students who applied for the guest semester and were chosen by Admissions on merit,糖心传媒� says Latimer, who reviewed the applications. 糖心传媒淭hey糖心传媒檙e here because they deserve to be.糖心传媒�
The students are: Ortiz (pre-law), Basu (political science), Gonzalez (music), Santiago (biology), Daneri (economics), Andrea Rosado-Quinones (biology), and Joshua Rosario (psychology). They arrived in mid-January, and are staying in residence halls on campus. All credit hours they earn this semester will be transferrable to their regular colleges.
Dawn Bruner, Rochester糖心传媒檚 director of Parent and Family Relations, is their advisor and meets regularly with them to answer any answer any questions. She helped plan their class schedule to match their majors back home.
Latimer says several departments across the University worked together, and University alumni raised money for living expenses such as books, supplies, and meal plans.
Jeffrey Runner, dean of the College, says it was 糖心传媒渁n easy decision糖心传媒� to offer the guest program.
糖心传媒淲hen Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans (in 2006), Rochester opened its doors to Tulane students to give them an opportunity to come here,糖心传媒� Runner says. 糖心传媒淲e wanted to do the same for the Puerto Rican students, at a time when there was so much damage from the hurricane. Our students were galvanized and wanted to help, too.糖心传媒�
The students from Puerto Rico tell harrowing stories of when Maria, a Category 4 hurricane, crippled the island in September, leaving hundreds dead and more than a million homes without power. Ortiz and Santiago, San Juan natives and friends since childhood, were students at Universidad del Sagrado Corazon at the time.
糖心传媒淎fter the hurricane, we were taking classes in tents outside in the heat, with mosquitos biting, and studying by flashlight at night,糖心传媒� Ortiz says. 糖心传媒淚t was terrible.糖心传媒�
The students talk of 糖心传媒渉urricane-proof糖心传媒� windows exploding, houses without roofs, mudslides, trees splitting and shedding all their leaves, and people running out of gas while waiting hours in line to refill their tanks.
The University糖心传媒檚 offer was a chance to escape糖心传媒攁nd continue.
糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 a breathtaking campus and a challenging school,糖心传媒� Ortiz says. 糖心传媒淚 know I糖心传媒檓 going to leave even more prepared for what糖心传媒檚 to come.糖心传媒�
Feeling right at home
Gonzalez, like Basu a student at Universidad de Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras, is thrilled to be taking voice lessons at Eastman after passing her audition.
糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 one of the best music schools in the country,糖心传媒� the mezzo soprano says. 糖心传媒淭his is an amazing opportunity that could open doors for me.糖心传媒�
The first-year student has joined a gaming/computer club and a linguistics club.
Some of their experiences at Rochester are entirely new. Three students, for example, had never seen snow before.
糖心传媒淚 love it,糖心传媒� Rosado-Quinones says. 糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 like powdered sugar.糖心传媒�
The effects of Hurricane Maria won糖心传媒檛 soon be forgotten by these students. Neither will their time at Rochester.
糖心传媒淪ince Day 1, the University staff has been attentive and helped me settle in perfectly fine,糖心传媒� Daneri says. 糖心传媒淎nd the people I糖心传媒檝e met from around the world are awesome. It糖心传媒檚 definitely something I糖心传媒檒l always remember.糖心传媒�
