Pocketful of Purdue

Purdue has been a hot topic lately. This week is Grand Prix, and we just made it to the national championship for March Madness, which was a huge deal- since it’s only happened one other time in Purdue’s history. Watching everyone come together and celebrate through Snapchat stories and Instagram posts has had me missing my school a little extra. I love New York and FIT (OBVIOUSLY), and I constantly feel so lucky to have the opportunity to be here doing what I’m doing. But that doesn’t mean that I’m not allowed to miss my “other life” sometimes.  This is 1000% one of those times. But thinking about it as much as I have been, I’ve been thinking about how lucky I am to always keep a little “pocketful of Purdue”, no matter how far from West Lafayette I may be. 

To me, keeping a pocketful of Purdue means that although I may not be on campus right now, I’m still attached to it in more ways than one. I talk to my Purdue people every day, and I’m beyond grateful to have such awesome friends that constantly keep in contact. And for someone paying tuition money to a different school right now, I have a lot of boilermaker school spirit. Those are two things that I don’t think will ever change. As far away as I may be, I’ll also always carry with me everything I’ve learned from Purdue. Both academically and not so much. I’ll always keep the values I developed at Purdue, even when my setting has changed. For example, Purdue made me value intelligence and critical thinking- even as someone who’s sworn since day one I’m all left brain and don’t like to use the right. It made me dream big and remember how capable I am of achieving those dreams, because I am a boilermaker, and that isn’t something that’s easy. Not everyone gets to say that. And do you know what else? I have PURDUE GRIT. I’m determined, I’m persistent, and I’m resilient. Damn right. 

Before I started at Purdue, my mental health was in a much different place than it is now. A lot of times, I pinpoint my arrival for the Early Start program before my freshman year as the exact moment that a switch flipped in me and everything changed. I have so much love for that school and that place, for a thousand reasons. It’s given me so much. People that have loved me more than I ever knew a friend could, lessons I had to learn from experience, an education that challenges me and I’m proud to say I’ve achieved, memories that I’ll cherish until the day I die, and genuinely so much more. 

That’s pretty much a wrap for this week! I don’t have a lot else to say, except that I am extremely grateful to be a student of two schools that I love with my whole entire heart, Purdue always being the first. I’m lucky to have had the experiences at Purdue that I have, and even luckier to have met the people there that I have. I’ve got one year left of being a boiler, and I’ve never been prouder to be one. See you in the fall, West Lafayette.

BTFU 4EVER!!

Kiki in NYC <3