LEAH PUGLIESE Contributing Writer

Ever since I was a little girl, I always said that I would grow to work in a nail salon. Little did I know that was not going to be the plan at all.

I was born in Connecticut, then moved to Winder, Georgia when I was 12-years-old. I am a graduate of Winder-Barrow High School where I was involved in Color Guard, Winter Guard, Future Health Professionals, and Drill Team for JROTC. I am currently a freshman here majoring in Mass Communications. I’ve always known that I wanted to go to a small school because of the relationships I knew I would be able to make with professors and the close friends I would be able to make over the years.

When my senior of high school year came, I saw Piedmont College at a college fair and without even seeing the school I fell in love. Hearing how small the classes would be and the other stories the students who went to Piedmont had to say made me want to come here. When I applied to Piedmont I was offered a really great scholarship that I was not given at other schools I applied to and it helped me tremendously.

When move in day came, I was so excited and I couldn’t wait. All my life my mom was there to tell me what to do and when to get it done. So the biggest transition I’ve had to deal with is my mom not being there to stop me from procrastinating. So far Piedmont has been pretty great; I am enjoying all of my classes and I just recently joined yearbook to become more involved with the school. S

o far there is nothing that I haven’t liked about Piedmont because all of my experiences have been good thus far. I plan to become more involved in these next few years as I take on more challenges. I am not really sure what to expect in these next four years. I know there will be ups and downs but I will tackle each day as it comes and make my experience here as memorable as possible.

AMANDA BLACKWELL Contributing Writer

I walked on to campus my first day of freshman year searching like a lost puppy for all of my classes. Four years later, nothing has changed.

Everyone may think seniors are on top of the world and know everything, but we still make mistakes. We still have to study, even more than before, still have to attend all of our classes and we also have to prepare for our final capstone presentation. As all the students here should know, Piedmont’s campus is like walking up a mountain. I thought by the time I was a senior I would be used to the hills and stairs, but not yet, I still get winded every single time. I have even lived on the third floor of my dorm building for two years now and I have not gotten used to those stairs either.

Actually, over the past four years I have learned more than I ever imagined I could. I’ve learned how to pack light, how to cook with only a microwave, how to be my own person while still building relationships with my friends and so much more. The relationships I have built over the past four years are some of the most important relationships of my life. Some relationships are small and fade away, but the ones that last are most important.

After being on the tennis team for four years, I have bonded with all of the girls and even some of the guys on the team. The upperclassmen and my coach have turned me into the tennis player I am today and that has definitely changed from freshman year. I followed the upperclassmen while I was an underclassman and now I am finally ready to be a leader. Freshmen and sophomores look up to us, we are their role models just like we used to have.

Saying that, being a senior can be stressful sometimes because we are expected to do everything right. I am definitely up for the challenge because the upperclassmen I looked up to were great role models. I came into freshman year thinking I would not be ready, I would not fit in and it would be too much. Now that I am a senior and I am getting ready to go into the real world, I feel the exact same way; except this time I think I am ready.