A Disney Encounter

Zoom CDO event with Jennilee Cummings
By Sonam Rikha ‘24 “Hi, my name is Sonam, and you're watching Disney Channel!” I stared in the mirror, reciting the introduction again, but this time drawing out the Disney logo with my hair brush. Who knew that much of 8-year-old Sonam’s childhood would be in the hands of Pomona alum Jennilee Cummings ‘98. When I first saw the email that Pomona’s Career Development O...
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Letters of L♡ve

Oluyemisi holding a blue card
By Oluyemisi Bolonduro ‘23 During Claremont Christian Fellowship’s (CCF) post-Friday Fellowship, two acronyms were dropped. The first was DMC, “deep meaningful conversation.” The second was H2HC (not a molecule), “heart to heart chat.” I had both of these that night. My original plan was to say hello for a short amount of time and vanish for the night (vanishing is me cur...
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From Study at Home to Study Abroad

image of zoom meeting with a professor
By Chris Meng ’23 When I returned home from campus in March 2020, little did I know that I would spend nearly every single hour of every day in my house for the next year. Having grown up in a small town, I had always valued experiencing different environments. So much for that. It’s no wonder I became interested in participating in Pomona’s domestic exchange program with Sw...
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Braving Office Hours

small white dog in costume with sign encouraging voting
By Nelia Perry ‘24 So, you’ve decided to attend a small college––meaning you must be interested in close student-to-faculty relationships. But, if you’re anything like me, you’re wondering how to actually create a close relationship with a professor. First of all, let me say not all of the work is on your part. AND, the work that is on you, isn’t actually all that muc...
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Tackling Imposter Syndrome at Pomona College

screenshot of unmute and start video buttons on zoom
By Hayeon Lee ‘23 Have you ever felt like you don’t belong in an environment where everyone else seems more capable? More at home? When you begin to feel the icky feelings of Imposter Syndrome, know that you are not alone. During the summer of 2020, I had the pleasure of interning for the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships as a Communications Int...
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The Search Goes On: Finding Internships in the Era of COVID

illustration of student considering different post-college options
By Bryce Kelly ‘23 Illustrations by Teodelina Martelli ’23 While on the road to Montana, I learned that my summer 2020 internship would be “modified.” My would-be boss at a local tech company called while I was in the middle of the woods, where the speed limit was more of a suggestion, driving to a place that probably had more elk than people. It was a spontaneous fath...
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Quarantine Gaming

Kayla's Nintendo Switch
By Hayeon Kayla Lee ‘23 Recently, during this online school year, one of the hobbies that has been most valuable to me has been playing video games. This is an activity that I did even when the school year was in person, but I found that I have come to appreciate my hobby much more now that we are learning remotely. It has served as a respite from the chaos that seems to be ...
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Post-Finals Feels

Screenshot of CCF’s Christmas party on Zoom with everyone holding paper snowflakes
By Oluyemisi Bolonduro ‘23 Well, I did it… I finished my first full semester of virtual Pomona (hopefully just one more to go). To sum up the semester in one sentence: I think I experienced things that I never expected to live during my college years… mainly bad. This was most evident around finals season. This past semester, I had three papers and one final exam to submi...
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A Day in the Life of Zoom University: Freshman Edition

Sonam in Pomona sweatshirt
By Sonam Rikha ’24 When I received the email on a Friday in early March telling students that, after Monday, my school would be taking a temporary break due to concerns of COVID-19, I didn’t think much of it. On Monday, fellow students jokingly said, “See you next year!” I scoffed at the idea that this break would last longer than two weeks. Surely it wouldn't last for the r...
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Reflections on a Virtual Semester

illustraton of person walking, looking for WiFi signal
By Bryce Kelly ‘23 Illustrations by Teodelina Martelli '23 As the semester draws to a close, and the upcoming months-long vacation ominously approaches, I have decided to reflect on my life as a Virtual Student Remote schooling is new for nearly all of us, and it is at this moment in time that course evaluations and surveys are being sent out to determine What It’s Like T...
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