03-27-2024
I’m not your typical Indiana-raised Boilermaker. I was born in Traverse City and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, about a 3.5-hour drive along Lake Michigan. So, when I considered college options and considered Purdue, finding community early on was important to me.
While I weighed college options, I evaluated a lot of schools based on my interest in business, law, and information systems. My family has a history of work in law and information technology, and while I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to study, those fields interested me. Looking into Purdue, I was drawn to the Daniels School of Business, which offered studies in all three of my interests!
I was confident I wanted to spend the next four years in West Lafayette, but I was a little nervous about how I would find community and get involved early on. As I wrapped up my time in high school, I realized I felt very connected due in part to the clubs, groups and teams that I was a part of. I wanted to make sure I created the same feeling at Purdue – a place far from home and much bigger than my high school.
One of the scariest unknowns of starting college was my living situation – which residence hall would I be placed into? How would I find a roommate? Would I go random – having one chosen for me - or try to find one before the year started?
My questions were answered when I heard about a unique living opportunity through Purdue’s Brock-Wilson Center for Women in Business club during Admitted Student’s Day at Purdue. The Women in Business Learning Community offered a chance to live with other first-year students in the business school while growing in academic, professional, and social capacities. After hearing more details about the program, my mom urged me to research more about it when we got home. Looking more into the learning community, I really liked the idea of having immediate friendships as soon as I arrived on campus. I wouldn’t have to worry about the mad scramble to find community, and it would allow me to get involved immediately – a huge priority of mine.
I decided to apply for the learning community and hopefully have a secure place to live. I was a little anxious about the whole process – what if I didn’t get in? The doubts came and went, but I was confident I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity. Finally, I received an email congratulating me on being accepted into the new Women in Business learning community class! I was both relieved and excited to start this new chapter, and knowing where I was living made me a lot less stressed about my college transition.
When it came time to arrive on campus, The Brock-Wilson Center for Women in Business was incredibly helpful by making me feel welcomed and known from the start. During move-in week, the new members took a walk around campus and could bond over academics, interests, and shared experiences immediately. After we returned to our residence hall, Meredith South, the entire learning community decided to continue getting to know each other and spent hours talking about everything from our first semester of classes to what made us most nervous about starting college.
Being far from home, one of my biggest obstacles was preparing myself for the first semester of college classes. I was away from the comfort of home and now had to navigate a new academic landscape, too. My learning community peer mentor met me in these concerns. While our relationship was built into The Brock-Wilson Center, we developed a strong friendship where I could confide in her and learn to take advantage of opportunities as a freshman. This was another huge help as I adjusted to college, and having a mentor like Caitlyn allowed me to step out of my comfort zone quickly and try many new things I would never have done in high school.
One of the first things I got involved in during my first semester was the Brock-Wilson Center (BWC) for Women. My mentor was in the organization, so she helped me get involved and meet people. Since being introduced, I have dived into BWC and furthered my involvement as an Ambassador on the Alumni and Marketing Committee!
After getting involved on campus with BWC, I wanted to do more. One of the biggest benefits of my learning community is seeing all the amazing things my peers are doing on campus, which motivates me to make the most of my time, too! Since the start of my first semester, I’ve become a member of Larsen Leaders Academy, the Doster Leadership Conference Board, the School of Business Career Council, and even receiving mentorship through Purdue Alumni Student Experience (PASE). Without my mentor’s initial push through The Brock-Wilson Center for Women in Business, I wouldn’t have known where to begin.
My learning community experience hasn’t been all professional and academic, though. One of my favorite parts about living in my learning community is being able to bond with other girls on my floor! I love the fun, stress-relieving activities we put on, like our book club – which isn’t for class or professional development but provides an outlet for us to bond and be with each other.
There’s also nothing like creating lifelong memories through laughter and last-minute work. One day, a bunch of us gathered in one of our friend’s rooms, all preparing for a project due the next day. Ideas were hard to come by, and we spent most of the day laughing and chatting about life – before cranking out the assignment in the nick of time. It’s really special to create lasting memories with people you enjoy spending time with, and it makes the stress of school and life much easier to manage.
On top of everything else, maybe the greatest benefit of being in the Women in Business learning community was meeting my best friend. By spending so much time with these women, I got to know her really well, and we clicked super fast. Walking to class each day together feels like a full-circle moment from when our group took our first walk around campus back in August.
While I know that challenges will continue to arise in college – I’ll take difficult classes, have bad days, and feel overwhelmed by my workload – I feel much better knowing I have a group of women I can rely on.
Whether sitting in our study room figuring out an economics problem or dealing with the stress of balancing commitments, I know there are other people I can trust who are going through the same things. I know that my learning community will continue to uplift me, help hone my work ethic, and be more intentional and authentic. I want to share this welcome and personal growth with others. Whether you’ve considered joining a learning community or not, I encourage you to take the leap and join! Beyond the helpful academic and professional resources, you’ll gain an immediate community of caring people to journey with and make a big school feel much smaller.
Even as an out-of-stater, Purdue now feels like home.
Madison Montgomery is a freshman at Purdue studying Business Management with a concentration in Information Systems Management. As a student, Madison is involved with the Women in Business Learning Community, Larsen Leaders Academy, and PACE. She also serves as Delta Gamma Director of Alumni Relations, the Brock-Wilson Center Ambassador on the Alumni and Marketing Committee, the School of Business Council Director of Programming and Development, and as a member of the Doster Executive Board.
