Hello, hello!

Hey there future Ramblers, current Ramblers, parents of either of those two categories, the uncategorizable, and my mother!

My name’s Jessica Xi, and I’m a first-year student here at Loyola! The above picture is of my ‘roommates’ and I in front of the giant Christmas tree Damen Student Center has every winter, in the style of a posed family portrait. My real roommate is in the black sweater, and I’m in the Loyola one. I call them my ‘roommates’ because these are the friends that are constantly in our room, much more than in their own. As a very social person, I don’t mind at all!

I’m planning on majoring in International Studies with minors in Leadership Studies and Chinese, although admittedly officially I’m undeclared (plus, our Chinese minor is coming next semester, and can’t be filed for right now.) I hail from Lakeville, Minnesota, which is just about a half-hour drive south of the Twin Cities. As you might be able to guess from the name, we have lakes – that’s part of the reason I chose Loyola!

In my opinion, Loyola Chicago has one of the most beautiful campuses in the USA. I’m a little biased because I’ve been here for a semester, but I don’t know how it could be better. A gorgeous lakefront, fascinating buildings with an open layout, and so on, and so on. I could talk about it all day. However, I didn’t choose Loyola just for the looks. I also decided on Loyola because of the academics, their open dialogue with students, the sense of community I got from just one visit, and the location of the Windy City!

Aside from starting this blogging thing to share with you about life at Loyola, I’m also a member of the Chinese Students Association, a Floor Representative for Campion Hall Council, and a mentee of Loyola University Chicago Empowering Sisterhood. There’s so much to do at Loyola that I could never just do one thing.

Well, that’s all for now. Hopefully I’ll see you around campus!