Why did you choose Dickinson College? How will you make Dickinson yours? As a first-year, these questions have become quite familiar. With orientation down and the second week of classes underway, I feel I have become a master at answering these once hard-hitting questions. I have set answers almost as if I merely memorized them from a script. I can tell you my reasons for choosing Dickinson, what clubs I want to join, and how excited I am to be at a school that will help me to continue on my path, wherever it may lead. But one question I had no answer for was: What does it mean to be a Dickinsonian?

Fortunately, the organizers of orientation understood how nerve-wracking it can be to be catapulted into an unknown world with relatively little idea what the next four years will be like. They had us focus on two main tenants as we went about our first five days of college before classes: diversity and inclusivity.

When I listened to Interim President Weissman speak during orientation, I honestly thought his assurances that the class of 2020 was the most diverse class Dickinson has seen was something told to every single other class before us. I assumed it was simply something he was supposed to say to give us pride in ourselves and our new school. However, at convocation, one of the speakers talked in depth about some of the various accolades my fellow peers and I have earned that range everywhere from zany to inspiring. I have met students from all different demographic backgrounds who are interested in a slew of activities I never considered or heard of before. Once I saw that diversity, it was almost as though I could not stop recognizing it.

Thankfully, amongst all the talk of each of us being different, we spoke also of inclusivity and how to accept those differences. At first, I was a little overwhelmed with how incredibly welcoming everyone is. I never shook hands with people to introduce myself or sat down and started a conversation with a stranger before. And yet here, I was greeted by warm smiles all around.

However, sometimes inclusivity and diversity can become blurred together. In my first-year seminar, we discussed the meaning of Americanization or the idea that in order to fit into the society as an American, people often leave some of their diversities aside. Where then does the line between diversity and inclusivity lie? The answer to this question is what truly makes Dickinsonians who they are. Orientation showed me that the greatest attribute of Dickinsonians is that they are strong people who embrace their differences but are also open to new ideas and people; they know how to balance their diversity with their inclusivity without losing sight of the other. That is what being a Dickinsonian means.