The woman who took my credit card information was older. She asked if they could thank me on the air. I said yes and listened for my name. Maybe they would say, “We just received a pledge from Katelyn, in Purchase NY, a college student. You see, if she can make a pledge so can you.” I didn’t hear my name.
I’ve learned to truly accept and love people here. You can be legitimately wacky here in this hodgepodge stew of great artists, musicians, dancers, sculptors, painters. Thinkers.

AROUND CAMPUS and AREA
I take walks through PepsiCo’s sculpture garden on nice days. That place is incredible. It has a lake in the shape of a P (for Pepsi of course) and over 50 sculptures from famous artists all over the world. When you first walk into the place, you see a Rodin, a Dubuffet and a Calder. In the fall and winter too, I also jog there sometimes. And it’s right across the road from our school.
Purchase has its own culture. I like that we all know the same things—Lenny’s Bagels, Las Brisas. I totally dig Port Chester. I like the feel of it. I always feel safe. There are so many faces to look at.
There’s a dirty quality to it here. Dirt under the fingernails. Good dirty. I like that. I don’t think I was supposed to be somewhere else. There are so many groups here. They’re distinct. Like castes. And I’ve permeated everyone. We do potluck. Sit down to dinners. A friend plays the ukulele.
Not only that, Purchase seems like an ideal location overall. For me, it is close to (yet far enough way from) home in Long Island and it’s near Manhattan. What could be better!

SERVICE OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
Sociology is my third major in three years. The first two were Literature and then Psychology. I would like to do humanitarian work post-grad, and this seems like the best option for an undergrad degree that would correspond to that field. It is important to think critically about people, about behaviors and how we relate to one another.
P.A.S.T. (Purchase Active Service Trips) has been life-changing and one of the best things I have done, tying into what I hope will eventually be my life’s work. I went to New Orleans on a service trip over January break. One group did relief work and built houses. The other worked with an AIDS organization, and I have become very involved with this one, even independently after the trip. I went back during my spring break for something called the Lazarus Project run by the Franciscans. I worked in a transitional facility for people with HIV. These service trips do simple things—we listen to stories, hold hands, bake cookies, do gardening. Tiny things. We show up and help in whatever way we can. And I will continue to go back on my own. The P.A.S.T. trips have been a huge motivation, though, in helping me find this path of service work. When I see people on campus who went on these trips with me, we stop and hug.