First-Year Students Enjoy Message of Belonging at Community Collage

During a week of welcomes, Evans Toviave shared one from his family’s native Togo as he acknowledged the journey each new student had taken on their path to Carnegie Mellon University.

“In Ewe, to welcome someone, we say ‘miawoe zo,’” he said. “This directly translates in English to say, ‘it is you who has walked a long way.’ Now, I can say with certainty we have all walked a long, long way here.”

At Community Collage, an annual event held as part of Carnegie Mellon’s First-Year Orientation(opens in new window), Toviave, now a junior, described how the ORIGINS Experience(opens in new window), a year-long inclusion program for historically and socially marginalized students through the Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion(opens in new window), helped him adjust to campus life at CMU as a transfer student.

“Little did I know at the time, the community I would gain and the connections that I would foster would be my saving grace in such a dynamic, fast-paced environment,” he said. “I realized our uniqueness isn’t defined by our accomplishments or our accolades. What truly connects us at CMU is our shared curiosity and our desire to engage and innovate with people from all walks of life.”

Fellow student speaker Amira Johnson encouraged the new first-year students to step out of their comfort zones to be a part of the CMU community while still being true to themselves.

She said she started off her first semester connected to Tartan Scholars(opens in new window), a program designed for high-achieving student leaders with limited resource backgrounds. However, she struggled to keep up with the demands of her computer science classes while trying to fit in until she realized during winter break that she needed to reach back out to that community.

“I stopped trying to fit in where I wasn’t accepted, and instead leaned in to spaces that embraced me for my voice,” she said. “Whether you’re struggling with academics, navigating personal challenges or just trying to find your place, lean in to the spaces that welcome you and don’t be afraid to seek out the people who want to uplift and support you unconditionally. Invest in the people who want to invest in you, because they’re the ones who will help you grow into the person that you’re meant to be.”

Elaine Gombos, a sophomore studying computer science(opens in new window), sang a portion of “Reflection” in both Chinese and English before she explained how embracing her mixed-race background meant embracing all the different parts of herself.

“It means the freedom to choose who I want to be,” she said. “I live in intersections, not boxes. I live in hues and blends, not solid colors. I am not 50% white and 50% Asian, but 100% Elaine.”

Student dance organizations CMU Raasta(opens in new window), Street Styles(opens in new window), Helix Dance Crew(opens in new window), Soulstylz(opens in new window) and CMU Bhangra(opens in new window) showed off their moves in addition to a vocal performance by the Inter A Capella Council(opens in new window), all impressing the crowd that cheered along.

“No matter how you orient yourself, we can’t all fit in a square hole,” said Mia Goins, a senior studying mathematics(opens in new window), in closing. “There is no mold that any two people fit in.”

Yavonna Wu, a first-year student studying business(opens in new window), sat on a bench outside Purnell Center for the Arts to recover after the high-energy event. 

“I’m not a very outgoing person, but when I was in there, I was like, ‘yeah!’ It really hyped me up,” said Wu.

Sitting next to her, Jenny Wang, studying mathematics, said she enjoyed hearing sophomore drama student Moyo Ifafore read Audre Lorde’s poem “A Litany for Survival” during the program.

“She was a very strong and passionate speaker, and I really loved her body language and her expression,” Wang said. “While the poem talked about common adversity that we all might experience, and I related to that.”

Not far away, on the sidewalk, the group from Street Styles unrolled the square of linoleum they had used onstage, and cranked up more music to teach a group of about 30 students a two-step and other dance moves.

First-year students Veer Lad, studying mathematics; Gabbie Boone, studying engineering(opens in new window); Laasya Karnati, studying statistics(opens in new window) and machine learning(opens in new window); Taara Kuriyan studying mechanical engineering(opens in new window); Vidhya Vishwanath studying information systems(opens in new window); and Meher Sayal, studying business, kept dancing even as they walked away from the crowd.

“All the upperclassmen, if they see you sort of interested, they don’t drag you, but they’ll be like, ‘hey, do it, learn it, try it,’ and it’s been really fun seeing people start to realize, ‘hey, this is kind of fun,’” Sayal said.

Karnati said she appreciated the emphasis on balancing academics with other passions and well-being.

“You always hear about the workload at CMU, but their advice was always make sure you care for your interests and care for your mind,” she said.

Sayal agreed, saying that sentiment had been echoed often during First-Year Orientation.

“You’re meeting new people through new things or old things, and recreating the communities you had or finding new ones through your interests,” she said.

Even as a senior, Zuleima Noriega, an orientation counselor for Moorewood E-Tower,(opens in new window) said the Community Collage helped him take stock of his time left at Carnegie Mellon.

“My first year, I remember it inspired me to try so much more than I thought I was capable of and this year was no different,” Noriega said. “In fact, it served as a checkpoint for me to see, did I accomplish the things I want to accomplish, and where else can I go now as a senior?”

He said working as a counselor has felt like connecting a missing piece of his experience at Carnegie Mellon, and would encourage anyone to try a similar mentoring position.

“You can realize that there are friends everywhere, and to trust in your instincts and intuition to become the best version of yourself,” Noriega said. “There are so many people who have their own style of charisma, their own style of humor, their own style of being themselves, in all different groups in all different settings. It’s cool to see there are so many ways to just be, and inspire first-years at the same time.”