My first year at MTU was a rewarding experience even though the adaptation process was tough and challenging. It's never easy being away from your home, family and friends; to start anew in a distant place so different from what you are used to. I am from Puerto Rico and had never been so far from home or for such a long period of time.

I applied to other universities, including those established on the Island. Even though Tech was the college I knew the least about at the time I applied, I still gave it a shot. I did my own research and even met someone from Bark River, Michigan at the Presidential Classroom who shared with me interesting facts about Tech that I wouldn't have known otherwise. For example, the fact that MTU student population is five-to-one male to female ratio. She also described one of the favorite winter sports played at the campus, broomball, and the delicious pasties, yum!


Tech was the first college to accept me, not only that, but by the time the other universities responded I had my room assigned, class schedule and ticket to come here. There were several reasons why I chose Tech. One was the fact that they offered me almost a full ride. It helped that I didn't have to spend that much on tuition, mainly because otherwise I would have been unable to attend. Another important factor was the organization shown by the recruiting department by sending the acceptance letter so early that I was set to come here before getting any letters from the other universities. Finally, the warmth welcome I received after I had enrolled; this one was more like a reassuring feeling than anything else.

Now I was all set to go to college, but I didn't even have a clue where Houghton was (besides somewhere in the Michigan Upper Peninsula). One of the biggest problems was that the travel agencies were unable to find the flight connections. Some of them told me I could fly to Detroit or Chicago and take a bus from there. Yeah, right!

The first thing people ask me when they met me was "why Tech?" I guess it was hard for them to understand why someone would prefer eternal winter over perpetual summer. It depends on the person. I mean, would you expect someone from the Caribbean who has never seen snow before to be out in a t-shirt when the temperature is 10 degrees F? The truth is that all the information packages sent by Tech showed a very interesting educational environment and a wide range of opportunities for personal growth.

Although I had never been in a place where the temperatures dropped so low, well... where they dropped at all, I adapted really well. I enjoyed the snow and had some fun. I did several things here for the first time like ice-skating, broomball, built snowmen, snowball fights and sledding. I plan to try snowboarding and other winter sports in years to come. Anyways, I arrived a week before the orientation began. That allowed me to settle in. During this week I walk all around Houghton and Hancock to get to know the area, opened a bank account, identified an orthodontist (I had braces at the time), and did a lot of other errands. Also, I came here with only a backpack and clothes for three or four days so I pretty much had to buy all my stuff up here.

Throughout orientation, I encountered my first challenge. Though I am proficient in the English language, I was not used to speak in it constantly on a daily basis. On several occasions I unconsciously switched to Spanish in the middle of conversations. But immediately I became aware and continued in English. After the first few days I got accustomed and rarely switched again. I had difficulty in expressing ideas or things for which I did not know the word like some foods for instance. Also I had to ask what many of the slang words meant because even though I knew some slang, there were many terms I had never heard before like "to be plastered," meaning to be drunk.


I started out as a computer engineer major. I chose this major because I really like computers and robots. During the first semester I opted to take a computer science course instead of chemistry as it would give me a better understanding of what I was going to do throughout my years here. The funny thing was that I had no programming background whatsoever, heh. At any rate, I took both engineering and programming courses, and although I did really well on both of them, I realized that engineering was not for me and switched my major to computer science looking to concentrate in artificial intelligence.


Seeing that I was so far from home, I joined the Society of Hispanic Engineers (SHPE). Even though I was not what you can call an active member, going to the meetings every once in a while and sharing with people of a similar background helped me a lot. It served as a means to meet new people and to develop my social skills. There were some activities that I enjoyed as a member of this organization. One of them was a joined social with the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). At this event, the members of SHPE taught the ladies of SWE how to dance salsa. I had a lot of fun because I had not danced salsa in a very long time and I met many people that I have kept in contact with and every time we meet we talk for a while, if we had to time of course.

Tech offers many opportunities to take a break from studying and have fun. There are game rooms in the halls, bowling and billiards at the MUB (a place you'll become familiar with if you come here), sports at the Student Development Complex, and live performances at the Rozsa Theater. Now don't get me wrong, these were not lame performances. They bring people like the Myth Busters, Allan Parsons, and Gallagher.

I did not return home for any of the breaks.It was kind of hard for me to be away from home for Christmas and what not. Luckily, my roommate invited me to stay at his house down state. His family was very welcoming and tried to make me feel like home as much as possible. I enjoyed my time there and was truly grateful for that opportunity. I met new people and made new friends. It was there I built my first snowman. Not the prettiest you'll see, but not a complete disaster either. It was nice not to spend Christmas all alone, particularly because the halls close during Christmas break and I didn't have anywhere to go.

During the second semester, the hall I was living in started a broomball team.
Since I wanted to try new things, I signed up. We ended up having so many players that we built three teams. I was the first member to switch to the third team, so I was appointed captain by default.

Our team was not the best in the league. In fact, we only scored twice in our first game and lost the rest of the to zero.Yet I had a lot of fun and so did my teammates. We played to enjoy the game and clear our minds from studies.

Last semester went really well for me and I expected this one to be at the same level of difficulty. Boy did I get a loud wake-up call. My first grades were disappointing to say the least. I sought help. Tech offers many resources to do well academically. The professors welcome questions both in outside of class, there are learning centers that can help you understand the material or answer questions about class or homework, some courses offer supplemental learning sessions, there are programs like ExSEL that will assign you a personal mentor, and last but not least, if you live in one of the learning communities, they have hall mentors that can also help you out. I took advantage of as many resources I could to get me back on track. This proved fruitful as my mid-term grades were a great improvement. But as the semester went on, things got tougher. I stumbled again nearing the end. I didn't give up and continued to study harder than ever. I knew that was the end so I could go all out and rest during the summer. I was also concerned of not getting the grades I needed to keep scholarships for the next year and in the end, my efforts were rewarded. I did very well in all my classes, some even better than I thought I could do.

Now it was time to go back home after being away for so long. I anxiously await to see my family again.