Fear breeds friendship?

By Maryam Asjad (Jersey City, NJ)

On my way to Princeton University, I did not, for a minute, think that one of the topics I would bond over with people would be reminiscing the SJP application process. But there I was, standing in a group of about seven of my peers, as we had our first lunch at SJP. Over Papa John’s pizza, we discussed the fear and the intimidation we had to face during the interview part of the SJP application process. Sharing my experience—which was extremely horrifying, for the record—was one of the first things that initiated my friendship with many of the other students at SJP. All of us revisited the intense event leading up to our eventual SJP acceptance.

But behind all the admittance of intimidation, there was a clear note of relief and joy in my peers’ voices. It encouraged me to learn that I had not been alone in my uncertain feelings at the interview. There was a sense of home away from home that engulfed me within a few short hours of being at SJP.