Rice student one of ‘Freshman 15’ for Seventeen Magazine
Sid Rich’s Veronica Saron shines a spotlight on Rice

BY JESSICA STARK
Rice News staff

Like most other incoming Rice freshmen, Veronica Saron spent ample time last summer Googling suggestions of things to bring with her to college. She had hoped to find one resource that could give her the lowdown of what she needed in her room and for her classes throughout that crucial first year. What she found was the opportunity to become that resource for other students as they transitioned to college.

Part of Seventeen Magazine’s “Freshman 15,” Saron was one of only 15 young women across the country chosen to chronicle their freshman years for the magazine through blogs, pictures and videos.

	VERONICA SARON

Now a Will Rice College sophomore, Saron has reflected on the experience and is infinitely grateful for the opportunity she had to document her first year at Rice.

How did writing for Seventeen’s “Freshman 15” help you reflect on what you were experiencing your first year at Rice?

I found life at Rice to be so exciting that I had trouble narrowing down exactly what I wanted to write about. There were so many firsts, a lot of them universal to the college experience — first friends, first college classes, first academic all-nighter, first sports game, first party, first set of finals, etc. But I personally found documenting the Rice-specific firsts to be especially fun — our first O-Week, first football game against UT, first visit to the Rice Village, first time at the rodeo, first time playing an intercollegiate intramural sport, first Texas road trip, first time witnessing Baker 13, first public party, first Beer Bike and that list can go on.

It was awesome to be able to document this collection of firsts on a nationally public level, and corny as it may sound, it’s so special to be able to look back on those firsts by sifting through the Seventeen blog.

What was your favorite memory from the past year?

I’ll never forget my birthday weekend this past April. It was a Saturday, so a large group of friends and I went out to my favorite Vietnamese restaurant. At the table, we talked nonstop, just as we do every day at every meal in the commons, but it was only then that I realized how important those daily meals have become.

The routine of us sitting around at a table at least twice daily symbolizes the strong, unparalleled relationships that the college system at Rice facilitates — nothing that the next friend says is ever wholly unexpected. Our conversations have a comforting rhythm of laughter and magical familiarity to them, emblematic of every moment I’ve had with my friends at Rice.

What did you aim to do with your blog?

I give a lot of advice in my blogs that concerns the college world — how to study for an exam or keep your room clean — but I also try to provide advice in the form of honest accounts of emotional situations. For example, I wrote a blog one week about how I was reconsidering my major because of epiphanies I had about my identity, and in another blog, I wrote extensively about how my struggles being far from home in New Jersey have helped me to grow in ways I never imagined. Through reading comments and responding to messages, I’ve found that readers who are in college or plan to go to college tend to relate to these struggles.

More important, the experience helped illuminate how fantastic college really is both in terms of fun and self discovery. I tend to forget that there are many girls out there who either don’t want to go to college or feel that they aren’t capable of going to college, and through my blogs, I try to give an honest, unintimidating and real account of college. I hope I have inspired someone.

What’s next for you at Rice?

In my remaining time at Rice, I hope that I can explore the realm of media as a potential career. I believe in the power of communication in media as not only a valuable source of information, but more important, as a means for discovering connection, color and meaning in life. My job with Seventeen has certainly inspired me to see that.

I’ll be going to film school for the month of June at the New York Film Academy, and I’m strongly considering pursuing film as one of my majors at Rice.

In August, I’ll be coming to Rice for O-Week to co-advise at Sid Rich College. During the school year, I’ll continue to work in social media as the Thresher’s social media coordinator, and I’ve also been hired as a marketing ambassador for the IT Department, which will entail promoting IT-related announcements and events as well as making a series of informational videos.