L.P.

Lewis Perry

“My first memory at Community was the opening ceremony on the first day. I remember getting here in this crazy outfit, which I thought looked amazing. Looking back on it, it was definitely not amazing. I remember seeing a bunch of people. Some I recognized, some I didn’t. It definitely felt a little more intimidating than going to middle school because as a freshman you’re kind of at the bottom of the student hierarchy here. You had to look up to other students. But I remember everything [the staff] said at that ceremony felt really passionate. I could see much more energy throughout the staff than I had at past schools I’ve been to, so it made me feel like ‘okay, I think the people here know what they’re doing and it gave me some sort of reassurance that Community would be a good fit.’ That’s when I first met my original forum leader Steve [Coron], who I initially was intimidated by. But Steve definitely became a teacher that influenced me. I only took one or two classes with him, but having forum with him made me realize how passionate he was about teaching and I felt like my mood always got better when I saw Steve. If I had any advice for incoming freshmen it would be not to be afraid to branch out and explore new areas. The more I was here, the more I found interests I didn’t know I had, such as economics and history, and got to expand on and take classes on those interests.”