{"id":222396,"date":"2026-03-16T18:07:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T18:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/222396\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T18:07:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T18:07:13","slug":"students-say-the-oakland-campus-changed-them-for-the-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/222396\/","title":{"rendered":"Students Say the Oakland Campus Changed Them for the Better"},"content":{"rendered":"

OAKLAND \u2014 When Prosny Louis visited Northeastern University\u2019s Oakland campus for the first time, a security guard at the front gate asked him if he was nervous about entering college.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI must have had that look on my face,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

But before he could answer, the guard smiled and said, \u201cOakland is going to change you into a better person.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Although Louis didn\u2019t comprehend what he meant at the time, he would soon understand.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOakland did change me \u2013 but not into a better student,\u201d said Louis, 18, a Sleepy Hollow, New York native. \u201cInto a better, more open-minded version of myself.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Louis recently spoke at Rothwell\u2019s Little Theater, participating as one of six student speakers at \u201cVoices of NU Oakland,\u201d a storytelling competition with a $200 prize on the theme of what makes Northeastern University\u2019s Oakland campus feel like home.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Louis was one of six students who recently spoke at Rothwell\u2019s Little Theater during \u201cVoices of NU Oakland,\u201d a storytelling competition with a $200 prize on the theme of what makes Northeastern University\u2019s Oakland campus feel like home.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The students said in their speeches that the Oakland campus helped them build friendships, find belonging and grow through shared experiences and conversations that turned strangers into a supportive community.<\/p>\n

\"Two03\/13\/26 \u2013 OAKLAND, CA. \u2013 Scenes during the Voices of NU on Northeastern\u2019s Oakland campus on March 13, 2026. Photo by Supriya Limaye for Northeastern University<\/p>\n

\"A03\/13\/26 \u2013 OAKLAND, CA. \u2013 Scenes during the Voices of NU on Northeastern\u2019s Oakland campus on March 13, 2026. Photo by Supriya Limaye for Northeastern University<\/p>\n

\"A03\/13\/26 \u2013 OAKLAND, CA. \u2013 Scenes during the Voices of NU on Northeastern\u2019s Oakland campus on March 13, 2026. Photo by Supriya Limaye for Northeastern University
\nStudents competing in the storytelling competition were asked to highlight the many positives of living on the school\u2019s 135-acre Oakland campus. Photos by Supriya Limaye for Northeastern University<\/p>\n

Victoria Partika, Northeastern\u2019s social media specialist on the Oakland campus, said she envisioned the competition a year ago to highlight the many positives of living on the school\u2019s 135-acre enclave of historic buildings and stately grounds, near San Francisco and Silicon Valley, with thriving businesses and opportunities for experiential learning.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goal is to get positive Oakland stories out there,\u201d Partika said. \u201cJust to be able to have well-thought-out, honest stories of students talking about their experiences.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Partika organized the event with student ambassadors, who do social media projects for the university. They wanted to share what\u2019s special about learning in Oakland, letting prospective students and parents know that it\u2019s a great place for higher education.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey love it here and they\u2019re always sad to leave,\u201d Partika said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Three03\/13\/26 \u2013 OAKLAND, CA. \u2013 Scenes during the Voices of NU on Northeastern\u2019s Oakland campus on March 13, 2026. Photo by Supriya Limaye for Northeastern University<\/p>\n

\"A03\/13\/26 \u2013 OAKLAND, CA. \u2013 Scenes during the Voices of NU on Northeastern\u2019s Oakland campus on March 13, 2026. Photo by Supriya Limaye for Northeastern University<\/p>\n

\"A03\/13\/26 \u2013 OAKLAND, CA. \u2013 Scenes during the Voices of NU on Northeastern\u2019s Oakland campus on March 13, 2026. Photo by Supriya Limaye for Northeastern University<\/p>\n

\"Three03\/13\/26 \u2013 OAKLAND, CA. \u2013 Scenes during the Voices of NU on Northeastern\u2019s Oakland campus on March 13, 2026. Photo by Supriya Limaye for Northeastern University
\nSix students competed in Voices of NU Oakland, which was won by first-year economics major Reese Balemian, whose speech was titled \u201cWave. Photos by Supriya Limaye for Northeastern University<\/p>\n

For student speaker Averi Wigley, 19, from Saratoga Springs, New York, that positivity came from bonding with new friends over a California sunset.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe beautiful, vibrant blue mixed with the yellows and pinks near the horizon is so different from East Coast sunsets,\u201d she said, remembering an impromptu trip she and her new classmates made one evening to Panoramic Hill in nearby Berkeley. Piling in the car with backpacks and blankets, the stress of classes and tests began to fade, turning into conversations about favorite restaurants and childhood stuffed animals.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The trip inspired Wigley to slow down and get to know the Bay Area landscape and fellow students in a new way. She soon discovered she didn\u2019t need to drive to get that connection \u2013 it was right there on campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She\u2019d notice the sunset coming back from the Haas gym, from the top of Mary Morse Hall, and on the many hiking trails on campus, which offered a glimpse of the sky changing colors, surrounded by palm trees.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFinding a new place to watch the sunset made me get to know the campus so much quicker,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd more intimately because of the conversations I had with people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

For other student speakers, it wasn\u2019t a California sunset that sparked friendships \u2013 it was a simple deck of cards.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sarah Ryu, 18, talked about the summer before college, blissfully spent at the beach in Orange County, California, eating Taco Bell and playing a complex card game called Cambio, a rapid-fire match in which players try to memorize and swap high-value cards for low-value ones, screaming \u201cCambio\u201d when they think they\u2019ve won.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ryu said making new friends at college went slowly until one evening in a common dormitory room, when she pulled out her cards and a few people joined her in a round of Cambio \u2013 which sparked a routine of nightly games, sometimes lasting until midnight.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI had something to look forward to,\u201d she said, realizing that life isn\u2019t so much about who you\u2019re with or where you are, but what you choose to do. \u201cThat\u2019s like Cambio \u2013 it\u2019s just about how you handle the cards you\u2019re dealt.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Arriving as a nervous prospective student on campus that first day, Louis also remembered he had a deck of cards \u2013 a last-minute purchase from his local CVS.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat started as a simple card game turned into hours of conversation \u2013 about where we came from, what our parents sacrificed and what we were afraid of,\u201d Louis said. \u201cSome people talked about being the first in their family to leave home. Others talked about working jobs since high school just to make it here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over cards, Louis said that something shifted.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of competing with each other, we were rooting for each other.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The winning speaker of the night was first-year economics major Reese Balemian, whose speech was titled \u201cWave,\u201d alluding to the many awkward waves he has given to people whom he had met before, but had forgotten their names. Balemian\u2019s speech focused on the vulnerability and humility necessary to make friends in a new city, at a smaller school where fitting in can be just as hard as at larger universities.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI chose Northeastern Oakland over schools with 40,000 students,\u201d said Balemian, 18, from Middletown, Connecticut. \u201cAnd I wondered if I made the wrong choice. But instead, I found something better. A campus where belonging isn\u2019t something you\u2019re given. It\u2019s something you build, conversation by conversation, room by room, awkward wave by awkward wave.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Balemian is no stranger to public speaking, having competed internationally during high school as part of the Distributive Business Club of America, or DECA, a business club that promotes leadership and entrepreneurship through role playing, mentorship and debate.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Balemian\u2019s name was announced, he was carried on stage by a friend and took pictures holding his oversized $200 check.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

What was it like to win?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels good, but I feel a little guilty,\u201d he admitted, saying he knows his fellow speakers worked hard on their presentations, too.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

But as the group picture was taken of all the speakers \u2013 which also included Sarya Farouk, 19, from Alexandria, Virginia, and Deanna Lee, 19, from Brooklyn, New York \u2013 it was clear from the high fives and jokes that the group had formed another set of friends.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Louis, he has an answer for that security guard now that he\u2019s well into his first year, and comfortable enough to give a speech about it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I was scared,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I was also ready.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OAKLAND \u2014 When Prosny Louis visited Northeastern University\u2019s Oakland campus for the first time, a security guard at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":222397,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[1815,179,15042,143,145,144,4568],"class_list":["post-222396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-college","tag-community","tag-conversation","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-social-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}