If you’ve gone to any athletic events, pep rallies or been present for any campus visits, you may have heard a song being played by the Panther Marching Band that says, “I’m so glad I go to EIU.”

When I first heard this song played at the beginning of the semester during convocation for PROWL, it made me really happy, and it made me realize just how glad I really am.

Last year, I had a lot of responsibilities around campus, and this semester I’ve taken on even more. I hold three jobs, assistant coach Charleston High School’s dance team, all on top of maintaining a high GPA. I also volunteer at a lot of things.

All of the things that I do would not be possible without the help of Eastern and everyone here.

I feel very blessed to attend a school where the faculty and staff truly care about my success and well-being. They go out of their way to make me feel comfortable and to make sure that I know what I’m doing.

Every time I volunteer at an open house and sit on a student panel, I get asked what my favorite thing about Eastern is. Every time, I talk about how much my professors care about my success and the fact that they actually remember my name. If I was at a bigger university, there is no way that the professors would remember me or care about how well I was doing in their class.

I’m also very thankful for every opportunity that I’ve been given here.

Like I said, I work three jobs on campus. I write for The Daily Eastern News (obviously), I work in the Office of Admissions, and I am a desk assistant in Thomas Hall. I love doing every single one of these jobs, and I consider myself blessed that I do things that I enjoy every single day.

I am also hopefully studying abroad this summer in China. Eastern makes it super affordable and easy to study abroad, and I’ve had a lot of help with planning and budgeting from one of the professors leading the trip, Dr. Beebe. He also convinced me to look into summer internships after he spent half an hour with me talking about my future career. The professors here care about us in ways that I don’t think are present at other universities.

Eastern truly has become my second home. I am thriving here, and I attribute that to the environment that the university has created.

Everyone is so welcoming here, and we are truly like a family. I met my forever friends here, and I am building a future out of all of the opportunities I’ve been blessed with.

I can’t wait to see what else I can do here, and I am truly so glad I go to EIU.

Jessica Stewart is a sophomore English education major. She can be reached at 581-2812 or

jrstewart@eiu.edu.