EXCEPTIONAL ACHIEVEMENT

INTERVIEW WITH TORI

Victoria Webber walked on to campus with the excitement to finally move on to the next chapter of her life, and become a Seminole. She began as a math major, until she realized, “As much as I love my teachers, I do not want to be a teacher”, and as she continued to investigate her career map, she also did not want to sit at a desk at a nine to five job. Tori decided to change her major to psychology, because she loved people and the study of people, and is taking summer classes at Florida State to expand her knowledge on the subject. But that wasn’t the first challenge college through her way.
Most students anticipate dorm life with the hope to become best friends with their roommate. Unfortunately for Tori, this dream never became a reality. With the experience from living with siblings and spending countless summers at her swim camps, Tori was well equipped with the expertise of roommate etiquette. She was not prepared with the idea that her roommate would be unaware of certain things as simple as not turning the main light on at two in the morning. As the semester went on, she grew frustrated with the fact that her roommate refused to communicate issues she had with Tori, and eventually the two had to part, and go their separate ways.
Campus life resulted in Tori feeling nostalgic for things in her home life. She missed her dogs the most, as she has never been without at least two dogs in her family at a time. “We always had like two dogs, and if one died, we would gradually buy another puppy,” explained Tori. She misses swimming as well, along with the feeling of competition and “being part of a team.” She was always the last swimmer in the relay, because she was just so fast, and she went to the state competition two years in a row. Despite those things, campus did introduce new things she can not live without, like The Den, Florida State’s 24- hour Denny’s located near her dorm. Tori can not get enough of their diet coke and convenience. She adjusted to campus life with ease, because independence was something she was granted in high school by her parents. She also joined a couple of campus organizations, like CHARRG, a female fitness group.
Tori knew she wanted to become a Nole, when she knew she did not want to go to a small college and deal with clique-yness and friend drama. Although a small class environment would have helped her learning disability, she committed to FSU and has yet to regret her choice. Since Tori has been in Tallahassee, she has had the chance to meet many people from different backgrounds, and develop countless friendships she would have not had the chance to make at a smaller school. Her best friend on campus is of latin descent, and hails from Miami. Tori was introduced to new cultural traditions, like kissing on the cheek to say hello.