Sofia Azuara '25

Bryn Mawr College has a small, close-knit, very welcoming community.  

It is an I-can’t-walk-across-campus-without-running-into-someone-I-know small community.    

Although the size of the campus and the student body initially drew me to Bryn Mawr, as the date for first-year move-in approached, I began to develop some worries. Would it feel too claustrophobic? Would it be like high school again? These fears were quickly dispelled.  

Before moving in, my roommate Anna and I had spoken a handful of times. During those conversations, we learned that we could not be more different. I was interested in creative writing and theater and planned to take as many classes in our Literatures in English department as I could. Meanwhile, she was pursuing law, hoping to major in Political Science and read non-fiction. Walking into our first-year dorm felt like walking onto the set of a sitcom with one half of the room decked out in pink, the wall completely covered by art and posters. Meanwhile, the other wall was bare, and the bed had pristine white sheets.   

Despite our differing interests, we became friends over the year we shared a room and though we have never roomed together again we remain close. In our senior year, we meet at off-campus coffee shops to review each other’s personal statements as we apply to MFA programs and law school. We work on our drafts separately throughout the week before exchanging papers during our weekend study sessions. At the beginning of our application process, it was Anna who recommended I make an appointment at our Career and Civic Engagement Center for advising on the graduate school process. Bryn Mawr’s Career and Civic Engagement Center (CCEC) aims to help students and alumni develop their professional skills and amplify personal and professional opportunities through resume refinements, career fairs, and mock interviews.  

Though aware of the CCEC, I was unfamiliar with their graduate school counseling options before Anna suggested I reach out to them. Since then, I have become much more comfortable speaking with the staff as well as engaging in the several events they host. The first event I attended was a career fair for students in the Tri-College Consortium (the partnership between Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and Swarthmore Colleges) held on Haverford's campus. I attended with Anna and our friend Peyton, and we were greeted at the door by the smiling faces of staff members we all knew from Bryn Mawr’s CCEC. Even though we were on a campus other than our own, as Bryn Mawr students we still felt welcomed and represented at the fair.  

A few weeks after, the CCEC was promoting a “Writing, Publishing, and Journalism Meet-Up” held at Swarthmore where seven alumni from all three Tri-Co campuses were invited to speak as panelists. I was eager to register and to advertise the event to my fellow Creative Writing majors. Three of us, along with a friend who is a Literatures in English major, drove to the event. We arrived at the same time as the panelists and assumed we would be the first four there. We were quickly proven wrong as we walked into the meeting space and the entirety of each campus's English departments sat staring back at us. As my friends and I made our way to the few empty seats, we all waved in greeting to someone we knew at every single table. The evening was fruitful— it was encouraging to hear from professionals who took similar steps to the ones we all are taking now. That initial invitation encouraged the other students in the Creative Writing major to share poetry and literature events happening on and off campus. Since then, many of us have attended trivia and poetry nights together. 

The Creative Writing department is small, after being an independent major for so long, it has now been a standing major for a little over a year. It has been a joy to watch the department blossom into what it is now. Last year only two students graduated with a degree in Creative Writing. This year the number of people in the major has grown to ten. Additionally, several underclassmen and prospective students have reached out to me to speak about their interest in the major. This small community in an already close-knit campus has been a wonderful place to find myself in. At Bryn Mawr, students are always working towards the future, which includes making an impact on our campus. It’s been both heartwarming and rewarding to be a part of this growth of the years. 

Professor Dee Matthews, my major advisor and Department co-chair, called an all-majors meeting near the beginning of the year. The point of the major’s meeting was to establish a collaborative space where students can shape what their time at Bryn Mawr might look like. One of our first initiatives was to create greater senior involvement in Bryn Mawr’s Reading Series. Students now have the opportunity to introduce the visiting authors and join them for a post-reading dinner. Additionally, we ensured that a celebration will be held where senior majors will read from their capstone project (at least 50 pages of creative work, focused in either poetry or fictional prose) right before graduation. All members, from the students to the professors, have been enthusiastic to take part in building this new department. 

Throughout my many walks across campus where I bump into one or more friends, classmates, co-workers, faculty, and staff, I have come to learn that everyone at Bryn Mawr is excited to get to know you and wants to see you succeed. Whether through standing grad school application meetings, resource recommendations, or invitations to events and brainstorming sessions, Bryn Mawr and its community are here to support you. They’ve done so for me, and I know they will do the same for you. 

Sofia Azuara '25 is majoring in Creative Writing and minoring in Literatures in English. Around campus, Sofia is a Hall Advisor and Posse Scholar. Sofia is also involved with Tri-Co Creative Writers, The First Page, and Tri-Co Philly program.