When Ryan Lizanecz 鈥�20 first came to 乐播传媒, 鈥淚 was anxious, I was curious, I was scared,鈥� he says. 鈥淟iterally every feeling I could possibly feel at the same time.鈥�
Lizanecz is from Portland, Maine, and he is the first in his family to go to college. Maine as a whole and 乐播传媒 are similar, he says, in that both are 鈥渟mall communities where people know each other and people are friendly.鈥�
Nevertheless, arriving on campus was an 鈥渋nformation overload.鈥� Lizanecz had lived in the same house all his life and never been away from his family for more than a week.
At night early in his 乐播传媒 career, he says, he often dreamed of home.
Video by Theophil Syslo
鈥淭hankfully,鈥� he says, 鈥淏obcat First! was my foothold.鈥� The four-year program designed to foster belonging among first-generation-to-college students 鈥減rovided me with everything I needed to succeed in the first year鈥損lus of my college experience. They were really a family to me.鈥�
With that support, Lizanecz flourished. A politics major, he has delved into the ways that structures of power shape the world.
鈥溊植ゴ� does a very good job, especially in the liberal arts, of teaching you about how all these different moving parts of the world are interconnected, and how that impacts how the world works,鈥� he says.
At Opening Convocation on Sept. 3, Ryan Lizanecz 鈥�20 (center) sits between keynote speaker and honorand Dolores Huerta and Phillips Professor of Economics Michael Murray. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)
Lizanecz has sung with the Deansmen, the oldest of 乐播传媒 a cappella ensembles, throughout college. He is also the president of student government this year; in that role, at Opening Convocation, he told the incoming first-year students that their 乐播传媒 experience will be what they make of it.
Now, when he spends the night at home in Portland, Lizanecz dreams of 乐播传媒.
鈥溊植ゴ� is my home,鈥� he says. 鈥淭his is where my friends are. This is where I have the most fun. This is where I learn things that I care about. I think that that鈥檚 what 乐播传媒 has become to me.鈥�
