Students plan to form West Coast club

Falling leaves, the change of seasons and near-freezing temperatures aside, students hailing from the West Coast must adjust to many new aspects of the Princeton life. Three students recently founded a West Coast Student's Club to provide support and a fun environment for those used to sunnier weather.

Pamela Carlton '06, Nik Ajagu '05 and Alex Ryder '05 started the group in the hopes of bringing together West Coast students in a fun, laid-back environment. They want to provide a place for students of similar backgrounds to get together and talk about common interests.

"I decided to start [the club] because I'm from the West Coast and I had a lot of trouble adjusting to East Coast culture and Princeton culture," Ryder said. "It's more intense."

Ajagu and Carlton agreed that some West Coast students experience culture shock when they arrive on campus. On the East Coast, "you get much more of a conservative vibe," Ajagu said. "It's ideologically diverse."

Ryder thought he was alone in his difficulty adjusting to Princeton. However, after talking to a group called Transitions facilitated by University Health Services, Ryder discovered that students from the West Coast typically have the most trouble adjusting to campus life. "It made me realize that a lot of people deal with this issue," he said.

Hillary Herbold, associate dean of undergraduate students, also noticed several instances of West Coast students struggling to adapt. She said the idea for a West Coast students' organization "had been in the back of [her mind] for a while."

Herbold spoke with Ryder about the issue and suggested he contact Ajagu, from Palo Alto, Calif., and Carlton, from Hawaii. The three students decided that forming an organization would be the best way to facilitate adjustment to the East Coast environment.

"International students have all sorts of resources for adjusting to life at Princeton, but no one seems to realize that it might be just as hard for those of us from the other end of the country to feel comfortable at Princeton," Carlton explained in an email.

Often, it is difficult to find others who are experiencing similar difficulties, Ajagu said. He said he felt that the club would be helpful in bringing together West Coast students who otherwise might not have met.

"The most important thing is to try to build a network of kids from the West, so you can have support through binding people with common experiences," Ajagu said.

However, Ryder clarified that the club is not purely for support or counseling. "We just want it to be a fun and carefree group," he said.