By Natalie Smith
When Teresa Pione was in high school, Ohio University was the last place she wanted to attend college. She grew up in a large family with two brothers and four sisters and, when three of her older siblings graduated from the University, she was determined to take another route.
"In a big family, you really want to have your own identity," Pione says. "I was like, 'I want to do my own thing. I want to blaze my own trail.'" But with a little encouragement from her father, she soon found herself in Athens for fall quarter 2000 starting her freshmen year of college.
"It just made sense," says Pione, who is now a senior at Ohio University. "I looked at a couple other schools. I just liked the campus, and I liked the programs… I think I've made my own path."
Although Pione considers coming to Ohio University "the best decision," she was not always so certain. "I thought freshmen year was hard," she says. However, after becoming more involved on campus, she was able to find her place.
"Growing up with all those siblings in that big house, I needed affection," Pione says. "I hope that kids can realize you've just got to recreate it. You've just got to find good friends that have the same values to support you and love you."
Pione found her own source of support through the various activities she became active with on campus. As a double major in Spanish and magazine journalism, she joined the Spanish club where she became president her junior and senior year, and she has also worked in the journalism office and on the culture staff of The Post.
Additionally, Pione has volunteered at Christ the King where she taught Sunday school to second graders her sophomore and junior year and said the experience has helped her grow as a person.
"I think a lot of people talk about how college kids have a hard time maintaining their faith, like their religious beliefs, in college," Pione says. "For me, mine has just grown because I feel like I've met so many good people."
Pione is graduating this spring and plans to return to her hometown of Columbus, Ohio, where she is starting graduate school at Ohio State University next fall. Although she says she is "ready for the next step," Pione says she will miss Ohio University's "quietness and greenness."
"It's been a good place for me to grow as a person," she says. "I just have learned so much and it's been such a good experience."
Natalie Smith is a student writer for University Communications and Marketing
