Celebrating Students

Hi! My name is Kaitlin Griffin. I’m a rising sophomore at UNH, and this year I’ll be joining Celebrate Durham as a student contributor. As a student contributor, I’ll bring a student perspective to town issues as well as encourage the UNH student community to participate in town activities. But first, I want to give you some insight into who I am, how I came to UNH, and why I joined Celebrate Durham!

I moved to Durham last year when I entered my freshman year at UNH. I was born and raised in southern NH, mainly in Amherst, a small town east of Nashua (where I was born). During my first year at UNH, I joined the UNH Ballet Company and Sawyer Dorm Hall Council. This past summer, I interned at BerryDunn Accounting & Consulting, where I worked on the development of a new consulting service.

I admit, I was apprehensive at first about attending UNH. So many of my teachers, neighbors, and classmates at home had gone to college at UNH, and I was worried about separating myself from my hometown. I think many incoming freshmen initially have this doubt. Can I meet new people and grow at a school where a quarter of my graduating class is attending? (Spoiler- the answer is yes!)

What ended up bringing me to UNH was the Paul Scholars business program, but what made me fall in love with UNH were the amazing people I met. The highlights of my first year were smaller moments: figuring out how to take the bus to Portsmouth, being snowed in at my dorm with my friends, or listening to my teacher talk about illegally moving to Australia with a fake Canadian visa (seriously!). Ultimately, I discovered that UNH and Durham are filled with interesting people and opportunities - as long as you look around to notice them.

Thanks to the help of some awesome people at UNH, including Faina Bukher, Megan Brabec, and Cathy Meyer, I will be working on a fellowship with an organization called Campus Compact this school year. The purpose of the Newman Civic Fellowship is to support students who aim to enrich their communities through public problem solving. Through the fellowship, I discovered Celebrate Durham and their need for a student perspective on town issues. My goal this year is to help UNH students become more involved in the town.

So, if you are a UNH student reading this, you may be wondering why you should care about Durham? Well, my answer to that is - at the very least, you will be living in Durham for four years and should take advantage of the town’s positive offerings (which as I said before are present if you look around). But if you need further convincing, I encourage you to keep returning to the Celebrate Durham website and keep an eye out for my blog posts tailored for UNH students! Upcoming blog post will discuss housing, student debt, and more…

Hopefully this introduction has helped you get to know me better. I can’t wait to become more involved in Durham and help other students do the same!