California Love
Jodi Guerrero is from Sacramento, California. She applied to Arizona State University on the application deadline date. She had never heard of the school but was introduced to the journalism program and fell in love. Without touring or visiting the university, she made the decision to attend ASU. She was the first in her family to ever leave out-of-state.
Jodi’s mom cried every time she’d bring up college and although she never outright told her not to go, Jodi knew her mom didn’t want her to. For the first year, her mom would fly to come see her and spend weekends with Jodi.
This was because Jodi was having trouble finding her niche in her new environment. Initially, Jodi 100 percent disliked ASU when she arrived.
“A big part was not knowing anyone like I didn’t know anyone in Arizona when I came. I was completely on my own and just kind of being at the downtown campus, your options for friends are kind of limited,” said Guerrero.
She felt that her group of friends at the time weren’t right for her and it led her to constantly feeling alone. However, Jodi joined a sorority her junior year and finally felt like she had made the right decision. She began travelling home less often and started to create her home-away-from-home.
She explained that when she did visit home, she always felt guilty for not prioritizing her time to certain people. It was one of the challenges she consistently faced as a daughter, friend, and sister. Unfortunately, this caused her to lose friends along the way.
“You only have a limited amount of time so you feel like you have to do a bunch of stuff and then you don’t get time to relax and just hang with the family or learn how to manage hanging out with friends and family,” said Guerrero.
The idea of having a limited time continued for Jodi. In the summer of 2018, her grandpa became sick.
She visited home as much as she could but even being there every day wouldn’t have been enough. When Jodi initially made the decision to move out-of-state for school, she never imagined she’d experience heartbreak along the way.
Jodi’s grandpa passed away in November of 2018.
“ I had not been home since I started school in August. And, you know, it sucks because you’re like, I’m about to go home for Thanksgiving and the holidays and stuff. And just like, missing out on that was hard,” Jodi said with tears in her eyes.
Despite her mom wishing Jodi had never left, her struggle to find her niche in Arizona, and losing her grandpa, Jodi is proud of herself for making the decision to jump in the beginning.
“I would say that it has been a good experience and aside from the not so happy things that happened, I think going to college and experiencing something away from everyone and everything that you’ve already known is so worth it and an experience that you probably wouldn’t get like otherwise,” said Guerrero.
