“College is about new experiences...”

“College is about new experiences,” Cheryl Yasumoto says, recalling her freshman year at Pacific University—her first time away from home, living in college dorms, using public transit, and, it was on the Pacific campus, where Cheryl first saw snow.

Growing up in Oahu, Hawaii, Cheryl heard about Pacific through her brother. “He was going to school here,” she says. “One time I came out to visit and helped with the luau. I met some of his friends and felt very comfortable here.”

Now a junior, majoring in Exercise Science, Cheryl's interest in physical therapy stemmed from sports injuries she had while growing up.

“I went to physical therapy so much I started to catch on, and soon I was teaching the [physical therapists] what they should be doing,” she says, laughing. 

Cheryl currently juggles a schedule of working as an Anatomy Teaching Assistant, playing soccer, helping out with the yearly luau, and still finds time to concentrate on classes and homework. Overall, she's felt that Pacific has been a rewarding challenge for her. “They expect a lot from you,” she says. “It takes effort, but it's worth it.”