August 26, 2026
When Alanah moved into her dorm last week, it was also the first time she’d ever set foot on Nebraska’s campus.
Understandably, she’s feeling a lot.
“I’m so excited, but I’m also definitely a little nervous,” Alanah says. “Mostly, though, I’m just ready to take the leap.”
A big leap was what she was looking for when Alanah first started thinking about what she wanted out of college. Through family and friends, Nebraska got on her radar.
“I've always told myself that I wanted to explore different things, experience different cultures and be accepted somewhere other than my home,” she explains. “At first, when I applied to Nebraska, it was kind of on a whim. But once I went through their programs and looked around on their Instagram, I was like, ‘Okay, wait, I love UNL.’”
In a place where she knows practically no one, Alanah knows she needs to lean into the college experience to start hitting her stride as a Husker. Thankfully, she's no stranger to putting herself out there.
Alanah was her high school’s student government president, a multi-sport athlete, the creator of the football program’s media team and the recipient of many other honors, achievements and successes. Naturally, she had a high bar for her prospective colleges to clear in terms of providing opportunities to build on her interests.
“I’m really excited to start joining different clubs. I’m pretty straightforward when it comes to seeking out new experiences, so I’m hoping I’ll just be able to start networking and meeting a bunch of people right away that will help to build community here.”
Before she even set foot on campus last week, Alanah got a jumpstart on finding her people.
“My roommate and I found each other on an app and got in touch the moment the housing portal dropped,” she says. “We FaceTimed for like five hours the other week just chatting, planning how we were going to decorate the room and sending TikToks back and forth. It’s been so great and I’m already feeling so thankful for that.”
Everything about her choice to come to Nebraska has felt surprisingly natural for Charles, confirming the reaction she had when she first opened her acceptance letter many miles away from campus.
“I opened that letter, I saw ‘congratulations,’ I saw my financial aid package, and I thought, ‘Okay, I’m going to have my Husker home very soon.’”
Alanah Charles is a first-year data science major from Miami, FL.