By Andrea James

Dominique Townsend is currently a junior at PUC, studying English with an emphasis in literature and a minor in writing. Dominique decided to attend PUC after visiting during College Days when she was a high school senior. In her words, “It just sort of clicked. It felt like home—somewhere where I was comfortable.” She applied and was accepted to PUC, receiving the Maxwell Scholarship and entering the Honors program.

So far, Dominique has thrived at PUC. She gets plenty of support from her teachers and classmates. In the Honors program, she gets to “experience a wide range of classes that are taught in interdisciplinary ways” to help her connect what she’s learning with her life and her future.

Dominique sees PUC as quiet yet connected. She appreciates the close, familial atmosphere of the PUC community. In her words, “We might not always know all of the goings-on in each other’s lives, but when something happens to one of our own, we band together to share their joy, sympathize with their sadness, and protect their rights to be who they are.”

Her favorite part of PUC is that “every day [here] is like having [a] mountaintop experience with God. We’re literally at the top of a mountain, and it’s beautiful. I think all of the nature and the scenery up here just points right back to our Wonderful Creator.”

Dominique is a very active and passionate member of the PUC community. She’s the president of PUC’s chapter of the English honor society, Sigma Tau Delta, and the secretary and co-founder of Thaumatrope, a club focusing on serving others. She’s also the head editor of Quicksilver and works as a teacher’s assistant in the department of English and occasionally tutors at the Teaching and Learning Center.

Dominique has clearly made use of the opportunities and resources available at PUC. She has pushed herself to achieve, to be creative, to improve spiritually, and to use her talents and skills to help others.

She says, “Looking back on my life, I think my college experience will probably be the period of the most change for me. I’ve made new friends, [I’ve] experienced a lot more things, I’ve picked up some new hobbies, I’ve seen myself grow academically and spiritually—and I think that those are positive aspects I’ll take out into the world when I graduate.”