UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Liberal Arts student Samantha Escobar sums up how she feels about her college experience with one word: “grateful.”

Escobar, a third-year student with double majors in history and political science, has received financial, educational and social support from Penn State and the College of the Liberal Arts, which has greatly impacted her time at the University.

Escobar, a Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Scholar, entered Penn State during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading her to complete her first year online. A scholarship from a donor in the College of the Liberal Arts helped her face both a new educational environment and the struggles that came alongside the pandemic.

“I’m paying for school by myself. Figuring out how I was going to pay for college was a big thing I was worried about,” Escobar said. “One of the things I’m grateful for is that Penn State has scholarships within each college. I received a scholarship, and it was a big, big help.”

In addition to her initial scholarship, Escobar received another scholarship from the College of the Liberal Arts over the last two years.

“The support that I receive from the College of the Liberal Arts allows me to be a student and focus on my extracurriculars and my studies,” Escobar said. “But it also feels like a reward for the way I have been involved in the college. Just knowing that they see and appreciate what I do, it feels amazing to have that recognized.”

Being a scholarship recipient led Escobar to her internship with the Office of Development Communications in Penn State’s Division of Development and Alumni Relations.  

“I joined my internship because I knew that development involved working with and giving back to donors who’ve created scholarships, buildings, and professorships, which have impacted many students’ lives. Receiving scholarships myself, I wanted to give back and do my part to help donors invest in the lives of other students.”

The internship has also allowed Escobar to explore and share the support that the College of the Liberal Arts offers to students. Escobar said she’s more than happy to help others find support like she did.

“People should take advantage of everything the College of the Liberal Arts provides. I took advantage of the Career Enrichment Network and the enrichment funding they give for internships,” Escobar said. “I don’t see the same support in other colleges that I see in the Liberal Arts. Knowing that we have all these resources is definitely helpful and important for other Liberal Arts students to be aware of.”

Escobar is passionate about helping other students find support and community like she has during her time at Penn State.

When Escobar came to the University in person for her second year, she looked for a place to meet new people. At an involvement fair during Welcome Week, Escobar found the Colombian American Student Association, which quickly became her homebase. She now serves as the organization’s secretary.

“The Colombian American Student Association was the first club I joined where I met all of my friends,” Escobar said. “They really focus on creating more social gatherings and bringing people together.”

Being a member of the Colombian American Student Association allowed Escobar to feel connected to her family’s Colombian culture and served as a way for her to feel connected to the University. Escobar’s positive experience in the organization led one of her friends to suggest joining Latino Caucus. Upon entering her first meeting with the Caucus, Escobar felt even more connected to her roots and the people around her.

“The club made Penn State feel smaller and like home because I was able to connect myself with my culture and appreciate it. When you’re away from home, you look for people who’ll be like your family essentially. In Latino Caucus, I found people who I can call my family,” she said.

Quickly, Escobar became invested in the organization, joining the finance committee and becoming friends with the current president of the organization, Michael Garza, who at the time, was in the position of vice president of finance and oversaw the committee. Working closely together, Garza inspired Escobar to run for executive vice president alongside his run for president. Escobar felt empowered by Garza’s ideas of building the organization to be better than its previous years and decided to run for the position.

The pair won their executive board seats and now work together to bring Latino students to places within Penn State where representation matters, as well as supporting and creating a community that looks out for one another.

One of Escobar’s favorite experiences within the organization have been discussion-based meetings where club members enjoy coffee and talk about things impacting the Latino experience and their personal Latino identity. The Caucus also collaborates with other student organizations at these meetings, such as Minorities in Sports Next on the topic of representation in sports and the Penn State chapter of the NAACP on the topic of colorism.

“It’s a safe space,” Escobar said.

After college, Escobar intends to further her passions by going to law school to study immigration law, something she’s been able to dabble in through her history classes.

“I often find myself looking back in history and seeing how immigrants were treated in the past, and that relates to why I want to go into and study immigration law,” Escobar said. “As a kid, my family, my grandparents and my grandma’s sister were immigrants from Colombia. Growing up, I saw that because they spoke such little English, they were taken advantage of by different legal systems. They were citizens, but because they didn’t speak English, they were second-hand citizens.”

Escobar wants to help people moving to the United States like her family to prevent them from being taken advantage of or looked down upon.

This passion for helping other people — whether it be other students at Penn State or immigrants moving to the United States — is something Escobar plans to continue pursuing for years to come.

The Liberal Arts Career Enrichment Network is a resource for Liberal Arts students seeking opportunities to engage in career-related, international, and professional development activities. Students can meet with a career coach to discuss internships, education abroad, research, the Liberal Arts Alumni Mentor Program, and more. Through donor support, the Career Enrichment Network provides Liberal Arts students with funding to participate in many of these experiences.