Ambar Mentor-Truppa's story begins at the Lincoln Avenue Residence Halls, which at the time was "really considered among the nicest of the dorm options," she says.
“I was arriving to campus with my roommate — childhood and high school best friend Rachel — and we were quite excited to begin our college journey together in this space. We made sure to let everyone know in our orientation materials that we we’re best friends and soon to be college roommates.
“We decided to rent a U-Haul trailer to bring our stuff from Chicago. Our eyes must have been bigger than our items, because we ended up with a massive trailer. I’ll never forget pulling up to the huge circle driveway at LAR and amidst the sedans, minivans and SUVs was our huge U-Haul. The move-in volunteers all couldn’t help but chuckle and laugh — clearly a freshman move.
“We were already known as the ‘best friends’ and soon became known as the ‘traffic jam’ because we took over most of the driveway smack in the middle of a very busy move-in-day.
“We ended spending both freshman and sophomore years at LAR — Shelden 4 — and became great friends with a group of diverse young women. I am a strong feminist and am honored that I was able to spend formative college years in a space dedicated to women’s freedom, nurturing and empowerment” before embarking a career that would lead her back to Chicago, where she’s now the VP for communications at the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law.
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