Going on a decade later, Liesel Sharabi still remembers her welcome-to-Illinois moment as if it happened yesterday.
The future college professor had just arrived on campus by way of the University of New Mexico, where she’d earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in communication/journalism and was now in pursuit of a Ph.D.
“On one of my first days on campus, I had some time between classes, so I went to the Union to read,” she says. “I sat down with a view of the Quad, and it started pouring rain.
“There was a piano across from me, and there were students taking turns playing for practice. I felt at home.
“Even now, one of my favorite memories is that view of the Quad in the fall.”
