Written by Marie Kane |

Photos by Mr. Bergman & former PawPrint staff 

Alumni Sophia Muce who graduated from Morgan in the Class of 2018 is now a “Blue Devil” at Central Connecticut State University. The reason she chose Central is because she does not want to be in debt for the rest of her life and it is a cheaper option. 

She loves the independence in college: “Living on campus is fun because, for the most part, you can do whatever you want.” She explained that Uber Eats delivers to New Britain which she has been excited about since it doesn’t work in Clinton. She also likes having the opportunity to choose what to learn in college. She said, “They provide a lot of classes that I’m interested in taking.”

What Sophia misses the most are her friends and teachers who she made connections with. “Seeing my best friends every day in the hallway was definitely something that I took for granted.” She wishes she knew how much she would miss them as well as family she does not see as much as she would like. “I would have spent more time with them in high school if I had known.”

Sophia’s high school experience was comfortable as she stayed in her comfort zone at Morgan, but she explained that she could have pushed herself more. College is still new to her: “I’m having new experiences and learning new information here which is pretty cool.” She is majoring in journalism because she enjoys writing, politics, and traveling. Journalism made her feel as though there is a combination of those three topics. She enjoys English-based classes and took Journalism at Morgan for two years which she loved.

Sophia prefers college because of the independence and the fact that she can choose what she learns: “I definitely feel like Morgan prepared me. College is a lot of writing, and I wrote so much in high school that I can push papers out pretty easily.”  At first, she was nervous to graduate and leave Morgan because it was all she knew, but she said, “Now that I’ve graduated, I’ve realized that I’m prepared to take on the real world.”

She explained how the transition to college from high school was not very hard because the two are similar in a lot of ways. What she would do if she was back in high school again would be making more of an effort to talk to people that she didn’t talk to. “High school can have a lot of cliques, and I wish I tried to get to know more people in my town.”

Sophia gave a shoutout to Spanish teacher Susan Peterson: “I looked up to her a lot, and I still think she’s a great person and teacher. She also mentioned English teacher Leslie Chausse, saying that since she is majoring in journalism in college, Mrs. Chausse’s class taught her skills that she is currently using.

Ms. Peterson, who believes Sophia is quick-witted, believes that she has become more independent and is now somebody who is self-directed and self-motivated: “She didn’t need guidance and could always make good decisions.”

Ms. Peterson shared a funny moment from when she held a Secret Santa of five or six people, and Sophia ended up having her for the Secret Santa. Ms. Peterson said, “She got me the most perfect gifts: a Frida Kahlo Calendar…” (which is an artist that Mrs. Peterson loves) “and a pack of hundreds of stickers.”

Ms. Peterson remembers the times when Sophia would stop in her room every single day. She said,  “I miss that everyday chat I used to have with her. She would make me laugh on a daily basis.”   

The advice from Sophia to the Class of 2019’s seniors is for them to try their best: “It’s easy to put the bare minimum in during your senior year because you’re bored, but colleges want to see growth when they look at your grades. Try not to catch senioritis.”