Danielle Hoban: Selma

Selma lives in Delaware, but if you ask where she is from, the answer becomes a bit more complicated. Her immediate family currently resides in Dover, Delaware, but the rest of her family lives across the Atlantic in Bosnia. While Selma has never lived in Bosnia full time, she typically spends her summers there. She has a strong connection to her Bosnian culture, which likely stems from being raised by two proud Bosnian parents who kept a strict “no English in the house” policy as she grew up. They instead speak fluent Bosnian, a skill that Selma admits was difficult at times to master, but certainly worth learning. 

Selma feels at home when she travels to Bosnia, as it is where her extended family resides full time. She enjoys celebrating holidays with them and loves to feel connected to her big family. She has even applied for an internship position there. Her name may seem unique in American culture, but is actually quite common in Bosnia. She inherited her middle name from her grandmother, who was one of the first women to learn to drive in Bosnia and acts as a strong feminist role model to Selma. 

When she is not traveling, Selma enjoys a number of hobbies such as cooking and baking, tennis, and mock trial. She displays incredible drive and has impressive goals to enter the medical field as her father and brother have, or practice law like her mom. Selma feels best in a well put together outfit and enjoys dressing nicely for class, even at 8:40 AM. Selma is certainly worth getting to know and undoubtedly has a bright future ahead of her. 

Sydney Rubin: Danielle

Have you ever wondered about the people you sit next to during your hour-long lectures? Sure, you introduce yourself, maybe say hello when you see each other, but have you ever had a conversation to get to know your classmates? 

During class, I have been able to get to know Danielle. She’s from Delaware, and her family lives only 15 minutes away from campus. She has two siblings, an older brother who graduated from UD last spring, and a younger sister who constantly steals her clothes. She is majoring in energy and environmental policy, and her favorite color is pink. If you didn’t notice, she came to our first class wearing a pink coat. She later told me that jackets are her favorite garments to buy because she is always cold, and she has plenty in her dorm room to prove it.

Something that stuck out to me as Danielle was talking was her love of softball. She played for 13 years, and for the majority, she was coached by her dad. She fondly reminisced about the memories she made, and how much it meant to her to have her dad as a coach. She said that her dad worked full time but always made room in his busy schedule to spend time coaching her and her teammates.

Danielle’s favorite food is ice cream because, well it’s delicious, and she remembers walking the short distance from her house to the ice cream parlor throughout her life. She currently works at the same ice cream parlor she frequented with her family. Some of her hobbies include spending long days on the beach and listening to live music at concerts. And if she could have any superpower, she would choose teleportation so that she could travel anywhere in the world in a matter of minutes.

I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Danielle, and I’m glad I got to know one of the people that I sit next to during class.

Selma Cemerlic: Sydney

Sydney Rubin is an Exercise Science major from Long Island, New York. While she goes by Sydney, her full name, Sydney Alicia Rubin, holds quite a special meaning for her. Following Jewish tradition, Sydney Alicia was named after her two great grandparents. While Sydney never got the chance to meet them, she often hears stories about the people whose name she carries and feels connected to them through her name. Sydney’s strong connection to her family is strengthened through their family vacations to Maine, where she gets to climb on large rocks by the water and go to lighthouses with her three younger sisters. Even Sydney’s favorite dish, pasta with pesto, is tied to her family. Her father is Italian and learned how to make pasta with pesto from his grandfather who, you guessed it, Sydney was named after. 

Sydney, like her unique name, also has a unique liking for shoes. Sydney has countless pairs of shoes, and to justify buying more, tells her mom that the two of them will be able to share, since they have the same shoe size. Sydney grew up competitively dancing for many years until she switched to her high school’s dance team when she started school. One day, Sydney hopes to visit either Brazil or Italy, or perhaps teleporting there, as that would be her superpower if she could have one. Sydney also describes herself as a perfectionist, a trait that allows her to be a motivated and determined student, someone who can be a successful physical therapist in the future. I’m glad I got the opportunity to learn more about Sydney, and am excited to become closer friends throughout the semester.