# Do Dreams Come True?: My Princeton Experience

**Source**: https://admission.princeton.edu/blogs/do-dreams-come-true-my-princeton-experience
**Parent**: https://admission.princeton.edu/taxonomy/term/944

October 15, 2023

By 

Nicole
Tacconi
'26

## Nicole Tacconi '26

I’m a junior here at Princeton University majoring in Computer Science with minors in Statistics and Machine Learning and Entrepreneurship. During the school year, my hands are pretty full with CS, p-sets, and midterms… all of which I’m hoping will develop into a career related to augmented reality. If I get a second off though, I have a knack for anything creative. I carry a sketchbook everywhere with me and love to sit down and write — either

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As an entering Sophomore at Princeton University, I cannot help but reflect back on my freshman year and the absolute awe that followed my arrival on campus. It felt like a dream come true. However as I reread my journal today, two particular entries reminded me of how my dream to of Princeton has evolved into my reality as a student. Like many high schoolers, Princeton initially was a dream come true. But I soon realized that Princeton placed me in an exhilarating environment with beyond talented individuals, challenging academics, and inspiring opportunities. **Princeton turned out to be much more than I had dreamed of.**

October 12th, 2022:

“*Every time I walk past Blair Arch, I remember that I’m literally living out my dream of going to an Ivy League [school]. This wasn’t supposed to happen. The odds were not in my favor. The acceptance rates are so small. Yet here I am. I never thought much of that, but now I realize how* *momentous* *it is! “*

A month into school, and I am very clearly enamored with the “idea” of Princeton.

March 22nd, 2023:

*“I got an iced coffee at Campus Club today. The weather is still cold outside, and the crisp air kindly reminds me every morning that I live on the East Coast rather than Texas. The old wooden doors of Campus Club welcomed me in as I ordered an iced coffee. As I sat down, I found it odd that I’m currently sitting inside an old mansion: the only way I can truly describe eating clubs to my friends back home. Dark wood frames the diamond patterned windows, and I feel cozy inside here. The room is quietly bustling with student activity, and I eavesdrop on other students discussing math and physics. I observe the room around me, wondering what's happened in this room, a room with 100+ years of history. It’s odd that this room used to only occupy men, and now here I am, occupying this space. Drinking my coffee, a young woman, bright and curious, diving into my electrical engineering homework. “*

By my second semester, I found a more accurate dream of Princeton. I recognized the privilege of this education on a deeper level. Princeton is not just a name or the face of our iconic Blair Arch, is a school with complex history. I take pride in being a woman in STEM, continually contributing to Princeton’s history--while drinking coffee in Campus Club. Since my first year here, I’ve realized that my dream of going to an Ivy League school has not really *come true*. As a woman in STEM, in an amazing academic environment, rich with history, I've been given a spot. I believe my dream has *just started*. \

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