Thirty-two hours, three time zones, and countless playlists later, Alaina Sanders arrived in Bourbonnais,Ill.; a world away from the quiet familiarity of her Oregon hometown. After being homeschooled for most of her life, Sanders was stepping into her first college classroom. Now a sophomore double-majoring in Public Relations and Multimedia Communication with a concentration in Film Studies at Olivet Nazarene University, she’s learning to navigate both college life and a landscape that feels entirely different from the forests and mountains she left behind.
Sanders was homeschooled in Oregon until her senior year of high school, so the shift to college life in Illinois brought new challenges and new opportunities for connection. She stepped into her first traditional college classrooms, met people from all over the country, and began discovering more about herself and her passions. Those passions, which include storytelling, environmentalism, and music, are central to who Sanders is.
(Video by: Sanders)
In her communication studies, she’s especially drawn to the creative side of media and how stories can connect people through emotion and meaning.
“I think it’s really cool that people can use words, visuals, and actors to create something that’s not themselves,” she said. For Sanders, storytelling isn’t just about self-expression, but also about stepping outside of her own perspective to bring other people’s stories to life.
Sanders’ friend and classmate, Grace McCall, remembers meeting her during their freshman year in a non-linear editing class. The two bonded when Sanders chose a Noah Kahan song for her final project, and McCall, who has a tattoo inspired by Kahan, recognized their shared taste in music and creative style. Their friendship grew quickly from there. McCall describes Sanders as kind, witty, and sarcastic, and says her favorite thing about her is how compassionate she is toward others. McCall also admires Sanders’ dedication to her education, saying she keeps both of them motivated when they study together.
Outside of class, Sanders spends her time reading, baking, watching movies, and going out with friends. She gravitates toward coming-of-age stories, like “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” “Juno,” “The Edge of Seventeen,” and “10 Things I Hate About You,” because “you can find a lot of yourself in what you’re watching.” The same goes for her taste in music, which includes artists like Noah Kahan, Billie Eilish, Conan Gray, Sabrina Carpenter, Joshua Bassett, and Lizzy McAlpine. Even when she can’t directly relate to a song or story, she enjoys exploring the meanings behind them and understanding why an artist chose to tell it that way.
From her cross-country move to her academic pursuits, Alaina Sanders continues to find beauty in different perspectives. Whether she’s behind a camera, enjoying a movie, or is deep in conversation with a friend, her life reflects the very thing she loves most: stories that connect people and reveal the heart behind them.
