[Y HMC?] Audrey Thiessen

Hi!

My name is Audrey and I use she/her pronouns. I’m originally from Oklahoma City, OK, but now I am in the freshman class of 2026 at Mudd.

Me and my Mom standing in front of the mural in my dorm room during move-in.

Harvey Mudd was my top choice school from the beginning because of the representation of women in STEM on campus. If you don’t already know, Mudd’s diverse student body includes students of all gender identities. The professors also come from a wide range of backgrounds. During my short time at Mudd, I have found that the diversity on campus means that everyone can find their place at Mudd and feel respected. During the admissions process, the more I learned about Mudd, the more I knew that it was the right school for me. Students at Mudd have a wide range of interests that they enjoy sharing with others. The result of this is a place where students share interests and enjoy activities and learning experiences beyond STEM. I knew Mudd was the place for me before I moved to campus, but every day I am grateful to be here at Mudd.

Me and my friends at a concert at the Hollywood Bowl.

When college students move, their biggest fear is often about making friends. Many Mudders, are moving far from home and do not already know many (or any) people who are going to Mudd. I was shocked at how quickly I made friends and acquaintances here. In just my first few days on campus, I found that freshmen (often called frosh) are beloved members of the Mudd community. Returning students were delighted to greet us and welcome us to campus. And, they are very happy to help frosh with their homework! This speaks to the supportive nature of the Mudd community. 

The freshmen in my dorm built a giant “south stack” of chess pieces during our first dorm meeting. Here we are posing with the stack.

This community has a lot of personality too! For example, my dorm, South, has a giant chess set in our courtyard with different faces drawn on each piece. Our neighboring dorm, West, has a sailboat in theirs?! There are examples of Mudder’s creativity, ingenuity, and “good” ideas all over campus. There are murals all over campus as well as sculptures. At a recent on-campus event, there was a puzzle called “the bird cage” which required teamwork and ingenuity to solve… surprise, surprise, it was the work of a past Mudder. 

All in all the Mudd community is like no other that I have encountered, and coming to Mudd was one of the best decisions I have ever made.