How many miles separate Siena College and Boca Raton, Florida? One thousand three hundred and eighty three to be exact.
For some students, being that far away from home for their college experience is out of the question. For Queensbury, NY native Sabrina Della Bella ’23, a cross-country experience was exactly what she was looking for. Nothing could change her mind. Right after finishing her senior year of high school, Della Bella jetted off to the Sunshine State.
While spending time back home during her first year in Florida, she stopped by Siena's campus to visit her friend Alli Gillam ’23, a freshman at the time.
“The atmosphere that weekend felt like my type of people. I didn’t meet one student that weekend who wasn't nice.”
Although she loved visiting campus and getting a glimpse of what life would be like as a Saint, Della Bella wasn’t fully convinced she was ready for a change — but then COVID happened.
Everyone remembers where they were when things started to shut down last March. Unfortunately, Della Bella was in Jamaica. After frantically searching for flights to get back home, she breathed a sigh of relief as she looked out her window seat on the plane before takeoff. It was then that she had a lightbulb moment. She reflected on her time at college in Florida and realized she needed to change direction. Right after landing back in New York, she applied to Siena. No more than a week later, she sent her deposit in.
It seems for Della Bella, staying close to home isn’t so bad after all.
"I love Siena with my whole heart; it has been such an amazing experience. The people here and the community are unmatched from any other college campus. Nowhere else can you find a student body full of kind people and an academic experience like I have received."
Sabrina Della Bella '23
