Everything Julienne Nkana ’28 needed to know about Guilford College she learned her first day on campus. She was jet-lagged, carrying a suitcase she could barely lift, and wandering across the quad in search of Friends Center with the universal look of someone lost.

She didn’t have to ask for help. Someone — Julienne still has no idea who — recognized her confusion and escorted her to Friends Center. No hesitation. No questions.

That one kindness told her everything: Guilford is a place where people stop what they’re doing to walk with you. For someone who had just left home for the first time, stepped onto her first airplane and crossed an ocean,, that mattered more than words could say.

“They left everything they were doing just to help me,” she says. “That’s when I realized — this place is different.”

Julienne was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, though she doesn’t remember it — her parents fled the war-ravaged country when she was an infant, settling in Zimbabwe. She attended a Quaker school, where she found a rhythm and a sense of purpose. When college applications came around, an advisor nudged her toward Quaker colleges.

Her decision to attend Guilford came with about a dozen firsts: first time leaving Zimbabwe, first time flying, first time in America, and first time doing all of this alone. Most people would panic. Julienne packed snacks.

“I’m not afraid to try something new,” she says. “I guess I’m the person who likes a little adventure.”

Julienne didn’t come to Guilford with a major. She came in with curiosity — which, in her case, is far more powerful. She took Economics Professor Natalya Shelkova’s microeconomics class and something clicked. Numbers made sense. Trends told stories. Patterns felt familiar. Analytics, she realized, was the perfect mix of everything she loved: numbers, coding, economics and the kind of intellectual adventure she thrives on.

“Analytics is like storytelling through numbers,” she says. “You use data to explain how things happened, why they happened and what could be improved. It’s not just math — it’s problem-solving.”

That framing isn’t theoretical. She dove into a project for Guilford’s Admissions Department, studying past data on student retention and evaluating ways to strengthen it. “You look at trends and patterns and ask: what do these numbers really mean for people? That part — the helping people part — that’s what I love,” she says.

Julienne says many of her classmates from back home are studying at Ivy League schools. She tells them about the projects she’s working on at Guilford and they seem surprised. “That’s what I like about a small college like Guilford. You jump in quickly to learn and build. You can shine early.”

Community is where she shines brightest. Julienne is a member of the Quaker Leadership Scholars Program, a group of about 30 students who examine Quakerism today and work on service and justice while at Guilford. “It’s nice coming together with other students who have the same interests of community and service,” she says.

After experiencing the warmth of Guilford’s welcome, she decided to help expand it. She brought back the College’s International Students Club, but with a twist. The club is open to everyone. “That’s how it should be,” she says. “A true cultural exchange. Americans teach us their culture, and we share ours. We learn from each other.”

She’s shared food from home, taught friends traditional dances and even joined Guilford’s cheerleading team. “Cheer is close to dancing,” she says with a grin, “and I love to dance.”

Ask how she found her place so quickly, and she doesn’t hesitate. “Guilford doesn’t make you change who you are,” she says. “It lets you be yourself and still belong.”

All those threads — data, culture, kindness, resilience — feed into the version of Julienne you see today: grounded, curious, fearless and fully woven into the Guilford community she once wandered into with a too-heavy suitcase and no idea where she was going.

“I have a direction now,” she says. “If you show up as yourself, Guilford will meet you where you are and help you get to where you want to go.”