SARAH COFFING | CULTURE EDITOR

Freshman Aris Cuello is surrounded by plastic bags full of snacks, a scented candle, a Nelson Mandela poster, textbooks and a laptop.

He is taking notes and studying to prepare for his assignment, to lead a class discussion.

Cuello is a criminology and psychology major from Providence, Rhode Island.

“I originally came here just as a criminology major,” he said. “I figured I’d have psychology to help open up different, other careers. But I originally wanted to become a part of Secret Service.”

Before deciding to become a Bulldog, Cuello also applied to Miami University, Georgia State University, University of Southern Carolina and Xavier University.

Cuello knew that no matter what, he wanted to attend an out-of-state school.

“Me and my sister are the only ones to actually go to college in our family,” he said. “She stayed in-state, so I figured I should go out and then see the world.”

Since enrolling at Butler University last fall, Cuello has gotten involved with the Black Student Union.

“We basically just get together every now and then in meetings and discuss how everything’s going on campus and address any topics that anyone has,” he said. “We basically come together to make the Butler experience more enjoyable.”

Personally, his favorite thing about Butler are the basketball games, “even though we had a tough loss,” he said.

His favorite thing about Indiana so far is that “it’s a lot more open here,” he said.

Compared to Rhode Island, Indiana is much more rural, he said.

“When we drove down here, all I was seeing was cornfield after cornfield after cornfield, and I was like, ‘I’m gonna get lost here for sure,’” he joked.