“Every time I come back, something inside me just aches a little.”
For many EF alumni, returning to campus brings an unexpected wave of memories. Walking past the dorms, hearing students talk in the hallways or sitting in the gym during a basketball game can suddenly bring back moments from high school.
For Haley Le, Class of 2024, those memories begin the moment she steps back onto the Pasadena campus. When she arrived in 11th grade, EF Pasadena had just opened, and her class was one of the first groups of students helping shape what the school would become.
“We were the first class,” Le said. “There weren’t many of us, so everyone knew everyone. It wasn’t cliques. It really felt like family because we were building the school together.”
With such a small community, students saw the same faces everywhere. They sat together in class, ate dinner at the same tables and ran into each other in the dorm hallways late at night. Over time, those everyday moments turned into real friendships.
Now when Le returns to campus — often to watch a basketball game or visit teachers — those memories come back quickly. Sitting in the gym and hearing students cheer reminds her of the nights she once spent there as a student.
“I miss my dorm, my teachers and my roommate,” Le said.
Le says the feeling is both happy and bittersweet.
“I’m proud of how far I’ve come,” she said. “But when I sit in the gym and hear everyone cheering, I always think, ‘I used to be here every day.’”
For Hannah Tran (Class of 2025), the experience was shorter. Tran transferred to EF during her senior year and spent only one year on campus, but that year left a strong impression.
“At first I thought, ‘It’s just one year,’” Tran said. “But dorm life makes everything move faster. You bond with people really quickly.”
According to Tran, the small EF community made it easier to feel included even though she arrived as a new senior.
So what does she miss the most?
“The dorm. One hundred percent,” Tran said.
Living together meant late-night conversations, studying together before exams and running into friends in the hallway after midnight. Even in just one year, those everyday routines turned into memories she didn’t expect to miss so much.
“I didn’t expect to miss it this much,” Tran said. “Sometimes I wish I had transferred earlier. But I’m really grateful I came.”
Although Le and Tran spent different amounts of time at EF — two years versus one — their reflections on alumni life are surprisingly similar. Both describe feeling proud of how much they have grown since graduating, while still missing the place where many of those memories were made.
Being an alum, they say, isn’t just about finishing high school. Sometimes you only realize how important a place was after you’ve already moved on.
