Sofia Mendez, 20, English major

“Probably ‘Sabriel’ by Garth Nix. It follows a female protagonist which is a really nice twist. I really like it because she’s [Sabriel] really motivated and even though she doesn’t want to be in the position she is in, she still goes towards the goal. She still struggles with herself and it’s nice seeing her bring herself out of her anxieties.”

Chris Rajkumar, 19, biology major

“It’s probably Hermione Granger because she’s kind of an outsider in the Harry Potter world yet she excels better than anyone in my opinion. Middle school is when I started reading Harry Potter and I didn’t really fit in. I was kind of more outgoing when I read her. She [inspired] me to go out there and do stuff.”

John Gaspar, 21, marketing major

“One of the characters, [Celaena Sardothien, is] from a book I read … ‘The Throne of Glass.’ Basically talks about the way her upbringing has affected her, especially through the government and how they were being suppressed and how she was able to rise up against that and overthrow it. It teaches me not to give up and that my opinion does matter and that. I can change things.”

Cheyenne Appleby, 19, behavioral sciences major

“The older girl from the Goonies, I always thought she was really cool cause she always hung out with all the guys and they treated her like one of them. She was always a role model for me in a way that she wasn’t worried about what other people thought. She was able to go hang out with them and do what she wanted to do.