Coming from a town where it felt like everyone else was destined for expensive private colleges, Avryn Jackson-Bonus felt like an outlier. As a first-generation student from Buffalo, New York, the path to higher education wasn't paved with family legacy; it was a road he had to navigate himself.

"I had no idea what to expect leaving home," Avryn admitted. "It was just a weird dread that was proven incredibly untrue."

That dread vanished the moment he stepped onto the PennWest Edinboro Campus. What started as a nervous leap of faith quickly transformed into a journey of self-discovery and academic rigor. Avryn found that the community at Edinboro was immediately disarming. Whether it was chatting with peers in the dining hall or engaging with faculty, the welcoming atmosphere allowed him to transition from a self-described introvert into an outgoing Resident Assistant and student leader.

His academic journey was defined by the personalized mentorship PennWest is known for. He didn't just stop at one degree; encouraged by the faculty, Avryn pushed himself to double major.

"I’d say that double bachelors is really what sets me ahead in every interview that I've been in for a job," he said.

Specifically, Avryn credits Dr. Jingze Jiang for altering the trajectory of his life. She didn't just teach him; she championed him. She pushed him to pursue Economics alongside Accounting and insisted he join a study abroad trip to China.

"She’s going to have an everlasting impact on my life," Avryn reflected.

That push to explore the world ignited a passion for travel that has seen him return to Asia every year since 2022.

Today, Avryn serves as a corporate accountant at ACV Auctions, a career built on the foundation of the bold choices he made at PennWest.

His advice to incoming students echoes his own transformation: "Always be open-minded to new experiences, and if anything scares you, don't back away. Just stare at it, and stare at it harder, and destroy it."