At the age of 14, Ken Kito visited the Quinnipiac campus and was smitten. He never got over his first love.

"I looked at a lot of other schools, but I only applied here," says Kito, a freshman from Port Jefferson, N.Y. "I held all the others up to Quinnipiac's standards-for beauty of the campus, available technology-they couldn't compete."

Kito visited to help his brother, Chris Kito '10, a management major, move in. Now a business student himself, Kito is considering finance or management as his major.

A music lover, he plays guitar and drums. With a father who's an insurance broker and a mother who teaches, Kito initially felt torn between business and education. His passion for music provided the solution. "I want to go into music business management," he says. "And then one day teach in a university. My business degree is going to be the backbone for all of it."

In the meantime, his residence hall has turned out to be a fine impromptu studio. Musicians abound. "People play guitar in the halls. There's a drummer on our floor, some singers. Everyone seems to really enjoy it," Kito says.

Students know how to be considerate, too, designating quiet times and heading to the library when they need to really concentrate on work. "I was fortunate to get really good roommates," Kito says. He shares a quad in Commons residence hall.

Next year he plans to join Delta Tau Delta, a new fraternity. "As one of the first members, I'll have the opportunity to shape it and make a name for it here."

Kito has already joined Young Americans for Liberty, a student political activism group. He enjoys debating current topics and organizing political events.

On weekends, he often heads into New Haven with friends, hopping the free Quinnipiac shuttle. He's caught a few concerts at the famed downtown hotspot, Toad's Place.

Living in the shadow of the Sleeping Giant mountain, Kito has rediscovered an old hobby: hiking. As a boy he hiked with an uncle in New Mexico. He now takes weekly hikes, usually solo, along the wooded paths to the summit of Sleeping Giant. "Hiking alone, you've got the chance to think," he says. "When you're around nature, you just sort of open up a little bit."

Kito's 16-year-old brother, Keith, is also considering Quinnipiac--a move Kito supports.

"I feel very confident that I'm going to be well prepared when I graduate," he says. "I've never met anybody with a degree from Quinnipiac who wasn't successful."