Alicia Paul is a sophomore at South Puget Sound Community College in Olympia. “I’m most thankful for my family. We lost a couple people this year and I’m just thankful for the people I have in my life who will always be there,” Paul said. “Just … my family — I love ’em. “I’m also thankful for financial aid that sure has helped me out this year,” she said, laughing. The biggest difference Paul, who is from Walla Walla originally, noticed in returning to the Valley has been a distinct lack of trees compared to Western Washington. “There are trees, it’s beautiful,” she said. “When I pulled up here I was like, ‘Where the heck are all the pine trees at?’ It just feels weird coming back here.”