When & Wear: Dear NYU

Dear NYU

Monday, May 22, 2017

Dear NYU,

I can't believe that four years has gone by so fast. It honestly seems like yesterday that my mom left me on the corner of 4th Ave and I was suddenly alone in New York City for the first time in my life. At the same time though, I've grown more than I could have ever imagined when I started at NYU.

I knew I wanted to go to NYU from the first moment I stepped onto campus fall of my senior year of high school. It was a perfect September day and people were all over Washington Square Park playing frisbee, eating lunch, and laughing with their friends. During my tour of the business school I could picture myself sitting in all of the classrooms and studying looking out at the city. The snippet I had of NYU that day became my dream of what college could be like.

Fast forward to a year later and I started my first year at NYU. What I quickly realized was that this school wasn't just a dream school, but a real one, and I was living a real life that was going to have it's ups and downs. I lucked out with the most amazing suitemates and quickly made friends that made me feel at home. We started traditions including obligatory Saturday morning bagel trips and Sunday afternoons studying in the fourth floor lounge. However, at the same time I found out that I was in a program full of students who planned on being Investment Bankers and started to feel alone alone in my then unknown career path (that definitely wasn't going to be banking). I realized it was going to be a lot harder to find my niche within this big (often scary) school than I had expected it would be.

But honestly, what is growing up if it's not hard and a little bit terrifying sometimes? I think about Sophomore year when I studied abroad in a program where I knew no one in a country where I barely spoke the language, the summer where I hated every minute of my internship, and even all the interviews I went through with no success during my junior year - These are the moments that taught me what I'm capable of. They led to finding more rewarding internships, exploring cities on my own, and finding a career path that is something I'm truly passionate about.

The best part of growing up though is the people that you meet along the way and NYU has brought me the best of the best. Organizations like Undergraduate Stern Women in Business and Admissions Ambassadors and even the people I met just by hanging out around campus (Hi to Grad Lounge & L-Suite crews!) have brought friends into my life that I am so grateful for. The friends from freshman year who somehow still managed to have great nights after being rejected from every bar in New York. The roommates who I might not see for weeks a time with our busy schedules, but were always there for the best moments and the morning catch up afterwards. The friends that roll their eyes every time I ask them to take blog photos for me and yet still do it. The friends that I didn't meet until junior year but don't know how I could live without now. The friends who will always find each other when Despacito plays at a party. The friends who I sat with at graduation last week while realizing that it's all ended a little too fast. These people made college the amazing unforgettable experience it was. They're the ones in thirty years I'll want to tell my kids to make sure they find when they go to college themselves, because it all means nothing without them.

All of my experiences these last four years have made me ready to enter the so-called 'real world', something I'm sure my parents are very happy about, but they've also given me people that inspire me and memories that I'll tell stories about for years to come. For all of this I thank you NYU because I couldn't be who I am today, as nostalgic about these years as I am excited about what the future holds, without the community and support this school gave me. And to my friends, congratulations and I can't wait to see the way you change and shape our world.

Oh and don't worry I plan on showing up to all the alumni events, so Washington Square isn't rid of me yet!