Growing up in New York City is such a unique and remarkable experience. The city that never sleeps has opportunity lurking around each and every corner. As a native New Yorker I did not want to leave that behind. New York City was full of the opportunities I wanted to take advantage of to further my experience in my desired field. So when it came time to apply to colleges, leaving NYC was the last thing on my mind.

One piece of advice I can give to anyone looking into what colleges they want to attend is to visit the schools on a school day, when students are all over campus. Look at their facial expressions and their attitudes when speaking to one another. Do not just visit the open houses and accepted student days. The students you interact with at those events are the kids who are involved and want to be there; they do not express the attitudes of the entire student body. When I visited the school I thought was “the one” all of the students were glowing & radiating with excitement for us accepted students to join them. It felt genuine, until the school year started. Even orientation was filled with student leaders gleaming with pride over the sororities, honor societies, and clubs they were on the executive boards of. The truth about open houses and accepted student days is that you only see the students that are enthused about the school in a way unlike some of the other students you may encounter (or in my case most of the students I encountered).

Growing up in the New York City public school system is an experience within itself. It’s full of different cultures, ethnicities and religions. I honestly believed it would be like that everywhere I go in life, because NYC is full of culture and I do not intend on leaving.

I never had trouble making friends until I got into college.

I had never been made fun of in class while speaking until I got into college.

I never heard blatant racist/sexist/homophobic statements out loud in class until I got into college.

When you grow up in such a diverse and urban area, you would never think about this happening to you. The point I am trying to get across is that the way the school is advertised to you may not be the way the school really is. To me it was advertised that the students were happy and excited 24/7 and would welcome you with open arms. When I got to class I experienced nothing but nasty girls cliqued together because they all went to the same high school. One of those said girls actually made fun of me as I did a speech on the gender wage gap in my public speaking class; one of the few intelligent topics chosen for that speech day. I experienced ignorant boys making racist, sexist & homophobic remarks because I guess they felt since the school we went to had nothing but white kids that it was okay. Going along with that, everyone had the same views on everything; political, social, etc. There is no good discussion in a class where your opinion differs from every single other person in the room. It’s a whole class’ opinion against yours.

I am so excited to head to St. John’s University in Queens next semester and I am excited to leave this campus behind.