Posts Tagged ‘NYU’

Chapter One: Welcome Week

Friday, August 13th, 2021

I love flying into New York City at night. I always choose the aisle seat on airplanes because of my motion sickness, but I can never resist peeking through the plane’s windows in my periphery; one of my favorite views is that of the glittering lights beneath New York City’s night sky.


Bird's eye view of NYC at night
Bird’s eye view of NYC at night

In August of 2016, I flew from Colorado to New York in order to get settled in prior to beginning my college career. Once the plane landed, my stomach flipped over in excitement. My mom had come with me to help me move and I couldn’t believe that my dream of attending NYU had become a reality. 

Of course, I was also terrified. I knew that no one else from my high school class would be coming to NYU, and after my mom left I had no choice but to confront my newfound alone-ness. I sardonically thought to myself, “Well, welcome to Welcome Week.” 

I felt like a failure and my first semester had not even begun. One of my assigned roommates, whose name was also Anna, was a drama student in the Tisch School of the Arts. Off the bat, Tisch’s performing arts medium provides a tight-knit cohort community you’ll know for years, and I did not have that luxury as a Media, Culture, and Communication student since we were not placed into cohorts. I really liked the other Anna, and we made plans to hang out at one of NYU’s Welcome Week events: Drag Bingo, which featured contestants from RuPaul’s Drag Race. It seemed cool, and I nostalgically wished that one of my closest high-school friends was there because he would’ve loved it. He even made up his own drag name in honor of the show: “Shaneeda Bronze” (as in, “She needs a bronze.”). 

While I wallowed in nostalgia and loneliness on the second night of Welcome Week, I knew I needed to play a more active role in my own life. Unfortunately, I arrived at Drag Bingo well after the other Anna, and there were no more seats available near her (and no one was allowed to save seats). At that point, I was still standing in a stairwell in a line (or on a line for all the “real” New Yorkers) spanning across multiple floors. When I reached one of the landings, I noticed a pair of tan double doors to my right as someone threw them open to go through. I wondered aloud to the two girls standing in front of me, “Do you think we could go up that way?” They both shrugged and we continued standing in line. I stood with the girls at the back of the room during the event, and afterward they invited me over to their shared dorm. And that is how I met my best friends.

It was serendipitous as much as it was the effort we put in to socialize with other students and get to know our college community at various events. Certainly don’t hesitate asking your roommate(s) to hang out, and seeing if you can be friends! 


Playbill at Sunday in the Park with George. (Before we knew Jake Gyllenhaal “doesn’t shower often.”)

Since we are required to live in dorms for our first year, I wanted to make the most of my dorming experience as well. NYU offers “Themed Engagement Communities,” wherein specific floors in respective dormitory buildings will schedule activities pertaining to that theme. When I applied for housing I threw my hat in the ring for the “Laughing Matters” comedy-themed fourth floor of the Weinstein building. I have loved comedy since I was in elementary school, and decided to study Media because of my reverence for political satire. Applying to the special interest floor gave me wonderful (cost-saving) opportunities to view an array of Broadway performances for $10 each. We went to see plays including Avenue Q, Sunday in the Park with George, and Dear Evan Hansen, as well as professional improvisation shows. 

Regrettably, I only joined a club, College Democrats, in senior year. I regret having waited that long to be more involved in the clubs on campus, especially because my senior year ended up being truncated due to COVID-19. NYU, like many colleges, hosts a Club Fest in both the fall and the spring, and trust me, there is no shortage of clubs to choose from, whether it’s political, athletic, improv, or food-related, etc. 

Of course, the college experience and New York City are two of the most overly-romanticized notions you may hear about. I still cried myself to sleep during those first few nights as I second-guessed my abilities to make friends. Yet, you are drawn to whatever city you end up in for a reason. You don’t have to figure it out right away. Find solace in your comfort mechanisms, like comedy is for me, and in the meantime, don’t be a passenger in your own life.


We encountered this sign outside of a restaurant (Gran Electrica) in Dumbo

Beginning your freshman year, I recommend you:

  • Do research about special dorming opportunities while selecting a dorm. Mine was the cheapest and we got to go see Br’dway shows for $10! (kudos if you get that reference)
  • Look for activities to do that are hosted by your school (after you cry a little bit because you’re overwhelmed and alone)
  • Get to know your roommates!
  • Have some adventures with said roommates. Even if it means accidentally ending up in Far Rockaway because you missed your subway stop. (I get lost nearly every day of my life; I call it sightseeing.)


By: Anna Matefy

Anna Matefy recently graduated from NYU with a Bachelor’s in Media, Culture, and Communication. She has been working in politics for the past few years, and wants to transition into a career in media entertainment/comedy. She will be attending NYU as a graduate student in Media beginning in 2021.


For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC,  from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourages them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing, and services.  At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.

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Trying to figure out… Food Situation

Friday, June 28th, 2019

Food becomes an afterthought real quick once you hit college. Without the reminder of someone providing food or carved out meal times, many college students don’t eat. When they do eat, it’s not even close to the realm of something healthy. This problem usually gets worse during midterms and finals seasons, when many deadlines pile up. It’s hard to keep up and usually, food is the first thing that gets skipped.

At NYU, I found that most students live off events with free food, especially freshmen. For commuters, if you don’t have a meal plan, figuring out what to eat is a struggle.

During my first semester of college, I would go an entire day without eating. I would come home after a long day of classes and just collapse on my bed. While laying in bed trying to muster the energy to start my homework, I would hear low rumblings. Then at times, there would be a loud churning sound. Only then would I register how hungry I was. I’d replay my day to figure what was the last thing I ate. The answer usually was an Eggo waffle with my morning coffee. I soon realized after many repeated moments the insidious nature of my eating habits and mindset. Not only is this practice unhealthy, but it also makes getting through school much harder.

Some things I’ve learned from commuting the past three years:

  • Bring lunch with you whenever you can. 
    • There are plenty of places on campus where you can use a microwave to warm up your food. Additionally, there are sinks and water dispensers if needed. (Commuter lounges are set up for that purpose)
  • Bring snacks on those days when bringing lunch isn’t necessary or takes up too much space in your bag.
  • Stay hydrated! 
    • Carry a water bottle. Maybe a collapsible one that will take up less space once you finish it. Flavor it with limes or fruit if drinking plain water isn’t working for you.
  • Build in reminders.
    • Check in on others and have them check in on you. Find a food buddy to keep you conscious of meals. It helps if they are a foodie or health conscious to keep you on that track.
    • Put reminders or alarms on your phone to eat. It forces you to think about your body and its need for sustenance.

From NYU Steinhardt Bio Page

Marion Nestle is the Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at NYU. She teaches courses that range from food writing to food advocacy to topics in food sociology. She has written plenty of articles and books on the topic of nutrition and the dynamics of food in our society. Her philosophy when it comes to approaching food is that “Healthy diets are good for whatever ails you, including stress.”

Here are some points she suggests to keep in mind when thinking about food:

  • Most important fruits and vegetables. Eat the ones you like best, but it’s good to vary them as much as possible.
  • No easy way to say this, but eat less. Weight gain is about excessive energy intake. To keep your energy in balance, choose smaller portions and avoid snacking in between meals.
  • If you like coffee or soda, drink it, but recognize how much caffeine it has and how much is tolerated. I don’t generally view coffee as a problem except when it is excessively caffeinated. Shots are another matter; it’s best to avoid them.
  • Approach food with the mindset of it being life’s greatest pleasure. Eating healthy is so easy that the journalist Michael Pollan can explain how to do it in seven words: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

————————————————————————————————————

By Sanjidah Chowdhury

Sanjidah is a rising senior at NYU Steinhardt majoring in applied psychology. She aspires to become a mental health counselor to understand intergenerational dynamics and better serve the needs of women, Muslims, and the South Asian community. She currently works with NYU’s Office of Alumni Relations. Throughout the academic year, she works on a research team under Professor Niobe Way and volunteers for Nordoff -Robbins Center for Music Therapy. Most of the time you can find Sanjidah with her nose in a book and music blasting through her headphones. 

For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC,  from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourage them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing, and services.  

At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.

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Surviving College: The Cycle of Exhaustion

Tuesday, December 18th, 2018

Sometimes we just feel too beaten down to care anymore. We allow ourselves to fall into unhealthy patterns, making bad decisions at every turn. I miss feeling healthy and in control of my life. Homework and the freezing weather of NYC have beaten me down. But I want to feel healthy and in control of my life again. I want to wake up early every single morning and jump out of bed like the old days. I want to go to the gym and spend hours working off the calories from my meal plan. I want to have time to do my hair or put some makeup on in the morning instead of running out of the room ten minutes after I wake up because I am late for class again. I want to paint my nails and go on cute dates around the city. But most of all, I want to feel happy and confident in myself again.

I have been wanting all of these before I set foot in New York. I remember talking with my closest friends about how mature and productive we were going to be in college, what we would accomplish, and how well we would manage our time doing everything we wanted. When you fantasize about college, you never fantasize about the crippling workload, the constant loneliness, the thousands of miles between you and your friends, the deprivation of beautiful home-cooked meals now reserved for Thanksgiving and Christmas, or the exhaustion.

Everyone has experienced lethargy from lack of sleep. But college elevates exhaustion in a heightened, torturous form of sleep deprivation. For many other college students like me, the unhappiness over the sudden changes in your life is the main source of this tiredness. Your unhappiness keeps you awake at night and keeps you asleep throughout the day. Not an actual state of sleeping, but in a foggy middle ground of daydreams so you can’t really say you’re awake but you also can’t just fall asleep because you only wrote one-hour worth of your three-hour art theory lecture with a ton of work left. When I’m unhappy with my lack of control, I escape into my dreams.

However, life keeps moving while I am asleep so I always feel like I need to catch back up when I wake up. This is the exhausting part. You rush to catch up to life, worrying and stressing even more, and then just as you’ve caught up and the angst fades, the exhaustion has caught up to you as well, and the cycle repeats. I’m stuck on this Ferris wheel of being jaded and sad, but at least I have noticed it. I have seen my mistakes, my missteps, and now I know how to fix them, right? Naturally, that is where this conversation should go since I am giving my advice to whoever is reading this, but I can’t make that claim.

Life isn’t about having all the right answers and living in a perfect world where you never fail. Nobody has all-knowing power, but we can make guesswork at how to find happiness. I want to be happy as I was when I was eight when I was playing sports, venturing through the forest, building forts with my brothers, swimming at the beach, or crafting sandcastles. Nowadays when I have free time, I watch an episode of Bojack Horseman or The Office, scroll through Instagram, or laugh at Key and Peele skits on Youtube, but I no longer play outside.

I saw the Ted Talk “Why you should take time to play.” As a high schooler then, I didn’t connect to the video the first time I watched it, but now that I am in college with barely any free time, I should watch it again. Realizing you’re unhappy and not in control of your life will not automatically restore happiness. But realizing that you need a change and actively committing yourself to it will form a new, healthier cycle.

Remember

  • Check in with yourself
  • Discover what has changed about you and how this makes you feel
  • Make conscious decisions to change, out with the old and in with the new

 

By Solana Joan Suazo


Solana is a freshman at NYU Steinhardt, studying art and psychology. Solana spends many hours walking around lower Manhattan with her friends, sketching in the park, or finding new inspirations for her art around the city. When she isn’t playing volleyball or meditating, she’s usually watching Game of Thrones with her roommate, daydreaming about California beaches and buys, or painting a new picture for art class. She loves coffee, chocolate, and ramen, of course.

For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC,  from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourage them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing and services.  

At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.

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Mastering the Art of Time Management

Tuesday, December 11th, 2018

Time management is difficult to master in college. When I make time for important things like exercising and having fun, I feel like the best version of myself. Recently however, I haven’t found time to exercise or go on adventures on my weekends. I was so close to functionality. Then a trip to California wrecked my sleep schedule.

I should set a healthy sleep schedule that allows for at least eight hours a night. I am a complete mess if I receive less than seven hours of sleep, which is why it has been so hard for me to regain the sleep schedule I had before going to California. I stayed up until six in the morning on some nights in California, which is nine in the morning in New York. I would also sleep until about twelve in the afternoon over that vacation, and so I have been sleeping till about three in the afternoon since I have been back in New York. What a mess. I want to feel in control of my life again, so I have decided to make time for the things that are important to me.

I decided to spend less time scrolling aimlessly through social media for hours. Excessive exposure to social media gives me little beneficial; it doesn’t make me feel better, it doesn’t make me healthier. “Social media seriously harms your health” is a common saying. But why don’t any of us heed the warning? I no longer want to waste my time being another thoughtless zombie controlled by the rhythmic movement of thumbs on a screen, scrolling for some meaning far from reach. Instead, I want to find meaning in real life.

I have decided to do more of what I love. I want to create more, as most artists do. I have complained how I have not had the time to create my own art. But upon reflection, I have not been motivated enough to make time for my own art. You must fight for time and be smart with how you use it. Instead of wasting hours away lying down on my bed gazing into the Netflix-riddled abyss onmy computer screen, I should be clearing my bed and my head, busting out my art supplies, and immersing myself in the practice that I love most in this world, painting down my thoughts.

I also want to spend more time with myself. College is a time in your life when you are undeniably alone; no family, no life long friends, no well-acquainted community you grew up with. But that doesn’t mean aloneness is bad. When I am alone, I am more honest with myself, instead of further away from others. When I am alone, I create my best creations. I have no external distractions. When I am painting, or journaling, or sketching alone, I am graced by the company of my best self. 

As I regain my best self, I have had many realizations about the subtle changes I should make to my daily routine. I cannot stress enough how important it is to know yourself in college and throughout life. Yes, it is important to make connections and friendships with others, but other people only know the face that you show them, not all the faces you hide underneath. Also, once you are at a harmonious place with yourself, life will ease. When you are confident in yourself and what you want out of life, you can reach out and get it.

Remember

  1. Schedule your life, make a healthy routine.
  2. Make time for things that benefit you and help you grow as a person.
  3. Spend less time on activities that do not benefit you or that harm you.
  4. Spend some time alone with yourself.
  5. Trust yourself. You know yourself better than anyone else.

 

By Solana Joan Suazo


Solana is a freshman at NYU Steinhardt, studying art and psychology. Solana spends many hours walking around lower Manhattan with her friends, sketching in the park, or finding new inspirations for her art around the city. When she isn’t playing volleyball or meditating, she’s usually watching Game of Thrones with her roommate, daydreaming about California beaches and buys, or painting a new picture for art class. She loves coffee, chocolate, and ramen, of course.

For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC,  from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourage them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing and services.  

At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.

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Ice-Breaking With New Friends

Tuesday, November 6th, 2018

Coming from a small island, I kept my childhood friends close. I met three of my closest friends in kindergarten, so my adult self was out of practice in friend-making. I have had the same group of friends for so long that I doubted that others could fill the gap when I had to leave them for NYU. Meeting Eric, Javi, and others friends at the move-in party was a miracleUnfortunately though, I was friendless in my classes.

Eric, Javi, and others friends were in different classes. For a while I kept to myself in all my classes, unable to get over my shyness. I would enviously eavesdrop on my classmates’ conversations. I needed friends in my difficult classes, a study partner, a study group to survive the workload.

I thought it was unlucky that NYU Steinhardt required students to take a New Student Seminar class. Next thing I knew, I was sitting in a classroom full of freshman. Ramy Ebied, my academic advisor, put all of us into pairs to break the ice with our fellow classmates. He paired me with the very tall and handsome Luke, so I became even more nervous when it came time to start the ice breaker. Fortunately, Ramy gave us three topics to get us started. 

Ramy’s Icebreaker Questions:

  1. Where you are from?
  2. What our names mean or how we got them?
  3. Something challenging about college so far or something you enjoy about college so far?

Luke and I became acquaintances, then close friends. He decided to start a study group before our first psychology exam, inviting our whole class. Only a handful showed up, but it was nice to finally be in an intimate environment where I could talk with my fellow classmates. Now I have many acquaintances in that class and one cool close friend in Luke. 

Meeting Luke helped me open up. I eventually made close friends with Hannah, a senior from painting class. Last class she invited me to get food with her after. I agreed to stop at a Shake Shack where Hannah and I had our first non-school conversation, about our futures, her dog, and my anxieties. As we were walking back to Washington Square Park, she told me that I was always welcome to join her at the dog park with her and her adorable dog.

My initial mistake was that I figured college would be like high school, that people stay within the realm of their grade or class and don’t form friendships across those boundaries. I have never seen a high school senior and a high school freshman develop a mutual friendship. But I learned to stop comparing the larger-than-life NYU to my tiny high school.

College is a fresh start to go outside of your bubble and meet new people across the boundaries.

Remember

  1. Open up to people, especially if they are opening up to you.
  2. Say yes to group activities or events. There you will meet people who will have a lot in common with you.
  3. College is nothing like high school, all the grades/levels blend together into one collective, so don’t be intimidated. 
  4. Make a few close friends, those you can share an intimate chat with. 

By Solana Joan Suazo


Solana is a freshman at NYU Steinhardt, studying art and psychology. Solana spends many hours walking around lower Manhattan with her friends, sketching in the park, or finding new inspirations for her art around the city. When she isn’t playing volleyball or meditating, she’s usually watching Game of Thrones with her roommate, daydreaming about California beaches and buys, or painting a new picture for art class. She loves coffee, chocolate, and ramen, of course.

For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC,  from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourage them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing and services.  

At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.

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Fighting The Moving Day Blues at NYU

Tuesday, October 30th, 2018

When I flew from the Caribbean islands to New York City, I couldn’t bring more than my clothes in three overweight suitcases. My mom, her boyfriend, and I spent two days shopping for dorm necessities at Bed Bath and Beyond. Unfortunately, I  bought things before even seeing my dorm, so I would later discover that many items didn’t fit. 

Arriving on campus on move-in day, I was a bundle of confusion with a racing heart. Parents were scurrying to get their children out of the car and up the stairs to Weinstein Hall’s lobby. As soon as I began loading all of my stuff on to the curb, I noticed and recognized Grace, my roommate at the curb. We chatted. Seeing her nervous face reminding me I wasn’t alone in my anxiety. 

Once Grace and I arrived at our room I became more overwhelmed. Her family and my family were all cramped into our tiny dorm, scurrying around and fixing every minute detail to save us stress. It had the opposite effect for me. Seeing everyone racing around the tiny space, opening boxes, making opinions, increased my claustrophobia in this tiny room.

I needed to get out. My mom, her boyfriend, and I headed back to Bed Bath and Beyond, but we found more chaos there. The whole freshman class were rushing to find the products they needed before someone else found them first. Eventually we escaped and headed back to my dorm. Then my mom and her boyfriend left me so I could finish up the unpacking at my pace, while my roommate was out to lunch with her parents. I put on some music. Finally, I could relax in my new space and create it exactly how I wanted to, without people throwing their opinions at me.

When I finally finished organizing I laid down. I was in my dorm in the greatest city in the world, the city I had dreamt of living in for as long as I could remember. I would make the most out of my four years here.

Weinstein was holding an Ice Cream Social in the lobby.  I have never been a social person, always waiting for someone else to spark a conversation with me. From across the room I saw two freshman boys both dressed in stylish dark colors. I was too scared to approach them though, so I sat still and hoped my nerves would fade. Then suddenly, someone asked if I wanted to play Uno. I looked up to see the two boys from across the room. They were Eric and Javi. We played Uno before going to the Bed Bath and Beyond party to dance and sing the night away.

Why was I worried about making friends? Everyone is in the exact same boat when entering college with the desire to make friends. Not everyone you meet in college is going to be your best friend, but it is nice to be acquainted with people, to smile or wave as you pass by each other on the street.

Eric and I became closer in the days that followed. He introduced me to Melody, his high school friend from California, then she introduced me to Kaitlyn. Now all of us, Grace, Javi, Eric, Kaitlyn, Melody and I, hang out almost every single day. I always wondered what would have happened if Eric didn’t approach me to play Uno that night. I wouldn’t have been introduced to Javi, Melody, and Kaitlyn. Fate brought me a caring, creative group of individuals.

Remember

  1. Know your space before you try to fill it. See your dorm room before spending hundreds of dollars on it.
  2. Stay open towards new people. They share the same fears and anxieties with you on their first day.
  3. If you don’t meet a ton of people at first don’t worry about it. The friends you make will introduce you to more friends in the future.

By Solana Joan Suazo


Solana is a freshman at NYU Steinhardt, studying art and psychology. Solana spends many hours walking around lower Manhattan with her friends, sketching in the park, or finding new inspirations for her art around the city. When she isn’t playing volleyball or meditating, she’s usually watching Game of Thrones with her roommate, daydreaming about California beaches and buys, or painting a new picture for art class. She loves coffee, chocolate, and ramen, of course.

For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC,  from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourage them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing and services.  

At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.

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Roommate Horrors

Tuesday, July 3rd, 2018

Her laughter would annoy me as she was approaching the door. I would be even more annoyed if there were a second laughter that harmonized with hers–she loved to bring friends over at night. These are just some of the complaints I had about my roommate, who I will name Tory. My other roommate, with the pseudonym of Ally, was fairly quiet. I remember hesitating as to whether or not I should live on campus because I already lived in NYC. My number one concern was having an awful roommate that I would be stuck with–and although Tory wasn’t necessarily terrible, I consider myself unlucky for being bombarded with an inconsiderate person. Despite her thoughtlessness, I established strict rules on drinking in the room–I had been admitted on a scholarship that stressed that any of its students caught drinking would have their scholarship confiscated. After all, a full scholarship is a sweet student deal and I’m all about student discounts.

Looking back, NYU was not strict at all when it came to room checks, but I don’t regret emphasizing that rule to my two roommates. I was only a freshman who wasn’t aware of NYU’s leniency, and I was simply looking out for myself and definitely my financial wellbeing. Speaking up was never an issue for me, but I didn’t want to seem like the mother of the room. Even though I had the right to peacefully speak up about certain factors such as cleaning the bathroom, keeping the noise down when guests come over, and not slamming doors in the morning, I didn’t want to overdo it. On the other hand, I can only keep my mouth shut for so long when it comes to living with someone. Tory had proposed a rule to me and Ally, called “sock on the door.” We all agreed on it, and Tory tested the system for the first sometime during the spring semester. I was with my friend when I saw Tory’s text and about an hour later, we went to check if the sock was still in place–of course, it was.

When I ran into Ally later that day, she admitted that she was also annoyed by the inconvenient timing of Tory’s occupying the room which went on for an hour and a half in the evening the day of a residential floor meeting. When the actual confrontation took place with Tory, Ally was silent as a mouse. I was the only one to speak up during the uncomfortable conversation. Although there was some tension in the room afterward, the situation passed. Some of our other issues with Tory still persisted, and I couldn’t rely on Ally to say anything because of how timid she was. There was always a competition as to who would take out the trash as it would pile day by day. Thank goodness I had my own trash can, my Zzzquil for those noisy nights, and my apartment nearby to help me keep my sanity. Still, we all got along for the most part and the living situation could have been much worse, because I know not everyone can tolerate me. I’m happily moving in with my best friend next year, and I know I  might become annoyed by things she does, but I am proud to know that I have the guts to speak up about whatever issues may arise.

By: Tiana B.


Tiana is a sophomore at NYU concentrating on journalism and creative writing. She seeks to display the representation of African Americans and Latinos by providing her own experiences and illuminating marginalized issues in her own writing. When she’s free from her stressful college life, she likes to listen to rap music, binge watch on anime, splurge on Kmart deals, and cook her Hispanic cuisines. Tiana also runs another blog called True T which also highlights not only her personal experiences, but her genuine and unfiltered opinions on today’s matters.

For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC,  from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourage them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing and services.  

At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.

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The Diary of a College Student: Adjusting to Life Off-Stage and into the Lecture Hall

Monday, April 2nd, 2018

In having been an actor for over 10 years of my life the adjustment that I experienced in not pursuing acting further in college was interesting, to say the least. Before that, life had been a world of opportunity in the sense that anywhere could have been a stage upon which to demonstrate my craft, my commitment, my skill, etc..

Upon arriving in New York City as a freshman college student, I found myself searching for something new around which to center my life. Something that could fill the void I felt inside me. I wanted to substitute something for the hours of intense training, detail-oriented rehearsals, and a creativity that was conditioned to image the sufferings and joys of human existence. I was in the process of reimagining my life, adjusting to my new life off-stage, in lecture halls, and among unfamiliar peers; in the manner that I would live, the activities that I would pursue daily, the motivation that I felt that pushed me toward always becoming better than what I was the day before, etc.. I believe that this time, a time of life re-imagined, can relate to, and is shared by, those who experience a dramatic shift in their day-to-day routines, their sense of limitation, and their sense of liberty when choosing what to prioritize in life.

This especially applies to college students, namely Freshmen, who recently removed themselves from a familiar environment full of routine and safety. In attending an out-of-town, an out-of-state, or international university, students are faced with the difficult task of taking what they knew as life and drastically reimaging it to suit their needs in their new localities. The difficulties arises from temptation. Temptation that is reinforced by the general newfound liberty of independent living. Spiderman taught me at a young age that “with great power comes great responsibility,” and it is a fact of human existence that ameliorating one’s liberty of choice, freedom of expression, and right to self-determination is directly relatable to one’s sense power.

So in here lies the subject of responsibility. What this essay aims to make palpable is the difficulty that exists in maintaining one’s sense of responsibility and pragmatism during this time of life re-imagined. Before, we discussed the opportunities college students have in trying to find the best student deals, spark new relationships, curate better hygiene, etc. when in an unfamiliar place, such as attending a new school. However, it is this greater realization of the individual’s power of choice that is the true subject of this discourse. I don’t want to sound cliché, but for new college students, there is no greater excitement then determining exactly what it is that makes you happy and using those sources of happiness to your advantage.

Image Credit: http://www.scei.edu.au/news

The overwhelming nature of arriving in a different city, into a situation where there are no longer limits on the things you can try, or finding where those things will begin generally brings anxiety with it. It is good to feel that anxiety, because it means that you value what your life is and your happiness in living it. If I could go back and tell myself a tidbit of advice freshman year, I would tell him this: there is no greater opportunity missed than living a life that prioritizes your health, your happiness, and your ability to make patient deliberated decisions. That may seem like an Olympian sized feat, but it begins with the littlest of things. For example, when one prioritizes their health and ability to focus and deliberate, than drinking the night before a test perhaps wouldn’t even enter one’s mind as a viable option.

Image Credit: https://www.pragmait.com/therapyboss/blog/short-term-or-long-term-goals-still-required/

It may seem a little extreme. However, when I was adjusting to my life off-stage there were many decisions that I see now as being nothing but a hindrance on my overall goal of being happy. I was more concerned with my momentary happiness and less concerned with prioritizing my long term goals.  It is easy to try and find the most exciting thing to do as a young new college freshman or sophomore, but it is all too easy to get caught up in the overwhelming liberty that comes with newfound independence. Always prioritize the life you want to be living and don’t simply live in the moment, and I promise that your life re-imagined will be a rewarding one to live.

By James Rodriguez


A Texan born and raised, James Rodriguez grew up in San Antonio TX, and has recently graduated from New York University, having studied corporate and political publicity. He sings, plays guitar, studies French, etc. in his free time, and when given the opportunity to share advice that he thought noteworthy with future or current college students, he jumped on the chance. He believes that there is something incredibly important in obtaining knowledge from those who are going through or have recently finished dealing with the difficulties one is seeking advice on. Which is exactly the aim of the Campus Clipper: to share the best advice possible in order to better the experiences of students who are struggling now. Because he was once that lost college student who was searching for instruction and who felt out-of-place and in need of direction, he hopes that his words can relate to someone’s struggle and help along the way. 

For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC,  from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourage them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing and services.  

At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.

 

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Philautia

Saturday, November 11th, 2017

Courtesy: Sublime360

Courtesy: Sublime360

I have often been told that I don’t love myself enough to walk away from things that generate negativity: things meaning people – people mostly harmful to my mental health 500 dollar payday loan today. Seldom do advisors forget the phrase, “Love yourself.” But how does one love herself when she is repeatedly being told to love others and be respectful of them as soon as she walks on two feet instead of four. Her first teenage heartbreak and she suddenly hears the phrase, “fall in love with yourself first,” the same one in different voices.

Falling in love with oneself isn’t easy. You know your own flaws and imperfections and to give a damaged human being that kind of unconditional love requires a lot of patience and dedication; it requires trust.

We often don’t trust ourselves with a lot of things. I don’t trust that I can ever get an A in my statistics class. I think I am incapable of achieving that score. And if I think I am incapable, I will never be capable. I don’t necessarily trust myself to be the most satisfied human being and hence I will simply never be one.

There is no hard learned formula for falling in love, sometimes you might not even realize but you may have fallen head over heels with someone already. But falling in love with yourself requires a guidebook; a guidebook with one simple rule that quite bluntly states, “In order to love yourself, you must behave in ways that you admire (Irving Yalom).”

Courtesy: Tiny Buddha

Courtesy: Tiny Buddha

 

 

Everyone visualises an ideal self and the closer you are to your ideal self, the more likely you are to appreciate yourself. My ideal self is an extremely selfless human being: a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10 but I might only be 7 as of yet. And in order for me to love myself in the purest form, I have to strive to be the 10.

Everywhere everyone around you is searching for this ideal self, not in themselves but in others. Often when we don’t love ourselves enough, we go looking for someone else to love us and show us our best selves. Often we come across people hoping they would fill up the void in our lives. And this very void that we are so desperate to fill, makes us feel vulnerable and naked.

Love for me is beyond any measure of lust or beauty. Love is what comforts you just by the thought of it. There is love in friendship and there is love in honesty. However, the brutality of love is that it ruins you. But philautia (self love) unlike any other kind of love, always uplifts you.

I have loved and lost. And I feel so scared that I’m never going to feel that way again. I am relentlessly looking for love while I’m also subconsciously waiting for it to knock on my door as a surprise.

But instead of waiting in distress, it is time I provide myself with what I am desperately searching for.

As college students we almost always fall prey to conversations that involve friends almost always talking about the people they are dating. You suddenly become the “other” when you feel alienated. You suddenly become the “other” when everyone around you is either falling in or out of love. The college environment exerts a certain pressure on you where you feel compelled to give in to what everyone else seems to be doing. If anything, you resort to Tinder or Bumble.

So stop dating that guy who abused you. Stop looking for love on websites where commitment phobics look for hook up buddies. Stop hanging around with someone who makes you his side chick.

Identify the things you love about him. List it on a sticky note. Hang it on your mirror. This will remind you that these are the qualities you adore. These are the things that you should train yourself to excel in.

When you stop looking for them in others, you will start looking for them inside you. There is no harm in being old school and waiting for love to come to you instead of trying to find it at a bar or club. Halt. Don’t rush.

We have a long way to go, many paths of life are yet to be discovered so live on with the hope of every path taking you to a better destination each time. We have big dreams, big enough to scare us. But only with belief and trust, will these dreams become realities.

 

By Sushmita Roy

Sushmita Roy is a Campus Clipper intern and a junior at NYU majoring in Journalism and Psychology. Her research interests includes immigration, human interest stories and social psychology. When she’s not studying, Sushmita enjoys catching up with friends, binge watching TV shows and cooking for anyone and everyone. For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC, from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourage them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing and services.

At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books; we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings. 

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Philia

Monday, October 23rd, 2017

Courtesy: Independent

Courtesy: Independent

“I prayed for the city to be cleared of people, for the gift of being alone,  a-l-o-n-e: which is the one New Yorker prayer that rarely gets lost or delayed in channels, and in no time at all, everything I touched turned to solid loneliness.” J.D. Salinger

New York can be though on you but NYU could be a lot tougher. If you come from anywhere around Asia or the countryside, you would know that nosy neighbors are bats that gained bad reputation arising from the folklore that ties them to vampires and Dracula. In terms of usefulness, bats are prime agents of pollination and seed dispersal. Often devalued, most bats are not blood sucking creatures but a friend to the mankind: killing insects those of whom are threats.

Nosy neighbours are skilled at dispersing gossip. But drifting away from the reputation of gossipy housewives in their mid-forties, neighbors drop your kids, bring you food, help you when you are locked out or when you run out of sugar.

In New York, you don’t speak to your neighbors, it’s an unspoken ground rule that everyone seems to abide by. You don’t greet them. You don’t know them. It isn’t uncommon to live in your dorm room without speaking to your suite mates for days.

Elevators give you stress and phones without signals are awkward getaways. More than anywhere in the world, New York is where you most need a friend.

My classmate, Aerin Reed comes from a small town known as Eastern Connecticut where the only revolutionary thing that has happened in the last few years is the renovation of the Eastern Village Store. Moms and gossips and hitting deer accidentally are as much a part of her childhood vicinity as are bagels, frowns and subway horrors in New York.

“My town has a thousand people more than NYU’s graduating class,” Reed said while describing her transition from a traditional small town to the city that is overly crowded even on Sundays.

Unlike her friends and classmates, Reed never dreamed of studying in a traditional campus setting, which made NYU one of her first choices. “I remember walking down the road after welcome week and thinking I do not know anyone on the street,” quite unlike the million recognizable faces she would encounter while driving a car in the part of the world which she calls “home.”

At this exact moment what she would have missed is a friend. At this exact moment she needed the kind of love Greeks call “philia.”

Philia was first used by the Greek philosopher Aristotle, who defined it as brotherly love or love shared by friends. The English language does not have a separate word for what Aristotle believed to be unconditional and pure i.e. “with good reason,” so we shall do what we always do: follow the path lead by Greeks.

New York Times columnist Frank Bruni recently wrote a column titled, “The Real Campus Scourge,” which discusses the overwhelming theme of loneliness in a campus setting. “In a survey of nearly 28,000 students on 51 campuses by the American College Health Association last year, more than 60 percent said that they had “felt very lonely” in the previous 12 months. Nearly 30 percent said that they had felt that way in the previous two weeks,” he wrote. All these folks deprived of Philia.

In New York, everything is always on the extreme as is this feeling of loneliness. No amount of Rainbow themed Starbucks or insta worthy cookie doughs can fill the void that only friendship can fill. But my dearest, you are not alone in this. New York has that power over you but you have something that the city lacks: the option to halt, start over and rebuild.

Text your freshman year roommate.

Don’t let Netflix govern your life.

Talk to the person sitting right next to you, chances are she feels the same way.

Log off Instagram.

Remember, loneliness is a feeling that is temporary. It is not a lifestyle.

Don’t just make acquaintances. Get to know them. Turn them into your friends.

Most of all, remember to let go of whatever is holding you back: fear, shyness, insecurity, rationale, over possessive boyfriend and then you will learn to live. You need a friend and so does the person next to you. All you have to do is smile.

By Sushmita Roy

Sushmita Roy is a Campus Clipper intern and a junior at NYU majoring in Journalism and Psychology. Her research interests includes immigration, human interest stories and social psychology. When she’s not studying, Sushmita enjoys catching up with friends, binge watching TV shows and cooking for anyone and everyone. For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC, from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourage them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing and services.

At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books; we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings. 

 

 

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