Connie C.
Yelp
It's Wednesday, 16 August 2017. Freshman year starts in one week, and I'm ecstatic to begin the daily grind of homework and studying again. Oh heck, I like structure! Most of all, I am excited to join Barnard College in New York! I have been waiting all summer to get the move on! Your girl's ready to do some studying, some learning, some New York loving! I remember exactly one year ago I had no idea what I wanted to do and where I wanted to be in my life. I admired the students around me who seemed to have their five year plans and ten year plans but there were other students like me as well. Optimistic but oh so clueless. Women's colleges were very attractive to me. My high school counsellor strongly advocated for liberal arts colleges (LACs) and I completely agreed with him. Here are my reasons as to why I chose Barnard College:
1. It's a women's college! (Sorry, boys.) Barnard believes in women.
Barnard College is this extraordinary institution with a history of female empowerment at a time when Columbia College did not accept women. In fact, Columbia started accepting women only in 1983. Reading professor Rosalind Rosenberg's work Changing the Subject: How the Women of Columbia Shaped the Way We Think About Sex and Politics educated me about Barnard's determination for women in battles over coeducation. Barnard pays attention to female voices and brings women together to rethink long-established opinions. That faculty members, like Mary Gordon, are actively publishing authors who are fixtures in contemporary literature and will treat me no differently than young Zora Neale Hurston, Barnard College '28, whose works I adore, are reasons why Barnard is a hotbed of literary inspiration. Anna Quindlen, Barnard College '74, said, "Millennial women are the coolest, most capable, most together women ever." I think that Barnard was instrumental in laying the foundation for today's women and continues to teach girls how to be women in a world that has historically favoured men. I so want to join the ranks of the Bold Beautiful Barnard Women.
2. Location : New York City
Barnard College is in the heart of New York City, this major metropolis, whose personality has been explored by countless artists from Frank Sinatra to Alicia Keys. New York is a melting pot of diversity. 40% of its population comes from outside of the United States! As an international student applying to New York, I was keen to meet a diverse group of people within school and outside of school. There are countless concerts and museums (all with student discounts) and I can see myself enjoying myself learning about art at the MET or bopping awkwardly to the beat at pop concerts. Also as a classical music lover, I am excited to sit down at the Carnegie Hall. I performed there but once in my life a couple of years ago and it was a real experience! Honestly, with Carnegie Hall in New York and a couple of great pianists I have been itching to see like Yuja Wang and Martha Argerich.
3. Connection to Columbia University (Benefits of a large university and a small college)
The course catalogue is endless. Seriously. You get to take classes at any of the colleges and the sheer number of majors and minors available, shocking but evidently, you only need one or two. Columbia College is right across the street! Barnard College is a small school of a mere 2500 students total. This was very attractive to me because in most large universities, priority is given to the older students and the grad program students. Barnard College's professors teach freshmen to seniors and their attention is 100% placed upon the learning and the cultivation of these women. Barnard has the intimate sisterhood of 2500 students but the resources of a large university.
4. Don't worry about dating! Don't sweat it!
Dating in university is how you make it. If you take action, you will. The LGBTQ community is wide and open at Barnard College. Columbia College, the School of General Studies, and the FU School of Engineering, and everyone else is right across the street. You can date whoever you want (as long as it's consensual, of course). Graduate students are also a part of the dating pool. You will be surprised! My high school was an international school in Hong Kong with approximately 1800 students total from pre-kindergarten to Grade 12 so the dating pool each year was miniscule. There were only that many boys that you could possibly like however, dating, while perhaps not as glamorous and easy as it may appear because you're in New York and you can meet someone new everyday in New York, if you want to date, you probably will be able to. After texting to some older students at Barnard, the freshmen class was advised to use dating apps like Tinder. Don't worry about it! Love yourself first!
I love this place. You will too. It is beautiful and an absolute dream come true.
