While You Were Here

SILVER

WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK

STEINHARDT

WHILE YOU WERE HE RE STERN

BOBST

KIMMEL

COVER BY WENXUAN NI

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WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS | THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016 | NYUNEWS.COM

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Well, you’ve made it.

Certainly, there were moments when you thought you wouldn’t; there may have even been weeks where you felt this way.

Maybe when you walked through Washington Square Park for the first time you knew exactly what you wanted to do with your life. Maybe you didn’t.

Maybe you still don’t — and that’s okay!

You’ve conquered even the most daunting of classes.

You’ve made friends, and probably lost a few along the way. You’ve gotten lost in the blocks of New York City and found yourself among the bright lights. And my, how you’ve grown.

We have crafted this special issue in hopes that it will serve as a reminder of everything — good and bad — that has happened in your time here at NYU. Believe it or not, you’ve changed a lot in the last few years. And each mo-

ment, big or small, has made you into who you are today.

You may not think you’re ready for the real world, but trust me, you are. The world has so much to offer you, and you have so much to offer it.

So before you get too wrapped up in feeling like you have to have it all figured out, we hope you take a few moments to take a look back at on your time at NYU and everything that happened while you were here.

Alex Bazeley Editor-in-Chief

SKIRBALL

NYUNEWS.COM | THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016 | WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS

WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS OFFICE

Editor-in-Chief

ALEX BAZELEY Managing Editor

BOBBY WAGNER deputy AUDREY DENG Creative Directors

WENXUAN NI EASTON SELF Multimedia

HANNAH SHULMAN photo ANNA LETSON

SENIOR STAFF

copy ABBEY WILSON

ADVERTISING BUSINESS MANAGER

ARIANA DIVALENTINO SALES MANAGER

EMMA HOWCROFT CIRCULATION MANAGER

FIONA GORRY-HINES CREATIVE DIRECTOR, W MEDIA GROUP

KALEEL MUNROE UNIVERSITY SALES MANAGER

RHEA NAYAK GRAPHIC DESIGNER

VIKAS NAIR SALES ASSOCIATES

ALISON RAO, ALLISON LAMBDIN, ELIZABETH HA, GRACE ROGERS CIRCULATION ASSISTANT

DEVIN PADILLA

ADVISING BOBST

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

NANCI HEALY EDITORIAL ADVISER

RACHEL HOLLIDAY SMITH KIMMEL

About WSN: Washington Square News (ISSN 15499389) is the student newspaper of New York University. WSN is published in print on Mondays and throughout the week online during NYU’s academic year, except for university holidays, vacations and exam periods.

Corrections: WSN is committed to accurate reporting. When we make errors, we do our best to correct them as quickly as possible. If you believe we have erred, contact the managing editors at managing@nyunews. com or at 212.998.4302.

EDITORS-AT-LARGE

EMILY BELL, ALANNA BAYARIN, KAVISH HARJAI, SHAWN PAIK, DANA RESZUTEK, BRYNA SHUMAN

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JULIA EINHORN SPANISH AND LATIN AMERICAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE

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What are your post-college plans?

JE: I will be working and going to grad school part time at NYU Wagner.

What is it like being a senior?

JE: Being a senior is so much fun! It’s been filled with a lot of time with friends and it’s been really nice connecting meaningfully with professors. I don’t want it to end!

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STAFF PHOTO BY GRACE MOON

RACHEL LU BUSINESS, ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE

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What have you learned from your time at NYU? RL: I’ve definitely learned to be fierce and not be afraid to ask questions and, I guess, ask for things — it can be even when I’m trying to look for an apartment and I’m talking to the realtor I’d be like “I need to demand certain things that I’m looking for and things that I need,” or it can be from professors. Learning that there’s no harm asking for things. It wasn’t always easy.

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STAFF PHOTO BY SARAH PARK

JOY MADUBUONWU GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH AND MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

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What was the biggest lesson you learned here at NYU? JM: Navigating the Trader Joe’s line on 14th and 3rd — just kidding, in all honesty the biggest lesson I learned was there is no one way to do what you want to accomplish in life. A lot of times you think there is one right way to do something but that isn’t the case. There is always room to get creative!

STAFF PHOTO BY GRACE MOON

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DAPHNE NA FINANCE

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If you could go back and tell your freshman self something, what would you say?

DN: I would say to enjoy my freshman year to the fullest. For some reason I was nervous about taking classes and getting good grades, but at this point it really didn’t matter that much.

So the best thing to do freshman year is to just have fun and make a lot of friends and hang out with them.

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STAFF PHOTO BY ANNA LETSON

JACOB SIM BIOCHEMISTRY

STAFF PHOTO BY GRACE MOON

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How has NYU prepared you for life after college?

JS: NYU is a lot like taxes. I know I paid a lot of money but I’m not 100% sure where the heck it all went.

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KATHY KHO

COMMUNICATIVE SCIENCES AND DISORDERS

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What advice do you have to incoming freshmen?

KK: I think it’s really important to let yourself discover yourself and also let yourself get really close to people. I think that was really important to me — having super close friends my freshman year and people that I really started to build deep relationships with. I think that was a big support system for me, when I ran into hard times or even having someone to study with you, I think that was really important.

”

STAFF PHOTO BY SARAH PARK

JUHO RANA GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH AND CHEMISTRY

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What have you learned from your time at NYU? JR:There’s no substitute for hard work and perseverance.

What advice do you have to incoming freshmen?

JR: Branch out! NYU has so many opportunities for you to get involved and there are so many great people to meet. I love making friends. Friends are the best. They are so much fun.

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STAFF PHOTO BY GRACE MOON

SUHASHINI SARKAR JOURNALISM AND DRAMATIC LITERATURE

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How has NYU prepared you for life after college?

SS: It has changed me as a person. NYU’s made me more open-minded. Such as being aware of the language you use when you’re speaking to people, being aware of different identities and just the fact that everyone comes from different places and backgrounds, and keeping that in mind whenever you meet new people or work with them.

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STAFF PHOTO BY MEETALI GUPTA

ELYSE BARNA MUSIC PERFORMANCE AND OBOE What’s the best part about being in the city during college?

EB: I would say having the ability to just go out and do whatever comes to your mind. The craziest thing you could possibly think of, like tonight I want to go to a drag bar and see people dress up in drag and make jokes, or I want to go to a garden and spend the afternoon in a peaceful environment.

It’s just being able to do literally anything and everything you could possibly think of.

“

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STAFF PHOTO BY ANNA LETSON

TAYLOR PALINKAS MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT

“ STAFF PHOTO BY ANNA LETSON

What’s one of your best memories from the past four years?

TP: At Stern, we have this class called the International Studies Program, and as a part of it we get sent to a foreign country for a week on our spring break of our junior year. I got to go to Portugal my junior year, and I just loved it. That was my first time in Europe, first time going abroad and I just had a really enjoyable time.

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Freshman Year 2012-2013

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/03/2012

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NYU Sydney holds its first day of classes for the first time.

/07/2012

Barack Obama is re-elected for a second term as president.

/17/2012

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/15/2012

NYU evacuates students at its campus in Tel Aviv as precautionary measures against violence between Israel and Palestine.

/26/2012

An NYU sophomore hits “reply all” on a school-wide email chain, emailing 40,000 students and causing e-chaos.

/27/2012

Beloved NYU timekeeper John Votta passes away at age 70.

/29/2012

Hurricane Sandy hits New York, one of the costliest hurricanes in history.

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The Facebook page NYU Secrets is founded.

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/24/2013 Tisch alum Ang Lee wins best director at the Academy Awards for “Life of Pi.”

/11/2013 A vote of no confidence in President John Sexton among the Faculty of Arts and Science passes 298-224.

/15/2013 NYU adds a gender neutral housing option.

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/15/2013 A bombing at the Boston Marathons kills three people and injures more than 200 others.

Sophomore Year 2013-2014

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/12/2013 NYU Shanghai opens for its first semester.

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/05/2013 Bill de Blasio is elected the mayor of New York City.

/14/2013 President John Sexton announces he will step down as president at the beginning of 2016.

/25/2013

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Brittany Residence Hall reopens after renovations.

/01/2014

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/11/2013 NYU announces it will bring back its baseball team after 41 years and add a softball team.

The Polytechnic Institute of NYU completes its merger with NYU and officially becomes the Polytechnic School of Engineering.

/06/2014 Hayden Hall closes for renovations.

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/02/2014 Seven Divest students are arrested in Washington D.C. while protesting construction of the Keystone Pipeline.

Junior Year 2014-2015

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/19/2014 The creator of NYU secrets is revealed to be Aristotelis Orginos.

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/21/2014 More than 300,000 people gather for the People’s Climate March, the largest climate march in history.

/25/2014 After a grand jury chooses not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the death of Michael Brown, massive protests break out across the country.

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/10/2015 The Graduate Students Organizing Committee negotiates a last-minute contract with NYU, narrowly avoiding a strike.

/17/2015 NYU professor Andrew Ross is barred entry into the United Arab Emirates after his public criticism of labor practices there.

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/17/2015

/04/2014 Following the death of Eric Garner, a grand jury elects not to indict Staten Island police officers Daniel Pantaleo and Justin Damico, sparking more protests against police brutality.

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A massive explosion rocks Second Street, resulting in the evacuation of the Green House and Seventh Street dorms, as well as the Tisch Dance Company.

/16/2015 A report released by Nardello & Co reveals that 10,000 migrant workers employed at NYU Abu Dhabi did not receive protection from labor guidelines.

Senior Year 2015-2016

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/24/2015 Pope Francis comes to New York City.

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/13/2015 Many NYU students get their chance to support presidential candidate Bernie Sanders at a rally in Washington Square Park.

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/05/2015

NYU Poly changes its name to the Tandon School of Engineering following a $100 million donation from Chandrika and Ranjan Tandon.

NYU student Joo Won-moon is released from North Korea after being held there in prison since April.

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/04/2015 Routine construction unearths skeletons beneath Washington Square Park in front of Silver.

/19/2015

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NYU hosts a Diversity & Inclusion forum in response to discussions on college campuses; a White Student Union Facebook page is formed the next day.

/21/2016 The university confirms that Hayden Hall will be renamed Lipton Hall after board member Martin Lipton.

/24/2016 President Hamilton announces in an email that the university will give incremental wage increases until student wages reach $15 an hour.

/24/2016 Incarceration to Education Coalition hosts a 33-hour sit-in on the Kimmel steps to advocate for NYU to ban the box that asks about criminal history on college applications.

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/21/2016

The Jerome S. Coles Sports Center closes as part of the NYU 2031 expansion plan; 404 Fitness opens the following day.

/18/2016 A prospective Tisch student publicizes their emails with an admissions officer, who questions whether a not a student who cannot afford a $65 application fee will be able to afford the $60,000 tuition.

Nicole Brown CAS Journalism & Politics

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uring Welcome Week, I found myself telling people where I was from just as much as what dorm I was occupying and what school I was in.

Before I moved to New York to attend NYU, I lived in the same neighborhood my entire life.

Though I traveled with my family, I considered myself rooted in Midwestern regionalism.

Four years later, I am still frequently asked where I am from, especially when I’ve studied and traveled abroad. Though I still have a strong affinity for St. Louis barbecue and Cardinals baseball, I’ve been “from” St. Louis, “from” Eastern European Jewish descent and “from” New York. I find it gradually more difficult to answer this question, in part because I’ve discovered that many New Yorkers are occupying an adopted city, and in part because I don’t know what makes someone a New Yorker in the first place.

At what point could I call myself a New Yorker? And more intrinsically, did I want to call myself one?

M

y favorite thing about New York is the skyline.

Whether I’m riding the N train across the Manhattan Bridge, walking across Wyckoff Avenue in Bushwick or sitting on a Greyhound bus to visit my family in Pennsylvania, I always look toward the Manhattan skyline.

I’m sure I’m not unique in doing this, and I can’t say there is much meaning behind it, but it’s often a nice reminder of why I came to New York.

The skyline is a symbol of opportunity. So many people, like many of us at NYU, come to New York hoping to achieve their goals and make something of themselves.

It’s also a symbol of pride.

There’s no doubt that most New Yorkers agree they are living in the greatest city in the world, one that has experienced triumph and tragedy and stands tall no matter what.

But it is also a materialistic symbol. It’s put on postcards, calendars, clothing, even jewelry, and anyone who has ever come

to New York is bound to have a picture of the skyline on their Instagram or Facebook accounts.

Ultimately, it serves as an advertisement for the city, encouraging millions of people to visit or move to New York.

I am thankful that NYU gave me the opportunity to be one of those people.

There are many things I don’t love about NYU — I question some of the decisions the administration has made and whether the cost is actually worth it — but I can’t deny that NYU gave me the city.

It gave me the chance to meet people from all over the world, learn from some of the brightest minds, write for publications I never thought I’d write for and do things I definitely didn’t expect to do. And now, after four years of studying, interning, working in a restaurant, moving four times and often sleeping very little, I’m not sure what I’m going to do next.

The challenges of living in New York are much clearer now that I have graduated. The rent, incredibly competitive job market, weird

smells and a transit system that can drive me crazy were always there, but they weren’t as prominent with the excitement and stress of being a student.

Lately I have been questioning whether I should stay in New York. It may be better for my career to move away and potentially work my way back to the city, but that isn’t something I truly want to do. New York is where I found my best friends, fell in love and established a home. While I came here thinking it would give me the best chance at reaching my career goals, I have gotten much more from the city.

I’m not sure where my first real job will end up being. As much as I hope it will be in New York, I know there is a chance it won’t.

And maybe that’s not a bad thing.

Maybe some time away would be good. Or maybe I just need to be more patient and accept that this search takes time.

Whatever happens, I know I’ll always have the image of the skyline to remind me not to give up on my goals, no matter how far away they may seem.

Emily Bell Gallatin Narratives of Peace and Conflict Maybe the problem was not with my inability to answer the question of where I’m from, but with the question itself.

There is a TED talk called “Don’t ask where I’m from, ask where I’m a local,” given by Taiye Selasi. In it, she proposes that instead of reducing identity to a singular point of origin, a discussion of locality is preferred.

Acknowledging that identity is a collection of experiences, she advocates for a discussion of “rituals, relationships and restrictions” that inform one’s identity, such that it is possible to be a local of many places simultaneously and in different ways.

Inspired by this talk, I’ve recently started to reframe my identity as an amalgamation of experiences in order to reconcile with these questions.

As graduation approaches, that question of “where are you from” has evolved into “where is home?”

New York is the home I’ve chosen for myself at this point in time. However, home has also been a suburban red brick house, a house in Accra and a hotel-turned-dorm room in Prague. Sometimes, home has been my backpack. Though some of these may be my home again, I will always be a local of these places, as my ex-

periences, traditions and friendships tie me to them.

Part of being a local of New York is the very good days and the very bad days, all rooted in the lived urban experience. It is leaning into the wind tunnel that is lower Manhattan and decisively choosing to push ahead.

While I love being a local of New York, reminding myself that I am a “multi-local,” in the words of Selasi, allows me to ground myself in the joyful chaos of this city.

As students at NYU, a university that purports to be “in and of the city,” it is important to embrace being in the city just as much as being

at the university. Sometimes this city, and this university, will be a competitive, capitalistic maniacal beast that will hand you lessons about failure, stress and sleep deprivation. But sometimes this city, this university, and the people you meet will be a welcoming, freeing inspiring friend that will give you a shoulder to lean on and hope for tomorrow.

Let your experiences inform your present, and give you clues about your future. Don’t be afraid to be a local of a new place, or a local of a previous one. And always remember that the next adventure is just around the corner.

Dana Reszutek CAS Journalism & Psychology

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o one from my high school had ever gone to college north of Arkansas before I enrolled at NYU. The whole summer before I left, I recall people constantly asking me, their southern drawls still poignant in my memory, “Are you nervous to be moving to such a big city?” I quickly shrugged them off.

August came and I carefully packed my things (far too optimistic about how much I could fit into a Third North dorm room).

My family made its way towards Welcome Week, and I thought only about how lucky and excited I was. This was New York, and I was 18, totally grown up. Right?

The night before move in day, I was doing a final check of all of my boxes in the back of my uncle’s SUV. There, in the middle of the New Jersey driveway, alone in the dark, the gravity set in. There was all my stuff, 2,000 miles away from the house I’d lived in since I was four years old. But it wasn’t just my stuff that was moving- I was going with it.

I sprinted back into the house and spent the next three hours nudged between my parents in the tiny guest bed, bouncing between tears and anxious rambling. “Maybe I should have gone to a campus school? Or stayed closer to home? New York has eight million people in it,

did you know that?” I sat petrified, like a five year old scared to start kindergarten.

My parents encouraged me to stick it out a month, reminding me I chose New York for a reason. If I didn’t like it, I could always come home. So even with the knot in my stomach, I gave it a go.

Four years later, I’m so glad I did. I found the diversity and perspective I’d longed for in my hometown.

I had great experiences, where I found new art, neighborhoods, cuisines, cultures, and interests. I had a few bad experiences, but I learned important lessons. I discovered a love of writing and a college newspaper I loved writing for. I found a great internship. I drank way too much East Village coffee at Sunday brunches, and I made friends that will last forever. And even with the lack of a football team, I grew a sense of Violet pride.

But more than just my great time at NYU, remembering that night in New Jersey with my parents huddled close reminds me of something else: It’s ok to be scared of something new. In fact, the things you are most nervous to do — that take you out of your comfort zone — are often the experiences that will really make the difference. So go ahead and push yourself that extra bit, because that’s when the greatest parts of life will start to happen.

Larson Binzer CAS Journalism & Politics

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It’s ok to be scared.

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I

t all starts with erasing. Whittling down your wooden pencil’s eraser in 6th grade math class when you don’t know the answer. Crossing out half a Blue Book page during a Texts & Ideas exam when your response may not cut it. Erase it and try again.

Though my time at New York University has been amazing in unexpected ways, there have been a lot of ink stains on paper, deleted drafts and erased equations. College, for me, was about finding myself through my quiet chaos of errors.

I came into NYU thinking I had it all figured out. But no one tells you that the “intended major” you fill out on your admitted student form is probably not what you’re going to end up doing.

I only happened upon journalism, to be honest. Writing poems and journaling has been part of my life since I could pick up a pen. I even published my own Microsoft Word-curated “Dana Daily” newspaper as a child, complete with my multimedia team of Clip Art. But writing, for me, never caught on as a “thing you can do for a living.” So I focused on my love of science and the mind, and started my college journey as pre-med, with the goal of becoming a psychiatrist. (This former career goal still shocks me today.)

But when two of my closest friends encouraged me to attend a pitch meeting at the Features Desk of Washington Square News freshman year, something clicked. A week later, I took two stories for the desk, and dove into the field of journalism. But I still only saw journalism as my creative outlet until my sophomore year.

I was leaving the last New York Fashion Week show for the day, and walking home from Chelsea, furiously typing notes on my phone for my review on the event I just attended. Amid the madness and stress that Fashion Week holds, I finally felt it for the first time. It was like the butterflies in your stomach you get when you have a crush, but so much better; I finally knew what I wanted to do with my life.

In a rush, I ran East, finished my review and called my mom. It was time to drop Organic Chemistry and pursue a Journalism major.

For any NYU student still finding your way, sometimes quitting isn’t all that bad. Drop a class, and pick up something different.

Whatever gives you that sweet feeling in your gut — you’re probably doing something right.

Embrace your mistakes. Achieve through your struggles. Take that risk you thought you couldn’t do. Sometimes those smudges on the page, those random club meetings you attend, may let you erase your original plan and help you find your future.

Photo Credits 2012-2013

September 2012 - pixabay.com.

October 2012 - Humans of NYU. November 2012 - wikipedia.org.

February 2013 - youtube.com.

March 2013 - Rachel Kaplan.

April 2013 - flickr.com.

2013-2014

August 2013 - Casey Kwon.

September 2013 - flickr.com . December 2013 - Rachel Kaplan.

January 2014 - Polina Buchak.

March 2014 - Nicole Brown.

May 2014 - flickr.com.

2014-2015

August 2014 - facebook.com.

September 2014 - Hannah Luu. November 2014 - Daniel Cole.

December 2014 - Daniel Cole.

March 2015 - Hannah Shulman.

April 2015 - wikipedia.org.

2015-2016

September 2015 - wikipedia.org.

October 2015 - nyu.edu.

November 2015 - NYC Department of Design and Construction.

December 2015 - twitter.com.

February 2016 - Calvin Falk.

March 2016 - Anne Cruz.

April 2016 - Alex Bazeley.

WHILE YOU WERE HERE POSTER ON SALE AT NYU BOOKSTORE

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