Urban education worked for me
Just last week, I was walking home from Central Park when I felt filled with an incredible happiness. It happens to me every time I take a long walk in the city. Looking around at all of the amazing things New York City has to offer makes me feel so thankful that I had the opportunity to spend my college career in this environment.
When I took an art-history class last year, I didn’t just sit in class and look at slides. Instead, I took a quick subway ride to one of many world-class museums to see the works in person.
In a big city, not only are the students diverse, but the surrounding area is, too. In Manhattan, you can find communities of people from all over the globe. Some of the most important lessons I’ve learned in my years here have not been in the classroom; I have gained infinite knowledge from living in and interacting with an international community.
Students here also find a location rich in internship opportunities. The world’s top financial firms are located miles away, as well as countless museums, nonprofit organizations, magazine publishers, film producers and fashion elites. For two years now, I have gone weekly to the American Museum of Natural History, where I serve as an intern in the exhibitions department.
Even nature lovers can enjoy city life. We have large lawns where students like to hang out on nice days, not to mention Central Park. On weekends, all it takes is a quick train ride to get to the nearest beach in the summer or ski lodge in the winter.
If you are looking for a “typical” college experience, you will not find it here. Most students pass up frat parties to go downtown. Our sporting “stadiums” see lower attendance than many high school gymnasiums. However, you will never complain that there is nothing to do.
Samantha Lee is an anthropology major at Columbia University in New York City.
Little-city living
Cows. Farmers. Wide open spaces. Scratch that—
wiiiiiiiiiide open spaces. “Welcome to the middle of the middle of nowhere,” we would tell prospective students visiting the University of Missouri-Columbia, one of the Big 12 state schools in the Midwest.
“You’ll love it here.”
I’m an East Coast girl who loves museums, coffee shops, concerts in the park and tall buildings. During the drive to Columbia, Mo., from the airport in St. Louis, I wondered what I’d gotten myself into.
Little did I know that there, in the middle of America, I’d find a unique blend of cultures. Even in a small Midwestern town without tall buildings.
My best friend was from India. My dorm room neighbor was Korean, I dated a Pakistani and was a regular at Indian Student Association parties with my roommate. There were yoga classes in the park, associations for every ethnicity, a heavy-duty international center and teaching assistants from around the world. There were hardly any Missouri natives in my dorm, and just about everyone in my department was from out of state.
There are definite benefits to living in a small town. We drove just 10 minutes to find total darkness on spring nights. (Perfect for watching meteor showers.) Every restaurant serves biscuits and gravy, and most old women call you “hon.”
Being a member of a small rural community gave me a new perspective on the idea that it takes a village to raise a child. One small town raised its students with a family-like feel that, in a big city, would’ve been more difficult to find.
Even though we had to drive two and half hours to the nearest tall buildings, we found diversity, fun and cool things to do—even in the middle of the middle of nowhere.
