hi everybody my name is Kat Blackwell I'm a first year in Columbia College
studying anthropology and sociology. You might recognize me from YouTube and make
videos about my academic journey and the admissions office has asked me to
partner with them to make some videos for prospective students. In this video I
asked four of my friends why they chose Columbia, the next couple videos will be
about the core and being a student in New York City so I really hope you'll
tune in and that you enjoy! oh why hello there I didn't see you there
I'm sorry I was just reading my copy of the Iliad and sipping out of my I heart
New York mug nice to meet you guys my name is Prem I'm a first year in
Columbia College I'm from Grand Forks North Dakota and I'm the first year
class president so I just want to welcome you guys and I'm excited you
guys to come to Columbia. Hi my name is Mary I'm a freshman at Columbia College
studying political science I'm from Waltham Massachusetts in the
Boston area. On campus I'm involved in dance I'm a member of raw elements dance
team and I take classes at Barnard. Hi everybody
my name is Redd that's red like the color but with the two d's. I'm from Columbus
Ohio I'm a first year in the college studying music and business and I'm in
the Columbia Juilliard Exchange. Hi I'm Christiana
I'm a first year in Columbia College from Grants Pass, Oregon studying
creative writing and English literature. Why did I choose Columbia...?
I chose Columbia first and foremost because there's a New York City so I
knew that I wanted to come to a city and Columbia being in New York City seemed
like a really good fit. For one thing Columbia being in the city is an
opportunity that is really unmatched.As a dancer I really wanted to be in New
York City. The immediate reason that I chose Columbia is because it is a Questbridge
partner school. I am a Questbridge scholar. So I chose
Columbia because I knew I wanted to be more than just a student. I also picked
Columbia because of its partnership with the arts -
Columbia isn't just focused on the academics but there's the other aspect
of art and creativity as well meshed in so you can kind of balance between both.
I feel like I have a really strong academic life but also I'm much more
than that. Growing up in a small town at Southern Oregon I knew that what I
wanted to go to a college I wanted it to be something bigger, something where I
could experience the world, where I can meet people from everywhere. Personally
coming from a mixed ethnic background I wanted to find somewhere where that
wouldn't be totally weird and people would be okay with it and so for
Columbia I kind of immediately could tell that it was somewhere that people
were open-minded. I've almost learned more from my
classmates more in my first year that my classes which is saying a lot because I
mean classes are very challenging and you're learning all the time. A reason
that I'm really happy that I've chosen Columbia is the amazing connections
able to make with my peers people who are just doing really incredible things
and I just kind of feel blessed to know all of them
I always feel comfortable at the end of the day knowing that there's people I
can come home to and hang out with and just not feel stressed after a long
academic day. Columbia also offers really unique opportunities outside the
academic school year - this summer I'm going to be staying on campus for six
weeks studying immigration policy and what's really unique about the program
is I get to work one-on-one with a Columbia professor doing pretty much any
independent research that I desire and next summer I get the opportunity to
travel abroad. I knew that I wanted to study abroad so luckily I got to be a
presidential global fellow which means that I get to study abroad in Greece this
summer on Columbia's dollar their their funding me to go and study art and
humanities which is amazing because I got to apply everything that I've
learned in Columbia abroad. So was there a moment when you realized that you were
gonna pick Columbia so in the video it's my mom my stepdad
my heart
I thought that I should be thinking about it more but just after seeing the
video pop up that with like like Columbia fight song and seeing like the
video of the city and like Butler library it was it was hard to say no to
that like right off the bat. It didn't really start to feel real to me until I
came to visit campus and I was sitting in Low Library and they were talking
about sort of just the opportunities students have to do internships in the
city and to meet all these incredible people and I was kind of sitting there
and I was just like I just remember thinking like I would have such an
amazing time here I feel like I could fit in here and I feel like I could just
become such a better more accomplished person if I went here. I just I wanted to
Columbia so so bad I knew I was moving to New York City
including to Columbia and like ah. So then I ended up flipping a coin but the
trick is that you don't look at where it lands on because after you flip it you
automatically know which one you want to happen because you kind of hope for like
okay like I hope that lands on heads so I didn't look at where the coin landed
because I knew that after I flipped the coin I immediately thought okay I wanted
to land on Columbia. okay choosing a university to attend is
an absolutely huge decision and if you're considering Columbia chances are
you're considering a lot of incredible schools but I think what it really comes
down to is imagining yourself at those schools after my Columbia tour I sat on
the steps of an academic building and I said to my dad like I can see myself
living here I can see myself going to school here and having debates and
learning and being pushed to extremes and that's exactly where I want to be
and it just became a gut feeling like I connected with Columbia on another level
I hope that this video was helpful for you and if you can relate to the reasons
that my friends gave for choosing Columbia I hope that you can choose
Columbia too. Have a great day!