Declaring Your Major Is Tradition at the NYU College of Arts and Science

“When I first came to NYU, I didn’t know neural science was a thing. I knew about psychology, but I didn’t know about neural science, which focuses more on the molecular basis of the mind. I’m always in my head thinking about myself, the world, and how people interact. I began to wonder: Why am I like this? Is everyone else like this? I was just marveled by the nuances of the brain and how beautifully and wonderfully we are made, and I thought, ‘You know, it would be cool if I got to know a little bit more about this.’” Lori Campbell, sophomore declaring Neural Science, Brooklyn, New York

“Growing up in India, they expect you to learn only sciences per se. So I knew a lot of science, but that wasn’t something I wanted to do. I want to work in policy and economics, and international relations is a good intersection for that. I used to read a lot of my mom’s economics books and was always intrigued by them. Then, with international relations, I’ve just always been interested in the UN and policy.” Vyo Kapse, first year declaring an Economics and International Relations double major, India

“I am declaring the Language and Mind major. I believe the study of psychology, linguistics, and philosophy, which is what this major is made up of, will be incredibly helpful with my application to law school after graduation. Because it will give me the ability to analyze and debate the laws of this country.” Sofi Aljure, sophomore declaring Language and Mind, Miami, Florida

“I was always interested in learning about human behavior, so I thought studying psychology would help me better understand others and myself. And NYU is the perfect place for me to do this. I’m from Uzbekistan, so I love the diversity here. I love learning about other people and other cultures, and this is the perfect place to do that.” Sevinch Mansurova, sophomore declaring Psychology, Uzbekistan

“I switched my majors during my sophomore year. I read about the Gender and Sexuality Studies major and found it really interesting. It’s really relevant to everything that’s going on in the world today. I’m leaning into a prelaw track and am big on advocacy and activism, so I want to see what I can do in that field. I’m also majoring in Music, which is something I’m doing more for me because I love music and have been playing music my entire life.” Xen DeFreitas, sophomore declaring a Gender and Sexuality Studies and Music double major, Queens, New York

“Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved the sciences. Biology has always been the one that’s the most fascinating to me. You can apply biology to a lot: at the cellular level, or you can also focus it on the environment. There’s just so much you can do with it.” Sydney Perugachi, junior declaring Biology, Albany, New York

“Growing up in Nigeria, I experienced something I shouldn’t have experienced at a young age: I witnessed someone die. It really struck something in me. No one really reacted to his death, and I was like, ‘Oh, this seems like a problem.’ Why weren’t there any emergency services? Why wasn’t anyone rushing to help him? That was what first piqued my interest in looking for ways to improve health care. My overall goal is to eventually work with the UN on sustainable health-care systems.” Tefike Okotete, junior declaring Global Public Health and Biology, Nigeria

“I’m declaring Economics because I have a big interest in markets and how they collide with people and governments. Also, I have an interest in politics and enjoy math, and economics combines all these things. I’m just one person, but I want to make the biggest impact I can, and through economics you can help change people’s lives for the better on a large scale.” Raymond Zhang, first year declaring Economics, Boston, Massachusetts

“I declared Chemistry first. It was something I wanted to learn more about. But I just added Data Science for extra job security and because there’s a lot of interesting stuff going on with data science. Machine learning and AI. You can also apply it to chemistry. There are a lot of intersections with the two, and I think it’s going to be a lot of fun to explore.” Alex Dong, junior declaring a Chemistry and Data Science double major, Salt Lake City, Utah