My Life Undecided

I come from a small farming town in upstate New York, where there’s not much to do except think about the future. I spent my time in high school immersing myself within my science classes and performing in all of my high school’s musicals. On the weekends, I worked on my family owned apple orchard. Due to my diverse interests, it was really difficult for me to solidify a program of interest or an area of study. I decided that applying undecided was my best option. When applying to NYU, I illustrated my passions for cultural studies and the arts while emphasizing that these interests were something I could explore simultaneously at the University. 

On my first day of classes at NYU, I realized that I had stacked my schedule with core requirements without any room for exploration. Late at night, while distressingly searching for classes over a tub of ice cream, I decided to enroll in Media and Identity within the Media, Culture, and Communication (MCC) department. The class explored multiple topics centered on the intersection of identity structures and media. The class stimulated me intellectually, opening my eyes to a diverse and expansive area of study while galvanizing my interest in media, culture, and communication studies.

Throughout my first two years at NYU, I developed a love for the MCC department, and ended up internally transferring into Steinhardt to join the program. Although the decision was easy to make, the road getting there came with many twists and turns. But for me, some of the joys of being undecided were those twists and turns. They pushed me to learn more about myself while taking advantage of as many opportunities as I could.