Concerts and Performances in NYC

We got a good spot for Grouplove at Rumsey Playfield!

One of my favorite things about living in New York City is having the opportunity to see endless concerts, shows and performances! My friends and I try to attend as many concerts in this city as we can. Some of the most famous stages in the country are in New York, from Webster Hall to Madison Square Garden. Last week, my friends and I saw Grouplove and Portugal. The Man in concert. The venue was at Rumsey Playfield in the middle of Central Park. The beautiful New York skyline in the background made this concert even more awesome.

This weekend was the Global Citizen Festival in Central Park. In order to win free tickets, you had to help raise awareness for extreme poverty around the world on the Global Citizen website. A lot of my friends won these free tickets and got to attend the festival, which was amazing! Performers such as No Doubt, Fun., Carrie Underwood and The Roots were featured live at the festival. Jay-Z headlined, and Beyonce also made a surprise appearance! According to my friends, the experience of singing along to “Empire State of Mind” with Jay-Z in the middle of Central Park was unmatched.

My friend, sophomore Habin Lee, got this awesome panorama of the festival!

Cold War Kids performing right on campus!

New York is one of the music capitals of the world, and it is often one of the highlights of the performer’s tour. Other performers my friends have seen include Kanye West, Young the Giant, Vampire Weekend and Kodaline. A performer always comes to Fordham’s annual Spring Weekend in April. Last year, Cold War Kids and Cartel performed along with DJ Enferno. Other performers that have been featured in previous years include Grouplove, MGMT, Third Eye Blind and Andy Grammar.

There’s always an awesome concert to see in New York City, which is one of the countless benefits of living here!

Back in the Swing

The Fordham Campuses are quickly filling up with students once again as classes quickly approach. Here at the Rose Hill campus, students are looking forward to more than just classes. On campus there are already a variety of activities going on. Many students are moving in early to prepare for the incoming freshmen and to prepare for the university clubs and sports. And just as quickly as students are moving in, posters are already going up to advertise upcoming events like the Annual President’s Ball. 

Poster advertising the upcoming President's Ball on September 12th.

I am a senior with a double major in political science and women’s studies. I just moved into Campbell Hall on Wednesday. My on-campus apartment is located on the sixth floor of the building and I have a great panoramic view of the Bronx. I am lucky enough to be spending the next nine months living with my three best friends before we all graduate! It goes by so fast! I moved in earlier than the rest of my peers to participate in training for the Rose Hill Society. RHS consists of about 180 volunteer student ambassadors who become experts on the ins-and-outs of Fordham in order to share our knowledge with prospective students. At our training, the society hears presentations from a variety of departments on campus. We are always up-to-date on the most recent changes and campus happening.

 

My single room in Campbell Hall!

Along with the Rose Hill Society ambassadors, students who are New Student Orientation leaders, student athletes, and residential assistants are back on campus preparing for the upcoming year. Even with all of the orientations going on, students still seem to make time to hang out of Eddie’s.  I even had a free moment to check out the new freshmen dorm building, Loyola Hall. The building has been completed renovated in order to house about 120 incoming freshmen. It is BEAUTIFUL! The first floor study lounge is very Hogwarts-esque.

It is great to be back on campus and to be surrounded by my friends and peers once again. The Fordham community is outstanding and it feels good to have everyone back on campus. It feels like home. And what better to kick off the new school year than with the first Fordham football game on Saturday?! Fordham will be versing Saint Francis University this Saturday at home. Hopefully they can do even better than their 12-2 (wins-losses) record from last year! It is good to get back into the swing of things.

Students lounging on Eddie's in between orientation and training!

A Final Reflection From a Graduating Senior!

The last week of school has suddenly arrived, something I have been dreading for months now. It is strange to be writing my final entry for the Fordham blog, since I’ve been blogging since I was a sophomore. As a graduating senior, I have had so many meaningful experiences at Fordham, and cannot express enough words of gratitude for the valuable Jesuit education I have received and the people I have met, coloring the way I see the world in wonderful ways.

When I attended Fordham’s Spring Preview as a high school senior, trying to decide whether I would attend Fordham or Boston University, these words from Father McShane convinced me that Fordham was the right place for me: “When you put it all together, what is a Jesuit education about? It is about nothing less than empowerment and transformation.” I did not then fully understand what he meant, but now, with graduation looming closer every day, the wisdom behind his words has become clear.

My time at Fordham has been the most challenging but also the most eye-opening years of my life. Though I cannot explicitly name the ways in which I am a different person, I know that I feel stronger, like my feet are planted a little more firmly on the ground. I am so grateful for everything that happened in the past four years, for the challenges I was faced with, the friends I drifted apart from only to gain new ones, and for the blank slate that lies ahead of me. Almost four years ago, a scared little girl arrived on Fordham’s campus. Today, I feel empowered and transformed, with a clearer sense of who I am and what my goals are for my future.

I am heartbroken to leave the place I have come to call my home, but Fordham has truly prepared me for the future, as uncertain as it may be. Come to Fordham, and let it change your life like it changed mine—you won’t regret it.