"New York is my campus, Fordham is my school"

              After saying goodbye to my parents on move-in day freshman year, I explored the campus for the first time on my own with some other girls I had met at orientation. As we walked up to McGinley Center (the student union that houses the cafeteria, club offices, bookstore, and gym) a huge maroon banner with the words “New York is my campus, Fordham is my school” caught my attention. Yes, I knew I was in the Bronx and had easy access to the city via Ram Vans, Metro North and the Subway, but it didn’t hit me until that moment how connected Fordham was to New York, and how quickly I’d become connected to it as well. It took me and my friends five days before we ventured into Manhattan (and it only took that long because we had orientation and classes to go to!). We walked down Fifth Avenue, visited Central Park, walked through Times Square and got shakes from Shake Shack on that beautiful Saturday afternoon. The months to follow were filled with more activities including a New York Mets game, trips to Macys’ in Herald Square, concerts at Madison Square Garden, and a walk along the Highline in Chelsea.

However, Fordham’s connection to the city is built on more than just trips to different boroughs. Multiple service organizations on campus are directly involved with the surrounding area. Through the organization Peer Health Exchange Fordham students teach Health classes at public high schools in the surrounding area of the Bronx. City Squash is an organization that brings elementary school students from the Bronx on campus for after-school tutoring and squash lessons. The Dorothy Day Center for Service and Justice, located in McGinley center, is an office full of opportunities for students to get involved in all different types of service groups both on and off campus. In addition to service, professors also utilize the city, asking students to visit art shows, concerts, museums, and historical landmarks that help enrich learning in the classroom. For example, many Art History students view the paintings they study at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and for my Sociology class freshman year I went to a theater in SoHo to watch a documentary about urbanism, a topic we had been discussing in class.

On the anniversary of September 11th, it is important to remember and honor those who lost their lives. Fordham does so by holding masses at the Lincoln Center, Rose Hill, and Westchester campuses in addition to Interfaith Prayer and Memorial Services at Rose Hill and Lincoln Center. There is also a candlelit procession to the 9/11 memorial in the Finlay Gardens on the Rose Hill campus. These services represent the spirit of the Fordham community, and how strongly that community extends into the city we call home while on campus. I am so proud to be a Fordham Ram because it means having the opportunity to study and explore one of the most exciting cities in the world.