Hello and welcome to Her Campus Barnard! It’s funny to be welcoming Barnard readers to something, because I myself am new here. I just transferred this semester from McGill University in Montreal and so far am loving the experience! I am editor-in-chief of Her Campus Barnard along with Toby Milstein, a fellow sophomore. I thought that I would use this opportunity to talk about our school and some of the experiences I’ve already had here.
You all remember NSOP, right? It’s the week to get to know new students like yourself, all alone and far from home on this college campus in the huge, scary city of New York City. OLs shuffled you around the city in packs where you clung to the one girl from your hometown or the girl you thought you could be friends with because you liked her shoes. Well, I got to go through Barnard’s transfer NSOP and it was such a nice experience. The girls I met in my NSOP group are already some of my very good friends here. Barnard made sure that we were shown the ropes just as the froshies were, but we also go to do some cool transfer-only stuff! Between the $10 Zarkana Cirque du Soleil tickets and Circle Line Cruise around the New York City Harbor with fellow transfers across the road at CU, I had a great week. One of my favorite parts was the Community forum where we were shown a fun little video on Columbia’s history. Then, they gave us glow sticks to exchange with other new students. I don’t think Alma Mater has ever been so festive looking!
After settling in at Elliott with most of my fellow transfer girls (and getting used to my itty-bitty single!), classes began soon enough and I found myself pleasantly surprised. At Barnard, professors make a huge effort to put names with faces and get to learn a little bit about each student. There are class discussions, questions are freely and frequently asked, and I found myself wanting to stay in more classes than I’d planned on taking. I’m already learning that the workload will be demanding, not to mention fitting in all of the amazing events that Barnard plans! I’ve already attended Glamour’s Panel (missed it? Check out our article on it!) in the Diana, and have signed up for Barnard Babysitting. There’s no question I am definitely excited for what this semester will bring!
Well, that’s it for now. If you have any suggestions of things I should try, places I should go, or things to write about feel free to comment below!