Author: Lily Sahadi

I am a finance major on the hunt for an internship and, let me tell you, it is difficult. I hope to have secured an internship by this summer or fall of 2023. I chose to minor in Italian and not go the traditional business school route to minor in fields like Economics, Finance, Poly-sci, and Accounting. With that being said, I surprisingly want to pursue Zicklin’s finance Ph.D. program. This program would be an amazing opportunity for me to try and achieve a Ph.D. I know I will regret giving up this opportunity which makes me excited for beginning it after undergraduate school.

I will bring fashion with me to every stage of my life. I am a very creative person and I try to put a little of myself into everything I do. Fashion is timeless, it will be with me forever, changing every day, and allowing personal expression and creativity into my outfits. Being in the business realm surrounded by the same suit and tie gets boring. The business field lacks creativity and I know to stay happy within myself, I would need to continue creating and wearing my fashion pieces. 

I haven’t decided if I will graduate early or delay my time to be able to study abroad, either way, I’m excited for what’s to come. I would love to experience college in another country and meet people from around the world with similar interests. I have a lot of learning to do and experiences to endure. 

I never thought I had to do one singular thing for the rest of my life. Every day, even though some feel the same, are all different. You feel different, you look different, and your life is different every day. But doing something WITH the rest of your life is different. If I’m completely honest, I don’t know what I want to do with the rest of my life. I don’t consider a career my life or who I am, so I’m not focusing the rest of my life on that. Obviously, I will be working in finance, but that is not me nor is it what I’m doing with my life. I want to be happy, I want to experience things, good and bad, and I want to be able to tell individual stories that bring me joy. I don’t want regret, I don’t want guilt, I don’t want misery. Sometimes I get wrapped up in toxic things and lose myself in the process, but I always find myself coming back to myself. I want to be the best me for myself because that is how I can genuinely enjoy my own life. I want what I want, and we only have one life to fill the shoes we want to wear. I am going to pursue fashion and make clothes that I love, if I fail then I fail. Life will go on, the earth will still turn, and you will wake up the next morning. By the end of my life, I want to know who I am, and I want to be true to myself every day until then. It is my life, no one can tell me what to do or what not to do, but I know that a career is a small part of who I am and who I will be. That is what I want to do for the rest of my life. 

The September 7^th meeting with Cathy Davidson and Dr. Christina Katopodis about their amazing book The New College Classroom was so informative. Prior to this meeting, I had not read the book, but after hearing their discussion about it I am eager to read it. At the beginning of the meeting when Chancellor Rodriguez was introducing the book, I already knew I would resonate with this book. I appreciated how the Chancellor recognized that students learn differently and how he wanted to grow a greater understanding of students. The value of empathy to grow a greater knowledge of the students and what they needed to have so they could bring their all to class was so comforting to hear. Hearing that this book is more of an ethical book rather than a book about teaching differentiates itself from other books or ted talks about the education system. 

The new college classroom provides a step-by-step manual for reimagining the classroom experience as an active citizen. The new college classroom offers students more than what today’s classrooms are giving them. It empowers students with creative problem-solving tools because that is essential in creating an inclusive democratic society in and out of the classroom. When Cathy Davidson started speaking about her book, I was stunned by the statistics she stated. Davidson stated, “We’ve had sociologists’ education who’ve gone around and found out that twenty percent of students graduate from college without ever having spoken in a class unless they were directly called on. That’s a tragedy.” 20 percent of students did not have the confidence to speak in class, and I say confidence because I too am a student that doesn’t speak in class. Professors are not always welcoming, and the classroom doesn’t feel like a creative space for wrong answers, which is why we need a new college classroom.