Fordham University
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Major: Communications
Minor: Creative Writing
Student Self Identifies as: Caucasian Straight Female
Summary
I do a lot of theater on campus through Fordham Experimental Theatre (FET).
Background
Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian
Sexual Orientation: Straight
High School Experience: Private Catholic school in Connecticut with a graduating class of about 100 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: Communications
Minor: Creative Writing
Extracurricular Activities: I do a lot of theater on campus through Fordham Experimental Theatre (FET).
What impact did Fordham Experimental Theatre have on your experience?
It helped me meet a lot of people and gave me a lot more confidence to open up on stage.
Academic Experience
Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
It’s a lot of essays, writing, reading, and interpreting. I don’t have any real final exams, it’s all just written papers. Week to week I have a lot of readings and reflections of the readings. We apply it to what we learn in class and our life as well.
Is there anything you feel that your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
We really get to take a nice variety of classes because communications is a broad major. They give us good exposure to the different parts of communication.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
It’s really collaborative. At the start of class in a lot of my classes, we’ll put our desks into a circle so we can face each other and have an educated discussion instead of being lectured at for the entire class.
How accessible are your professors?
I have a few that won’t answer emails, but professors are usually there for me. They’ll be open to office hours or will respond if you set up an appointment with them.
What has been your favorite part of Fordham academically?
Probably the extracurricular activities such as participating in the theatre shows. I really like the people I met through theatre. I did a lot of theatre in high school but took a break until my junior year of college, and getting back into it I felt welcomed. Everything I remembered that I loved about it came back to me.
Have you been able to mesh your theatre passion with your Communications major?
I usually find myself writing about theatre when it’s time to write a paper. I just had an assignment where I had to write about an adaptation from a book to another medium and I found myself writing about a book adapted into a musical.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I was actually going to be an English major when I started out. My ultimate goal was to work in publishing, so I figured an English major with a Creative Writing minor would be the way to go. I talked to my advisor freshman year and they said that Communications is really just applied and more modernized English. I find that I’m learning a lot of the same things I would be with the English major.
Reasons to Attend
1) The close-knit community.
2) The interesting classes and variety of clubs and activities.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) The food isn’t great.
2) A lot of commuters I know have a hard time adjusting to campus life and felt left out a lot of the time. [About 24% of freshmen commute. See The Fordham Ram article, “Commuter Students Address Challenges on Campus.”]
Around Campus
Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Martyrs’ Court with one roommate
Sophomore: O’Hare Hall with one roommate
Junior: O’Hare Hall with one roommate for the first semester, and no roommates the second semester
How was transitioning from your hometown to the Bronx, NY?
I was pretty lucky because my brother is also a Fordham student, so I had a taste of home when I was in the Bronx because he was with me. It’s a big change going from a tiny town in Connecticut to New York City, but I got used to it quickly and love it there.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
I feel really safe overall. We have the blue light system on campus so you can press the button if you feel unsafe and public safety will be there within a few minutes. If there’s a safety incident off-campus, we all get an email about what happened. Getting those emails reminds us to be careful about going off-campus and to always be with a group.
Social Opportunities
What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
Nightlife isn’t too much of my thing, but my friends and I will take day trips to Manhattan to see Broadway shows, or we’ll just hang out at their off-campus apartment.
What have been some of your favorite times at Fordham?
Going ice skating in Bryant Park is always a lot of fun. I also really enjoy shopping in Times Square, or just grabbing lunch at a little café or something.
How happy are you with the weekend options at Fordham? Is there anything you would change about them if you could?
If I could change something, I’d have more on-campus activities. I feel like it’s up to us to figure out what to do on the weekends. There isn’t much organized besides the bingo once a month.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
During my freshman year, I became close friends with the people who lived across the hall from me as we got used to what it’s like being a freshman. I didn’t stay friends with them, but I wandered into a lounge in my building and just started talking to a group of them. Most of them became the best friends I have now.
How would you describe the overall social scene at Fordham?
I’ll see a lot of people I know when I’m walking around campus. I think it’s a pretty close-knit community. Everyone is pretty close and friendly.
How has the urban environment impacted your social and academic experience?
I wouldn’t say it has too big of an impact. I don’t find myself off-campus too often. I really only go off-campus to see my friends in their [off-campus] apartments so I don’t think it has impacted me that much.
To what extent do you think people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
Fordham does a pretty good job of that. There are lots of clubs and organizations. I know we have a PRIDE organization. I think it’s common to see diverse groups of friends around campus. [The undergraduate population is about 57% White, 15% Hispanic, 10% Asian, 4% Black, and 9% international.]
How would you describe the student body?
It’s a pretty passionate community. You’ll always see people hanging out outside when it’s a nice day or going to football games. There’s a lot of school spirit.
What is the impact of the school’s Jesuit affiliation on campus? How strong is it?
I don’t think it has that big of an impact. In terms of a religious impact, we’re required to take one religion course. Other than that, it’s up to you if you want to attend Mass.
How do you like the size of Fordham in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How was transitioning to a school with [about 9,600] students?
I like it a lot. It’s not too big or too small. I always knew I didn’t want to go to a huge school where classes happened in lecture halls and the professor wouldn’t know your name. I really like the size of the community we have.
How has the multi-campus system impacted your experience?
It’s been nice. I’ve been able to have friends at both campuses, and it’s super easy to get from one campus to the other. It can even be getting to the end of the day and I’ll hop on the Ram Van to go see one of my friends at the Fordham Lincoln Center. One of my favorite parts about Fordham is having accessibility to the other campus, and its proximity to Manhattan.
Careers
What have you used the career office for? How helpful have they been?
They’ve been really helpful. I can go to them whenever I want to update my resume, look over a cover letter, or just talk about options. They’re always there.
Have you learned any computer languages or software that will be helpful to you professionally?
I took a screenwriting class where I learned a software called WriterDuet.