With graduation right around the corner, I and many other seniors face the ever-present topic of change. The change from existing in Fordham University to the “real world” is one that many people, including myself, feel intimidated by. The conversation surrounding graduation tends to be pessimistic and all about ending an era instead of starting a new one.
With the topic of change on my mind, walking around campus and in New York for the last few weeks, it has been hard not to notice the changes around us. On campus, I see the changes from when the class of 2024 started at this school to now. At the start of 2020, the McShane Campus Center was known as “McGinley” and was under construction. Students walked through scaffolding to enter, and half of the building was closed entirely. Ram Fit was half the size it is now, and you entered through the post office. Now, McShane is a sparkling new building waiting on a new Marketplace.
The start of the class of 2024’s time at Fordham was filled with COVID-19 precautions. No in-person classes, masks mandated everywhere, students not allowed in a residence hall they did not live in, mandatory quarantine, etc. Despite the weather, social gatherings occurred outside on Eddie’s, and finding an outdoor table was a hot commodity. Thinking about the start of our college experience, it is shocking how far restrictions have come and how much the world has progressed.
The administration at Fordham has changed. In 2022, President Tania Tetlow marked changes in Fordham’s history of all Jesuit presidents. As with any change in new leadership, Tetlow’s leadership has changed campus culture and protocols.
In Fordham’s neighborhood, the class of 2024 has watched businesses come and go. While many of the Arthur Avenue staples have stayed solid, new restaurants, businesses and buildings crop up, changing how the street looks.
New York City as a whole is constantly evolving. From my vantage point, I’ve seen the city struggle with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Things were shut down in 2020 (like the rest of the world). Restaurants on Arthur Avenue operated on outdoor dining, the subways empty and the city quieter. Now, it’s vibrant and full of life.
As for the class of 2024, every person I’ve talked to in the last few weeks has spoken about their transformation at Fordham. People have talked about changing majors and, thus, career paths. Some have said they joined a club they were unfamiliar with, and it changed their life. Others have said they came out of their shell in college and met their best friends. People have held impressive internships, made connections and entered their chosen industries. Most importantly, students have grown, evolved and become different versions of those who first stepped on campus in August 2020.
For myself, I stepped onto campus terrified. I knew no one and would count down the days until I could go home to my family. Now, I have made my best friends and changed my career path. These changes, ones that I’m happy to have happened, would not have been possible without being a little uncomfortable in a new environment.
Reflecting on the changes that have already happened is important because they give hope for changes coming down the road. The next era of life will be stressful. Many things will change, and many of them may be challenging to deal with. But, like coming to Fordham in 2020, these changes can also be positive. Like coming to college, changes can force a person to grow and evolve.
Graduation and the next few years have been a constant source of conversation between my close friends and me for the past few weeks. These conversations are often bittersweet, but we talk about the changes we’ve already gone through. Whether these changes are physical ones to the space around us or more personal, internal changes, they all contribute to the people we are today. So, as we move on from Fordham and into a new phase of life, I encourage everyone to view these next few years as a positive time to grow into better and stronger individuals. Moving on from Fordham is sad, but it is also exciting and the start of a new chapter — and going forward, adopting that attitude can help us harness all that this new phase of life has to offer.
