Editor’s Note: Applications for the Fall 2021 New York and Washington Semester Program are still available. Submit your application today at https://apps.holycross.edu/stuProgApp. Applications are due May 24th, 2021.
Written by Nicolette Frasco, Class of 2021
My experience during the New York Semester, although short lived due to the COVID-19 pandemic, enhanced my college experience in ways I did not know possible. Independence is the main staple of the program. Although that may sound daunting at first, this freedom forced us to mature in a plethora of ways.
I worked four days a week while simultaneously attending a weekly seminar and writing my thesis paper. On top of this, my classmates and I maintained an active social life with each other and the new connections we made through our jobs and the NY social scene. We lived in an ideal location, just one train stop into Brooklyn from downtown Manhattan. In fact, my commute every morning was only 20 minutes from my door to my job in the financial district. I worked at the center of the world’s financial markets while interning at the New York Stock Exchange through their largest market-maker Global Trading Systems. The opportunity to work at such an important institution made every day both fulfilling and exhilarating.
Many of my classmates and myself became close with our colleagues and attended functions related to our jobs, such as sponsored events and viewing parties. On top of this, we also networked with Holy Cross alumni on a weekly basis through events coordinated by our professor, which gave us exposure to different types of professions.
COVID-19 sent us home only 1 ½ months into our semester and, needless to say, my classmates and I were heartbroken. We all came into ourselves during our time there and learned a new sense of responsibility through our daily experiences. When you live in one place long enough you begin to accumulate your “places.” Like the diner on the corner where we loved to recap our weekends, or the restaurant with an impeccable view of the Brooklyn Bridge. Almost everybody in New York is a transplant and because of that it felt so easy to find our place there. To be one of many enjoying what the city has to offer and making your own way fills you with an electric energy that only New York can give you.
