I had an amazing experience when I was a student at New York University.  I must say that from start to finish the education was stellar, and every experience I had there on campus was positive.

I think many people have this notion that New Yorkers are cold, hardened, and uncaring.  It's just not true.  Some of the warmest people I know are from New York City.

I must give the individuals in the Financial Aid Office credit where it is so richly deserved.  Thank you for all you did for me when I was an undergraduate student there.  Each and every time I had any sort of interaction with the Financial Aid Office on campus, it was positive from start to finish.

When I think about how many tens of thousands of students are enrolled there every year, it is remarkable that so much effort is expended to take care of their students.  I never felt like a number when I was an N.Y.U. student.

I always felt respected, valued and that I belonged on campus. 

N.Y.U. gave me the world. 

My educational experience there was everything I dreamed it would be.  I was challenged intellectually, had opportunities that would have been unheard of at another university, and made some of the best friends there that I will ever have.

The N.Y.U. community takes care of its own.  When I began my studies at Washington Square Park, I had just finished the most challenging year of my life.

My Mother had died during my senior year of high school, and my Father had moved on with his life in a manner that did not include my sisters and I.  As a result, I moved into the residence halls at N.Y.U.

It was the first time that I had ever lived in Greenwich Village.  It was a wildy exciting time to be young and free in lower Manhattan.  I found out quickly that life downtown was very different than uptown.

I could have easily gotten into trouble then.  My sister always says that we became orphans on the day our Mother died.  My Father had closed a chapter of his life and moved forward to create a new family for himself.

In many it was understandable since he had been through so much pain while my Mother was ill, and especially during the final year of her life.  He wanted very much to put the past behind him and begin anew.

In many ways my sisters and I were fortunate that he made that choice.  We began our lives anew too then.

For me it was like an awakening.  I had grown up in a home with parents who were strict authoritarians.  My social world as a girl and as a young lady was confining in just about every way.

My eldest sister Charity likes to say loudly and often that she was repressed as a child.  She couldn't wait to break free.  When she left home to go to Brown University, she never looked back.  My parents could not have paid her enough to return home.

My middle sister Faith also broke free.  She didn't need to travel as far.  She ventured further uptown and was a student at Columbia University.  For Faith just venturing that short distance uptown was enough.  She had gotten out, and she was free at last.

And then there was me.  When my family was uprooted back then, I faced some challenges that are similar to what I am experiencing at this point in my journey through life.

My Father was completely absent from my home during the remainder of my days in high school as soon as my Mother was gone.  I had to be incredibly ingenious to thrive back then.

I was alone for the very first time in my life.  I had no money whatsoever.  Fortunately I still had my family's home to live in, but were it not for kindness of my Mother's family and my paternal grandparents, I don't know what I would have done.  I am also eternally grateful to my good friends and their families.  They took such good care of me then, when I wasn't completely able to at age seventeen.

When I finally arrived on campus at N.Y.U. I felt like I had come home.  I was one of the students who moved in to the residence halls and never moved out.  That always required special permission from the housing office to be allowed to remain in the residence halls between semesters. 

I also studied each and every Summer because it was required in order to be a resident on campus.  I was thrilled to be there.  When I was a student there, I never wanted to leave.  Many friends tried to entice me to travel with them or their families during our breaks from school, but I never accepted their offers.

I spent my holidays, all of them, living and celebrating in the residence hall.  I decorated my home there with my roommate, I entertained guests for the holidays and had the most fabulous time.

It was usually just me and a few dozen foreign students who remained in the residence halls as I did.  We had truly unique and lively experiences during the holidays.  I will never forget those very happy memories.  It is what I would imagine a festive event at the United Nations to be like.  When I entertained for the holidays, there were students there from every corner of the globe.

It amazes me that all it took was a trip downtown for me to officially become a citizen of the world.  It was a rare gift to receive that without actually traveling the farthest reaches of the earth.

I came home then at N.Y.U.  Finally again I had an opportunity to be in the place where I wanted to be, doing the things that I wanted to do, and was surrounded by the people that I wanted to spend time with.

I consider that to be a rare gift.  It is one to be truly appreciated when it is received.