As of three weeks ago I live in New York City, which is absolutely insane.

Even now, writing this article while looking out a window at an apartment building and the New York State Division of Human Rights headquarters across the street, I'm still always mildly convinced that I'll wake up in my bed in Ohio, 500 miles and a world away from here. There's a lot to get used to in this city: my college campus is your typical green oasis, but New York never lets you forget that it's out there. Metro North rumbles by right next to campus, heading to Grand Central. The car horns and oddly distinctive NYPD sirens are incessant. I haven't seen a star in three weeks, but the sky is never really dark (thanks a lot, light pollution). A mini box of cereal costs $7??? And even when you briefly forget just how big of a city you're in, all you have to do is look out a top floor window or climb onto the platform for the 4 train and there it is; the entirety of Manhattan, huge and imposing even from the Bronx.

Learning to be comfortable and confident at Fordham has been a process. As stereotypical as it is to assume the private Jesuit school is full of rich kids it's . . . not an entirely untrue assumption. And although people are very smart and very nice it's sometimes hard to stave off the sense that I've somehow tricked everyone into letting me be here, like I just kind of wandered onto campus and everyone's too polite to tell me that I'm lost. I realize that's dumb. I earned my spot here, and I'm getting more comfortable and proud of that as time goes on.

Imposter Syndrome aside, I adore it here. My friends are great, school is interesting, and the city is so fantastic I don't know if I'll ever be able to convince myself to leave. Much like stereotypes about private Catholic schools, all of the cliche sayings about New York are kind of true. The world feels smaller here in the best way possible, like you might bump into anyone at any time. All of the opportunities I used to convince my parents that a school so far from home was worth it are real and almost comically accessible. When people say there's something in the air here they're right, and it's not only the smog (though there's sometimes that too).

I'd apologize for this break from my regularly scheduled political rants so I can wax nostalgic about New York City, but I won't because I'm not actually sorry. There's not much of an actual take-away from this except that if you ever have the chance to live in the city, even for a little while, do it. I've only been here three weeks and it's already the most fun I've ever had.