INTERVIEW | Nafsika - Barnard: double majoring in Economics and Psychology

We want to know everything about you!

What is your name?

My name is Nafsika

How old are you?

I am 19 years old

Where do you come from?

My mother is Greek, and my father is Iranian, but I was born and raised in France (Paris) my entire life

What highschool did you go to?

I went to Ecole Jeannine Manuel in Paris, France; a bilingual and international school that offered many sports and extracurricular activities.

What kind of a student were you?

I am a very dedicated and motivated student. When I was in high school, studying was definitely my priority. I would sometimes study up to 10 hours a day if needed. I would also participate a lot in classes and take pristine notes.

Choose 3 words that best describe you.

Determined, organized, compassionate

What was your number one dream university while in high school?

Columbia University

What about your life there?

What university do you go to now?

I am attending Barnard College at Columbia University

Why did you choose this university?

I always hoped to go to Columbia because it is a liberal arts university in the city of New York and it always has been my dream to live in New York City. Barnard College’s most solid major is Psychology and one of Columbia College’s very solid major is Economics, and since I want to study both of these topics, it was the perfect place to follow my endeavors. I also knew that there were many international students attending the university. I believe that it was an important factor in my decision because being international myself, it was important to me to be surrounded by people with whom I had common ground. Especially, when moving out alone at 18 years old on the other side of the Atlantic.

For how long have you been going to this university?

I attended the university for a year.

Was it your first choice university?

Yes, it was my first-choice university.

What is your favorite thing about it?

I don’t have a single favorite thing about the university, so here are a couple: interesting classes, nice yet professional professors, amazing people, great social life, having a real campus, but still being in the city of Manhattan.

What courses are you taking, what is your major?

I am double majoring in Economics and Psychology. So far, I have taken Psychology, Economics, but also Philosophy and English classes.

Is it academically competitive, do you find it stressful, are the classes intense?

There is definitely a lot of studying required and I spend most of my weekdays studying. I honestly never really felt competition between the students. Nevertheless, the atmosphere can be quite tense at the library as everyone is intensely studying, but it never has been something that bothered me; on the contrary, it sometimes pushes me to study more. Regarding the classes themselves, they are usually not too intense, they are easy to follow. However, what is intense is the work that follows the class.

Do people help each other?

People do help each other out a lot. Especially your friends, they will always take the time to help you out. I also received a lot of help from many of my classmates who were not necessarily my friends.

For how many hours do you study on a daily basis?

I study about 5 to 10 hours a day depending on the workload and whether we have midterms or finals. However, I barely study on Thursdays and I don’t study at all on Fridays and Saturdays.

What’s your advice to nail academic and social life?

Finding a good balance is essential. What I did this year and what most students do at Columbia that has worked out pretty well is the following: study intensely Mondays through Wednesdays, on Thursdays try to do as much of your homework for the following week and keep Sunday as a spare day to get ahead or to finish up homework for the coming week. Since most students do that, then we can use Thursday nights, Fridays and Saturdays to socialize and have fun.

Was it easy to meet new people?

You just have to be very open to everyone and reach out to as many people as you possibly can, and engage conversation every time you meet someone new. If you do all those things, then yes, I guess you can say it is pretty easy. From my personal experience it kind of just happened pretty quickly. Usually clubs and Greek life help a lot to meet new people. I think most importantly you have to be outgoing.

Is it close to your home town?

New York is definitely not close to Paris. It was honestly pretty hard at the beginning, but by surrounding myself with the right people and by forming new friendships really helped me to adapt to this new life.

How often do you leave campus?

It really depends on my workload. Sometimes we leave campus on weeknights to get dinner in the city, or to go to an exhibit in-between classes. We usually leave campus on Fridays and Saturdays and sometimes Thursday nights, so pretty often I guess.

Is it international?

It is an extremely international community. English is obviously the most spoken language, but I have met a lot of non-French people that speak French. About half of my friends are francophones and I speak English with the other half.

Do you often go to your university’s library?

I go to the library every time I have to study. It is the best place to get your work done. There are about 15 libraries on campus, so people usually pick one that suits them best and stick to this one. Since there are many libraries, some of them are considered to be more social and others more silent; students pick what suits them best as a working environment. There is one library that is opened 24h.

What’s your favorite place to study on campus?

Definitely the library

On a scale from 1 to 10, what would you rate your campus?

10/10!!!

Are you living in your school’s dorm?

I lived in dorms this past year. I don’t regret it a single second; I believe that it is a very important experience that we must all go through. It taught me a lot even though it was tough from time to time because I had nothing in common with my roommate; we were complete opposites personality wise and in our routines. Apart from that it was really fun to have your friends nearby and you could just knock on each other’s doors and chill together. The bathrooms were also pretty bad but at some point, you start getting used to it and it does not bother you so much anymore.

Are you in a sorority?

Yes, I am in a sorority, but I don’t live in the sorority house.

What would you rate your school’s parties?

10/10!!

How often do people go to parties?

Usually parties on campus are held every Wednesday nights, most Thursday or Friday nights and sometimes on Saturday, so people usually go out about 3 nights a week

Are you a member of a club? What are your favorite activities at your school?

No, I did not join a club nor partake in any activities during my freshman year

Do people in your school tend to have a job at the same time?

Many people will have small on campus jobs or non-time consuming off campus jobs. It is more rare to have a part time job, but sometimes students do that junior or senior year.

How athletic is your school from one to ten?

I honestly have no idea. I did not really pay attention to sports nor to the varsity team this year, so I will not say anything about sports rather than wrongly guessing.

What the nearest city to your school?

New York city

What is the average temperature in the area?

Summers are pretty hot; spring and fall are pretty nice (breezy yet sunny) and winters are extremely cold

Any fun facts you would like to share

JJ’s place is a dining hall “American diner style”; they are open 24h and they can serve pancakes, burgers, ice cream, etc. at any time of the day and the night. Students usually end up there after a night out!

3 words that best describe your school:

Demanding, International and Lively

Is your life in the university what you expected?

It is even better than what I expected, and I didn’t even think it would be possible to get better than what I thought. I only had very good surprises, I knew I would enjoy it, but I didn’t know I could have that much fun while studying so intensely.

What would you tell the students who are interested in your university?

You learn in the best possible conditions ever, the classes are taught by the best specialists in the domain, you are interested in your classes as you are the one selecting them (that is the beauty of liberal arts) and you have an amazing campus in the midst of New York city (the best of both worlds). Not only you get an amazing academic experience, but you also make friendships for life and you have so much fun.

What would be something you would’ve like an old student to tell you when you arrived?

If you are interested to apply either at Barnard College (if you are a girl) or at Columbia College, go for it! I promise you will have an amazing time and learn more than you ever did. Don’t be scared to apply, you never know, you can always get good surprises, but don’t give up without even trying because you won’t get anything if you don’t give it a shot and if you don’t believe in yourself.