I am a proud member of both the Macaulay Honors College of The City University of New York and the BA/MD program. This is my freshmen year and my major is Biology with a minor in Health and Nutrition. There are several factors that attracted me to both of these great programs. The BA/MD program guarantees placement to the SUNY Downstate Medical School to all of its graduates that meet certain academic requirements. The Macaulay Honors College program offers an enriched liberal arts program that brings emphasis on the arts and cultures of our great city. During my first Macaulay Honors College seminar, we visited an art gallery, an opera at the Lincoln Center, and two Off-Broadway productions.
My interest in the Macaulay Honors College program is based on my desire to learn more about the liberal arts. At the open house presentation, one of the speakers described the program that is being offered and all of its activities, and I immediately became interested and decided to apply. After just one semester, I can truly say that I am very pleased to have made these decisions and be a part of both of these exciting and wonderful programs.
My passion and goal is to become a cardiologist. I remember, as far back as I can, that my parents together along with my grandparents always put an emphasis on the need to attain a college education and excel in studies. They all told me that learning hard while young will help me when I am older. I believe that this concept is not unique to just the immigrants from the former Soviet Union. It is a characteristic of most immigrants that arrive in the United States to encourage their children to pursue a higher education and take advantage of the vast number of opportunities offered in our great country. I think that all parents and grandparents wish their children to excel in their education and attain the goals that may have eluded them at one time. My parents both work as computer programmers. They were able to obtain a higher level of education in the United States because of the many opportunities it has to offer to anyone regardless of their social and cultural status. If my family members would have stayed in the former Soviet Union, they would have been continuously exposed to anti-Semitism. This fact alone would have prevented my parents from being able to pursue a college education, and being able to find any type of career opportunity.
Both of my parents are immigrants from the former Soviet Union. My mother and father came to the United States when both of them were teenagers in the mid-nineteen seventies. Under the Communist regime of the Soviet Union, both of their families experienced government sponsored anti-Semitism that ultimately forced them to leave the country where they were born, had large extended families and were established members of the society. Upon arrival in the United States, each of them, along with his/her parents, experienced the difficulties of adjusting to a new country, culture, language, and customs. My Dad’s family lived in a cheap hotel in Midtown before finding a permanent apartment in Jamaica, Queens. They had no relatives or close friends that could help them to understand the new environment. My father’s family totally relied on the help and guidance of people who worked in the philanthropic agencies sponsored by Jewish organizations that assisted Soviet Jewry at that time. My mom’s family experienced the same culture shock and difficulties seen by my father’s family. The only advantage my mother’s family had was a human connection. My grandfather’s cousin allowed them to live in his apartment until they would be able to make their own living arrangements. As former citizens of a communist regime, my parents were brought up as non-observant Jews. They had very little knowledge about their own religion and culture. It became very important to them to start learning their culture and to observe some of the traditions. It was very important for my parents to enroll me into Bar-Mitzvah classes and participate in this important rite of passage for Jewish males. My father could not hope to have this ceremony held when he was thirteen and the celebration of my Bar Mitzvah helped him to fulfill his need to pass on the tradition that I hope to carry on.
The area of Union Square holds a special place in the hearts of both of my parents and their families. This is the place where the offices of the philanthropic agencies were located that they visited frequently upon their arrival in New York. Sometimes our family visits this area to catch a movie at one of its several movie theaters and have a meal at one of its many restaurants. My parents always reminisce about how this area changed since they came to New York. They remember the park as being unkempt and some of the buildings around the vast square a bit neglected, but they still loved it and looked forward to every visit in Manhattan. My parents remember how they simply strolled through its busy streets full of skyscrapers and different people soaking up the atmosphere of the greatest city in the world.
Most of my exposure to other cultures has been though a prism of living in a very ethically and culturally diversified city that is New York. I always enjoy learning new facts about different cultures and customs. I know that this class will help me gain even a deeper knowledge by virtue of having an instructor-led structured approach that I am looking forward in playing an active role of student who is ready to learn.
I live in the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn. It is a culturally diverse and colorful community that includes a great variety of ethnic groups. I truly enjoy my neighborhood and appreciate all that it offers. I can walk down a single avenue and visit restaurants that offer cuisine from places like Turkey and Central Asia, East European and Greek, Thai and Chinese, and many more. I can visit several shops that offer a great variety of foods brought in from around the world and sample delicacies from far-away places. I can take a leisurely stroll down Emmons Avenue and encounter people dressed in different clothing that represent their culture. One thing in common that all of the residents have here, regardless if they are recent immigrants or have settled in this country, is their desire to live in a better place, a more tolerant community, a free society and that can only be found in our country.
