New York City holds many secrets that are just waiting to be
uncovered, says 19-year-old Andrew Culy. For Andrew, the city's
varied ethnic restaurants are especially memorable.
“I’d never really tried foreign foods until I came here,” says
the slender Californian. “In my first year at St. John’s, I’d tried
everything from Ethiopian to Thai foods.”
Andrew discovered international cuisine on one of his frequent
trips into Manhattan. “My friends and I were constantly taking the
subways into Manhattan,” he says. “We walked all over. Every
neighborhood had something interesting to offer.”
At St. John’s, Andrew also discovered the Honors Program. “I
found out I was eligible in a letter," he recalls. “I knew St.
John’s had a good reputation, but I didn’t know a lot about the
Honors Program. Then I visited the campus, and I could tell the
Honors Program would be a great experience.”
Clearly, Andrew says, his initial impression has proven correct.
The Honors Program has given Andrew an even stronger sense of
community on a campus already known for its friendly
atmosphere.
“The Honors Commons is great,” he says, referring to the
program’s sprawling lounge and classroom space on the first floor
of St. Augustine Hall. “I spend a lot of time there with my
friends. We talk, study together. It really is a community in
itself.”
Camaraderie with classmates is just one of the program's
exceptional features. Another, says Andrew, is the creative and
intellectual stimulation that comes from the strong sense of
collaboration between students and faculty.
“The classes are smaller, so there’s more interaction with
professors,” says Andrew. He especially enjoyed the Honors section
of “Discover New York,” a core class that uses the city as a
“living textbook.”
“We went everywhere,” says Andrew. “Greenwich Village, Columbus
Circle, Lincoln Center – we got to see so much of what makes New
York a world city.”
Andrew attended Placer High School, a regional public school in
Auburn, California. The school is thirty miles from Roseville, the
suburb of Sacramento where his parents bought a house two years ago
to be closer to their jobs. Andrew grew up in Alta, a much smaller
California town.
“There wasn’t a lot to do,” he says. “Mainly we walked around,
played basketball. But it did give me a chance to spend a lot of
quality time with my friends.”
A diligent student, Andrew excelled in math. “I’ve been
interested in it my whole life,” he says. “I was always good at it:
it just came naturally.” Andrew also made time for athletics,
joining the track team and even competing in the California state
finals one year.
Today, Andrew is a math major at St. John’s. A member of the
Math Club, he is also interested in creative writing. “I may do
something more with that,” he says. “I’ve been thinking about
contributing to the English journal or trying out for The Torch,"
St. John's student newspaper.
Though still a freshman, Andrew already plans to pursue a
master’s degree in math. “I’d strongly consider staying in New York
City,” he says. “Now that I’m at St. John’s, I actually feel more
at home here than in California.”