This is a picture of Sakshi Agarwal from 2 years ago.
Sakshi is a first year student at Gallatin. She studied at Dubai International Acadamy in the United Arab Emirates. She enjoys the Mentalist, is interested in martial arts.
She wants everyone to be fully aware of this fact:
Sakshi is also a fan of white ladies who don’t like war:
She seems to not have a birthday.
This is the conclusion of the introduction.
Meet Carly. Though she has a somewhat generic name and Google seems to only recognize a quite different Carly Valentine Photographer, the REAL Carly is of course a unique individual like any and every other NYU student.
Originating from Canada, Carly remained there over the summer until it was time to move to New York City. She spent this most recent summer before college enjoying a lake area called Lake Manitouwabing and endless ice creams with her friends according to recent pictures posted to Facebook. A woman with great taste and ice cream choices in my opinion, she is also a connoisseur of music, listening to a huge variety of artists such as Kanye West, and pretty much only Kanye West.
Seriously, he appears to be the ONLY artist she likes and therefore she’s a big Yeezus fan because that’s his only decent album and everyone knows he was completely responsible for it’s thoroughly original production. Her interests in TV shows actually portray a similar story over Facebook as the only ‘like’ listed is Saturday Night Live. It’s a good thing Carly moved to NYC when she did, she’ll get plenty of opportunities to see her favorite show!
Finally, I don’t see how anyone could introduce Carly without pointing out the close-knit linguistic relationship between her name and curly fries that exists beyond the written realm and even transcends all forms of logical reality. Good on you Carly, you continue to do you and be those fries. She’s having a wonderful time in her Gallatin Writing Seminar and meeting amazing new people like Kas Ghobadi, White Male Student #3, and other cool dudes.
There are 203 people in the US who go by the name James Stine. But there’s only one Jimi Stine.
Born on the 21st of April 1994, Jimi Stine was raised in Merchantville New Jersey.
From an early age Jimi Stine stood out from the other 3,821 residents of Merchantville through his bright red hair and his abundance of passions and interests.
It could be said that one of Jimi’s greatest passions is for video games. He has been known to say that if his soul were a pair of light up sneakers, video games would have an effect on them akin to jumping up and down. This quote not only expresses Jimi’s love for everything PS4 related (note: he bought a PS4 not an Xbox 1) but also his rich and eloquent use of the English language.
However he’s not just interested in gaming, he has a prolific taste in music, a fan of everything ranging from Jack White to Bananas in Pyjamas and his favourite TV shows include The Office and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. But don’t be fooled into thinking Jimi’s not an intellectual. He loves to read books such as The Maze Runner, The Hunger Games and anything by author James Rollins, a man whom he loves so much he became a fan of him twice on Facebook (one official page and one, rather risky, unofficial fan site).
Before coming to NYU, Jimi didn’t let high school get in the way of his passion for higher education. In 2013 he took part in the American Legion Jersey Boys State program where he took part in a week of fascinating college-level seminars with other like minded young men.
Some teenagers spend the summer before college lying in bed doing nothing but not Jimi Stine. After gaining admission to NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualised Study (note: the author of this piece spent a very long time trying to figure out what school of NYU James attended before realising she met him in a Gallatin only seminar) James used his summer to travel Europe.
He went on a 10 day tour visiting Germany, The Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland. While there he got a taste for different foods, languages and people, celebrating his 18th birthday in the wonderful Dresden. Ultimately this trip left him with a new persepective on the world and a thirst for more. However could all this travel have taken it’s toll on poor Jimi? Mid way through the trip Jimi sent out a tweet, or as some saw, a cry for help – ‘This world is so vast I could cry.’ – Friends and family were worried. However this picture of Jimi enjoying some brownies made by a man called Mr Gunson eased our worried minds.
So what does the future hold for Jimi? He’s currently attending NYU, living on the 18th floor of founders and going to classes like the good student he clearly is. One can only imagine that one of the reasons Jimi chose NYU was because of his love for travel so I think we can assume he’ll be taking full advantage of NYU’s study abroad programs in the near future. But until then he’ll be doing what he does best. Being Jimi. Being ginger. Being awesome.
Mikaela Baruch, or Mikaela Sarah, her social media alias, which she uses for her various social media accounts, is a jewish girl from L.A. who loves Emma Watson. Mikaela also happens to like One Direction, specifically Harry Styles, and gets frustrated when she doesn’t have access to Netflix, but then again who doesn’t get agitated when one can’t stream “Orange is the New Black” or my personal favorite, “House of Cards“. Last year she suffered from bouts of Senioritis, something we can all relate to. Also, she graduated from Windward School, a premier college prep school which is located in the Mar Vista neighborhood in Los Angeles. Apparently some of her friends went onto the University of Michigan for college, but she makes it very clear on social media that she does not attend there. She’s gluten-free and likes the show “Friends;” you can’t go wrong with either. Her favorite sport athletes consist of Darius Morris and Gabrielle Douglas, both of whom have residences in Los Angeles.
All in all, Mikaela is a pretty dynamic person, and a pretty active user of social media who is very excited to live in NYC.
Marissa Posner is originally from Bethesda, Maryland (Washington D.C. area) and is now studying at the NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study. She has attended the Madeira School and the Walt Whitman High School. Marissa is interested in business, entrepreneurship, marketing and music shown through her membership in various Gallatin clubs. Marissa is also interested in athletic life at NYU as she will be attending a varsity event at NYU.
Besides sports, Marissa is also involved in Jewish life as she participates in ceremonies. She enjoys these events as she gets to joke around with her friends as well. 
Marissa also likes to do go to the beach whether it is for water sports or just to hang out with her two younger sisters.
Marissa also has an impressive background of internships and job positions, which may be due to these opportunities in Washington D.C. She has worked and interned:
Finally, Marissa has had a long term relationship with Reed Provolene Srere as she posts for three years, since June 16, 2012, prom pictures with him. The third one on May 13th she stated that the “3rd times the charm”
Hailing from Randolph, New Jersey, Ryan Choi just began his freshman year as a Gallatin student at NYU. A man who knows his way around Facebook’s privacy settings; all that one finds under his About tab is an unsourced quote describing his hard-nosed, no-nonsense approach to work:
He keeps his online identity to a minimum by pledging his allegiance to only five Facebook groups, including his high school’s orchestra and FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) chapter.
In addition, he appears to have been a staunch supporter of Austin Joseph in the 2012 elections for Junior Class President at Randolph High School:
Since moving into university housing on August 24th, Ryan appears to be integrating himself well. He’s added about a dozen new friends on Facebook, all who attend NYU, in the last two days. Not that he isn’t popular already; he has almost 400 friends on Facebook. He’s also a part of the NYU Play: the Games club which recently took over UHall’s lounge area with a swarth of gamers for a meetup:
Coincidentally, Ryan shares his name with fellow gamer and renowned League of Legends player, Ryan Choi. This bestows upon him one of the coolest logos ever made for a name:
Ryan’s computer prowess and congenial nature will no doubt serve well any group he works with over the course of the semester. I look forward to getting to know Ryan more well when he comments on this post and as we progress in the seminar.
Armed with a relatively common name and a healthy lack of enthusiasm for social media, Francesco o’Brien spends his days not frequenting Facebook or Twitter. His theoretical Instagram account contains neither filtered landscapes nor pictures of brunch. He seems to agree with the commonplace notion that Google Plus accounts are a waste of time, and opts not to comment on youtube videos (at least under his real name).
Whether by distaste or indifference, Francesco doesn’t partake in the social arenas of Pinterest or Steam. Myspace and Linkedin shed no light on his mysterious life, and don’t get me started on Ello. Be it Vox or Gawker, The New York Times or Whiskey Media, Francesco is nowhere to be found. Perhaps he prefers physical press, or maybe he silently observes the goings on of media dispersed through http. Regardless, Francesco’s online footprint is a slight as one could expect of a child of the 21st century.
Scarlett Curtis is an exceptional individual. Her life story is unlike any other I’ve come across. And I follow Humans of New York.
Originally from London, the road that led Scarlett here to New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study is longer even than the name of the aforementioned school. When she was fourteen, Scarlett had a back operation that caused much more harm than good, leading her to spend many of the following weeks and years at home and in pain. School became difficult and then impossible, and the time spent alone would cause mental anguish that continues to plague her even now, months after the pain has subsided.
When all of her friends were moving off to college, she was stuck, all she wanted was to get out of London, and even though by age seventeen the pain from the operation had left, depression kept her from staying in school. However, Scarlett had a goal, a dream, “a Narnia”, and after months of studying and catching up and testing, she’s finally here.
Thankfully, the road here was not without its bright spots. In the time following the operation, Scarlett was able to find solace in the little things life offers, in baking, knitting, and the joy that is lego construction.
In a wonderfully written article for the Daily Mail she stated that, “I’ve learnt a lot from baking. I’ve learnt that banana bread is the best thing to make if you’re feeling really angry because you get to punish a lot of bananas.” Insightful though this may be, her blog takes things far deeper.
With the subheading of “Cooking – Crafting – Living – Reading – Coping”, the site is wonderfully charming and filled with personality. From discussions on baked goods and knitting, to music and depression, Scarlett proves to be both witty and thoughtful. In addition, the blog has eight-hundred fifteen (now eight-hundred sixteen including yours truly) e-mail subscribers.
What makes the blog so special is that it’s much more than a place to learn fun recipes and and laugh at witty anecdotes, it’s about learning to cope with and overcome depression, it’s about finding those activities that bring us joy, it’s about learning to make life worth living.
After reading only a few posts on the site I was struck by Scarlett’s clarity and honesty. Depression is a difficult subject for many to talk about, an especially nasty quality when talking about depression itself is one of the few things that seems to help the most people. In this respect I cannot extol her posts on the illness enough. I only wish I had the courage to do so myself. Again, from the Daily Mail: “If I’m going to be sharing a new recipe, I also want to share what it feels like to have a panic attack. Because, in my opinion, they’re both very important.”
In addition to baking, Scarlett is also an avid reader (and always looking for more book suggestions), her favorites include The Great Gatsby, of which she has eighteen copies, followed by The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Saga (number of copies unknown).
When it comes to music, her favorite song is “Summer Girls” by LFO, though recently “I Wanna Get Better” by Bleachers and “A Better Son/Daughter” by Rilo Kiley have been staking claim to her headphones, so much so that she wrote a blog post about them.
Scarlett also has two utterly adorable animal companions, Catsby and Posy.
It should further be noted that Scarlett has a very interesting and illustrious family as well. Her father is director Richard Curtis, and her mother is renown English broadcaster and cultural commentator Emma Freud. Yes, that Freud. Scarlett is the great-great-grand daughter of Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis.
Famous family aside, the reason that Scarlett’s story carries such weight is that it shows all those lucky enough to find her blog that though the hour may be dark, the sun will rise. Even though she was at times trapped by both mental and physical pain, she was able to find those things that brought joy and peace, and even though at times it must have seemed that the world was slipping past, she made it here, 3,358 miles away from home to study at one of the world’s premiere universities. Her story matters because she is not alone, we, are not alone, and every post about how cupcakes helped her overcome her inner struggle, every song posted that helps her through rough times contributes to a community that needs all the help it can get.
Adam Schulz is a freshman at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at NYU. He originally hails from Highland Park, Illinois, a suburb of the Chicago area. He attended Highland Park High School and now writes for Earmilk, a music blog in which contributors are able to share their latest music discoveries, hits, and news. He often writes about musicians such as Skizzy Mars, Jon Waltz, Towkio, and Trey Palms
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In August, Adam attended Lollapalooza, a music festival in Chicago. Here he ran into Joey Purp (a musician). He has a Twitter account where he follows mostly musicins ad has 58 followers. His love of music may stem from the fact that he played violin as a child.
Besides music, Adam likes the Green Bay Packers NFL team, The Shawshank Redemption, Die Hard, and appreciates designer clothing.
Alexandria Hanson, also known as Alex, is a very talented and creative individual hailing from somewhere near Manhattan Beach, California. In fall 2014 she started attending New York University as a part of the Gallatin School of Individualized Study.
A budding filmmaker and photographer, Alex has been involved in several film projects, many as a part of the Mira Costa High School’s media arts program.
One of said projects is a visual personal essay, documenting her growth and challenges as a filmmaker.
Alex Hanson in the form of a personal essay from Mira Costa Media Arts on Vimeo.
Alex was adorable as a young girl, as you can see in this video, which includes several home videos of her at various ages. As a child she also liked Harry Potter, and was in the process of reading (or re-reading, as I often do) J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone one morning at 5:30 AM while accompanying her father to his workplace.
On this day, she learned about skyscrapers and decided that she likes big buildings. She certainly is in the right place now.
Alex’s cuteness has over the years evolved into a distinct beauty, and now she is quite ravishing. 
This may be why she so enjoys using herself as the subject of her photos.
Being a photographer, she has a very distinct aesthetic, which carries over to her many creative pursuits. It also extends beyond said pursuits, and into her life of Facebook. Alex enjoys poetry, and regularly posts poems, often as captions to photographs. The following poem was devised as a “thank you”, following her receiving a purple bouquet from her friends.
Friday night flowers
Gifted from my awesome friends.
Thanks guys, I love you!
Her normal Facebook posts are also very poetic following with her artistic nature.
On September 6th, Alex posted an introduction of fellow Gallatian Varsha Prem, in which she ponders the meaning of a Facebook post the other girl posted some years ago regarding “cactus love”.
she will continue to ponder the meaning of this phrase for many years to come.
Also her prom date was named Drew Dates. And he was the best date ever.