Class of 2013 Salutatorian Transitions Perfectly to NYU

Molly Prep thrived at suburban Huntington High School, where she was the Class of 2013’s salutatorian. She has transitioned in seamless fashion to life in one of the biggest cities in the world. The teenager is a freshman at New York University in Manhattan.

“I utterly love NYU,” Ms. Prep said. “I’m in the Liberal Studies program.” Her courses include Cultural Foundations I, Social Foundations I, Writing I and Children & the Media. The first three classes are required for her program while the last one is an elective.

“My classes are small and discussion based,” Ms. Prep said. “I’m learning so much and the year has only just begun! For my Liberal Studies classes, much of the course is centered on the written works from antiquity. I love everything we’ve read so far!”

Ms. Prep is enjoying life in the metropolis. “Being a student in New York City has innumerable advantages,” she said. “One of the most notable is the availability of endless opportunities. I can take the subway over to Central Park or easily see a Broadway show. New York University and New York City as a whole are also incredible places of culture. You can walk down the halls of a dorm or wander through Washington Square Park and hear just about any language.”

Ms. Prep was the “colleen” in last March’s St. Patrick’s Day parade in Huntington. She held executive positions with a number of Huntington High School clubs and honor societies, including serving as one of the chairs of the 2013 Relay For Life. She ran on the Blue Devils’ girls’ spring track team as a sophomore and was on the winter track squad as a junior and senior. She was also the student manager of the cross country and spring track teams in 2011/12 and 2012/13.

The Huntington alum lives in the Goddard Hall, NYU’s only first-year student residential college. It is located on Washington Square Park and near three dining halls, Bobst Library, most of the university’s classrooms and the student center. It’s in the midst of “the crossroads of NYC’s liveliest neighborhoods: Greenwich Village, SoHo, the East Village and the Lower East Side,” according to the NYU website.

Goddard Hall’s focus is on the “theme of citizen engagement,” according to NYU. Student-residents are involved in volunteering, social entrepreneurship and civic spirit. Since 2009, the Goddard Hall community has traveled to New Orleans during spring break to help that city rebuild from Hurricane Katrina’s devastation.

Ms. Prep’s roommate is from Georgia and her suitemates are from California and China. “In my building, there are people from all over the United States, Israel, China, Singapore, Malaysia, India and many other places throughout the word,” she said. “I’m learning so much about other cultures and ways of living and finding so many interesting and engaging people that I want to get to know better. Overall, I’m just ridiculously happy!”