“I Like New York Better”

The 2023 fall semester began August 25 in the middle of a heatwave in New York City, and Tanha Latif, 23, from Dhaka, the Capitol in Bangladesh, was interviewed for this article about her impressions, feelings, and expectations for the new semester. This article is one in a series of interviews of students about life at Hunter in these pressing times.

Latif, with short hair, dressed in casual pants and a long sleeve shirt, and responding to this reporter’s  question, said she was not much for socializing because she is shy. She spoke softly during the interview as though she was whispering.

“I was born in the U.S. and came here because the education is more affordable,” said the environmental science major, who chose this course of study because “I heard it was easy with lots of career opportunities.”

She also said, “I chose Hunter, because it’s one of the best in CUNY.”

After Latif arrived in New York a year and a half ago, she took a job at a Dunkin’ Donuts but quit to devote more time to her studies. She lives on Church Avenue, Brooklyn, where she shares an apartment with a brother and a sister.

In the North Building classroom where she was interviewed, Latif said she experienced “anxiety over doing group projects.” She said she felt “stressed and nervous” and said she was “extremely shy.” Asked what does she do to overcome her shyness, she said, surprisingly, “I try to talk to many people.”

Latif said its is easier for her to communicate through “emails and texting” and said she is social media literate who prefers to communicate digitally rather than in person.

Latif said, “I hope to get a well-paying job” after she graduates. Latif also said she hasn’t decided if she will return to Bangladesh or if she plans to remain in New York, but she did say, “I like New York better.”

Her time at Hunter will help her face the kind of challenging decisions that students must face.

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Another student, J.P., as she prefers to be identified for this article, and who was also interviewed for in the North Building classroom, said she was very private and preferred to be inconspicuous. She has short hair and was casually dressed in jeans, sneakers, a T-shirt and wore a medical face mask. J.P. is 33 and an upper junior in the Department of Film and Media Studies.  She said she wanted to advance her skills in technical video storytelling.

 

J.P. said she moved to New York City from the Catskills in 2014 and did not like it initially. She left in 2017 but returned in 2021. She works as a freelance video editor and lives alone in Clinton hills, Brooklyn, and said she had a very supportive boyfriend.

Talking about enrolling in classes this semester, J.P. said she thought she would experience “anxiety and stress” and did say she felt “chaos.” But in the interview she said so far her experience at Hunter was “underwhelming.” After a few days, she said, she felt “neutral.” J.P. said “the experience did not live up to my expectations,” because, as she explained, “I felt relaxed, not stressed at all, no anxiety just, neutral.”

 

 

Sandra Cambrelen can be reached at csndcmb@yahoo.com