As college students in New York, we are often so consumed by the busy, bustling city that we forget where we are from and the people we left to come to NYU. Shared below are some of the ways students spice up the way they communicate with their loved ones back home.
Tisch and CAS junior Laura Rubio told WSN that she FaceTimes her mother for an hour every morning from Monday to Friday.
“We discuss the book we are reading together,” Rubio said. “My mom and I are currently reading a book called ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude.’”
This tradition between the two started this past winter break when they decided to read together. They were never able to finish Gabriel García Márquez’s long novel, so Rubio has been reading the pages off to her mother over FaceTime. Rubio’s mother takes pictures of the book’s pages and sends them to Rubio because the old, battered book is not travel-friendly. Written in Spanish, the novel is a challenging read even for a fluent speaker like Rubio, who asks her mom to define words she doesn’t know. Together, they have been working through the story while nurturing their already strong relationship.
“I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” she said. “I love starting my day this way, away from all the technology and school assignments. Plus, I get to see my mom’s face every day.”
Steinhardt sophomore Michael Lee shared how he and his dad keep tabs on each other’s lives.
“A typical phone conversation includes a brief ‘how’s school?’ and an eager discussion about the latest baseball news,” Lee said. “I have inherited my dad’s love for baseball, as well as his love for the Yankees.”
Naturally, the conversation between Lee and his father is shorter during the offseason. Still, Lee claims this is not a problem, as offseason baseball brings its own topics of discussion, such as whether signing a certain player was beneficial to a team.
However, sometimes their communication comes at inconvenient moments. During Game Five of the American League Championship Series in 2017, Lee and his friends were streaming the game on Lee’s laptop, which meant that they were two minutes behind the live score. He and his friends were holding their breath for the final out when Lee’s dad texted, “Yankees made it!” and spoiled the game for everyone watching from Lee’s laptop.
“I feel like I’ve kind of been brainwashed from a very young age,” Lee said. “My dad and I watched baseball together for as long as I can remember, so it’s impossible to think of not talking about baseball with [him].”
SPS sophomore Aggie Dent keeps her parents, her relatives and all of her close friends updated in another interesting way. Dent’s Instagram account @adventureswithaggie is seperate from her personal Instagram. On this account, she posts photos every couple of days of her adventures accompanied with a journal-style narration.
“My family members start asking for them when they become scarce,” Dent said. “All the posts really help them know exactly what’s going on in my life. I also enjoy looking back and reading through them to relive memories.”
Dent created the account in 2017 when she came to New York City for college. In fact, her very first post is about packing her bags to come to the city. Since then, taking pictures of her day and writing short summaries of the memorable events from the day has become a routine part of her life.
CAS junior Erica Merlino spends some of her free time watching the same TV show with her boyfriend in Florida. Merlino and her boyfriend started binge-watching the show “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” together. Ever since, she and her boyfriend would schedule a time to FaceTime and watch an episode.
“We would be watching and every so often, we would throw out our own theories of who we think is the real culprit,” Merlino said. “We would occasionally pause the show just to argue who’s right. I’ve always watched the show with him that it was kind of natural that we would find a way to watch together even when we’re miles away. Although it’s hard not being able to see someone in-person for a while, it’s always important to keep little traditions like this to remind yourself and your loved one that you guys are there for each other.”
Laura Rubio is a former WSN staff writer.
Email Isla Na at [email protected].