Aliza G. '09, Barnard '14, Columbia '16

As a BC “lifer,” Berkeley Carroll taught me how to foster curiosity. I learned to get out of my comfort zone and push myself to question what I’m passionate about — skills that have stuck with me in college and graduate school. I majored in English with a creative writing concentration at Barnard College and am now working toward a master’s degree in international affairs at Columbia University. Many people wonder how I can combine these two fields of study, but I just think it’s important to know the stories behind the policies. It was at BC that I was first exposed to this interdisciplinary approach — we would often study one subject from many different angles.

BC was also where I became a writer. The English Department is incredibly strong and the class sizes are small, which made for fruitful discussions. It was The Essay class especially that had a huge impact on me. I started a blog during the course which I still use today and created a portfolio of non-fiction work. The portfolio won a national Scholastic Writing Award and it also allowed me to get a jump start on creative writing courses my first year Barnard.

After I finish my master’s degree I hope to become a journalist. I love continually learning new things and want to be able to write about them — journalism will let me turn those passions into a career. I’m currently learning how to code so I can use data to look for news; I’m always looking for the new way to tell the story.

Whatever I valued at BC, such as the small community, I made sure to take with me. The school supported any academic interest I had and my teachers were always there to support and challenge me. If there was something they thought I’d be interested in they let me go down that road — even if it wasn’t an obvious path.