Visions of Gotham: Topics in NYC from 1945 to Present

Hi!  My name is Lashika Yogendran, and I’m a freshman in the Macaulay Honors College at Brooklyn, Class of 2012.  I’m a premed student interested in going into oncology as a doctor.  I’m hoping to double major in chemistry and classics and possibly minor in biology.

I guess you could say that traveling is the story of my life!  My family and I are Sri Lankan, but I’ve never actually lived in Sri Lanka, something I’m a little sad about…but I’ve visited it countless times so I guess that counts for something!  Sri Lanka is the little teardrop-shaped island below India, and it’s got amazing beaches!  Anyway, I was born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.  I lived there for only four years, so I don’t remember too much about it unfortunately.  I do remember lots of sand and incredible heat though!  When I was four, my family and I moved to Toronto, Canada.  This is where most of my childhood memories begin.  We lived in Toronto for another four years, and then when I was eight we moved yet again to a small town called Marion in North Carolina.  This was a big change from Toronto, as I moved from a city with gigantic skyscrapers to a tiny little town with one main street.  Regardless, I still loved it there!  After two years in North Carolina, we moved again, this time to the suburbs of Chicago.  We lived there for five years then made the biggest move yet, all the way across the Pacific Ocean to Shanghai, China!  I had the good fortune to live in Shanghai for three years and it was an amazing experience.  I learned so much about the Chinese culture and living there really opened up my eyes to the world and made me more open-minded.  I like to think that living in Shanghai molded and shaped me into the person I am today, and I’m so grateful for the time I had there.  It really was truly invaluable in my growth and development as a person.  I graduated from an international high school in Shanghai, and came here to Brooklyn College for university.  This is the first time I’ve ever lived in New York City, so I still don’t feel like a total New Yorker yet but I hope that will change soon!

However, I think I can cite the exact moment where I started to feel more like a member of New York City.  For one of my classes I needed to go into the city.  However, I had to go alone and since no one was with me, I had to figure out how to get there by subway by myself for the first time.  I was a little worried because the subway always seemed like a maze to me with all the different lines and connections and such, so I was hoping I would get to my destination at least SOMEWHAT on time.  Luckily I managed to map out the route I needed to take and I got there with time to spare!  That was the point where I started to feel like I belonged in New York City, funnily enough.  I felt like such a city girl navigating the many subway lines, it was a great feeling!

I’m really looking forward to learning more about the city and taking advantage of all the opportunities Macaulay has to offer.  I’ve only been in New York City for a few months, but it’s already one of the favorite places that I’ve lived in!