Coming from California, where the weather is so lovely and there are plenty of great colleges, people would always ask me why I wanted to go to school so far away. Well, as great as California is, New York has unique opportunities no other place does. Living in the city among such a myriad of people coming from different places is an education in itself. I have been actively involved with Oxfam@NYU, serving as co-secretary, and with NYU Democrats and NYU Students for Obama. Also, traveling from New York is easy and simple. Before the presidential election, I volunteered in Philadelphia for voter registration, in November I drove down to Georgia with Oxfam for a demonstration in Georgia, and again with Oxfam to Washington D.C. for Powershift, an environmental conservation conference. Most recently, I traveled to Tampa, FL with the NYU Alternative Spring Breaks program where my group volunteered at an elementary school. I never expected to have been to all these places my first year! New York is where I live and go to school, but getting involved with clubs has allowed me to travel and learn more than I had ever anticipated.