Garrett Henderson
I am a sophomore from Chicago, Illinois, and I intend to double major in political science and economics. I wrote this essay about the New York Stock Exchange because I wanted to analyze its current symbolic value and examine how it has adapted to the constantly evolving economic landscape of the United States.

John McMenamin
Hello! My name is John McMenamin and I am a Philosophy Major. I recently finished my freshman year at Fordham University – Rose Hill. This piece was crafted in order to engage readers, make them laugh, and demonstrate the fact that relationships aren’t just between people. Spam was easily chosen as the center piece for this essay because it is iconic, polarizing, and mysterious. I hope you enjoy the piece, but more importantly, I hope this essay reminds you to always check the expiration date (and maybe also shed light on your own relationships — past, present, and future).

Erin Murphy
My name is Erin Murphy, and I was born and raised in San Francisco, California. I am currently a sophomore at Fordham College Rose Hill. My major will be Psychology with a minor in Visual Arts. I am hoping to continue my support for Lung Cancer research and hopefully spread the word to Fordham!

Gabrielle Nugent
I am currently a Sophomore at Fordham College Rose Hill, and my intended major is English. I was inspired to write this essay after working with students of the local Bronx community in the Fordham Bedford Children’s Center.

Timotheos Panagiotis Timotheatos Pariotakis
I am from Athens, Greece. I am pursuing a degree in Media and Communication Studies with a minor in Business Administration. This essay was very appealing, because it pertains to the changes we all experience in the course of our lives. My biggest interest is learning foreign languages; I now speak four, and I hope I will be able to learn more in the future. If I had to describe myself, I would say that I am full of enthusiasm, ignorance, but also self assurance.

Bianca Pasquel
Bianca Pasquel is a member of the Gabelli School of Business, class of 2014 with a major in Business Administration. The fact that student loan debt has surpassed that of credit cards in America was her inspiration for this essay. If nothing is done to change this now, we will face another economic crisis in the future.

Venona Vilajeti
My name is Venona Vilajeti. I am a student at the Gabelli School of Business, class of 2014. My major is Accounting. I chose to focus my essay on child obesity because of the severity of the issue and the need for a solution. Obesity is an epidemic and I believe that the best way to fight it is to start early and focus on children so that they can grow to live a healthy life.

Allen Ying
I wrote this piece after reminiscing about my childhood and realizing how often I took people’s words for granted. I believe that words are a powerful thing and that the art of using words, rhetoric, is almost inherent to human communication. I wished to capture that idea in my piece. –Allen Ying, GSB 2014.