Incoming Northeastern class shares hopes ahead of school year
New students shared what they plan to study and what they hope to get out of their Northeastern experience.
It’s all now starting to feel real for Gustav von Zelowitz.
Moved to Boston from New Hope, Pennsylvania? Check. Explored the campus bookstore? Check. Participated in Northeastern University’s Welcome Week activities? Check, check, check.
But sitting beneath the bright red lights that illuminated members of the incoming class of 2030 as they waited for the Convocation Ceremony to begin at MGM Music Hall Tuesday, the 18-year-old had one thing on his mind: getting his undergraduate journey underway.
“I’m ready to be studying things that I actually care about,” said von Zelowitz, who will be majoring in chemical engineering.
Incoming first-year students expressed a multitude of reasons for choosing Northeastern. For some, it was the leg-up that co-ops offer job seekers and the chance to study in another country. For others, the opportunity to pursue research or to continue the family legacy took precedence.
And for at least one student, the proximity to his favorite Boston sports teams didn’t hurt, either. Although, Dylan Woodward, 18, of Darien, Connecticut, who wants to study business, has a tough time choosing among the Celtics, the Red Sox, the Patriots and the Bruins
Northeastern Global News, in your inbox.
Sign up for NGN’s daily newsletter for news, discovery and analysis from around the world.
As for Von Zelowitz, he chose Northeastern because he liked that the school has “a completely different model of education compared to other schools,” he said. “And I think that model works, especially today, where people are looking for actual results more than just theory in class.”
Editor’s Picks
Nehemiah Mengesha will be studying economics and international business. The 18-year-old grew up in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, where his father is in the steel industry. He’s interested in pursuing a co-op in an African country to really get a sense of how business is done globally.
“I want to see it first-hand and get that experience before I go back and work with my dad,” he said.
Mengesha said that because Northeastern has such a diverse community, he was also looking forward to the opportunity to connect with people from around the world.
Olive Prisco of Chicago was familiar with Northeastern because she’s visited the campus a few times to see her sister, who is a senior studying sociology.
“She always talked so highly of it, and then I loved it,” Prisco said. “I’m excited to learn about everything and to actually be a student instead of hearing about it from my sister.”
Prisco, 18, will be pursuing criminal justice and criminology, stemming from her childhood admiration for Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird” and the story it told about judicial injustice.
“I just love dealing with true crime and the injustices in the legal system, and I want to fix that and make everything equal,” she said. Specifically, she wants to go into criminal forensic psychology to “learn more about the background of people and how they become what they become,” she said.
While Evan Haykal is currently undecided, the 18-year-old who hails from Methuen, Massachusetts, some 30 miles from Boston, knows the right first step of his professional and personal growth was to study at Northeastern.
The opportunity for experiential learning, is “just a really big factor that draws people toward the school,” he said, “because you can’t really find such a strong co-op program in other places. Also, I love the city of Boston.”
His journey will be as much about academic studies as it will be about self-discovery, as he spends the next year meeting new people and trying to “figure out what it is I want to do and just learn more about myself,” he said.
