Recent grads describe what it’s like now that they have achieved their goal of getting into college and are finding their way on their new campuses.

Eric Greenberg ’14:

Eric Greenberg ’14 enjoys the freedom that the University of Chicago gives him to manage his time.

“Since you make your own schedule, you really are in control of what you can do and when you can do it,” Greenberg said.

He is a member of several a capella groups, business clubs and the college debate society. He plans to double major in economics and political science.

“The Harvard-Westlake environment definitely prepared me for college,” Greenberg said. “The structure and expectations there are very similar to what is expected here.”

The workload is heavier than at Harvard-Westlake, he said, but no greater than he expected.

Katie Jung ’14:

Katie Jung ’14 was impressed by the multitude of clubs that New York University has to offer.

Jung recently attended Club Fest, a presentation of all clubs in the school, and signed up for Freedom 4 North Korea, the Digital Arts Club, and the Stern Tisch Entertainment Business Association.

Jung was nervous about college, but she now enjoys her new lifestyle.

“Over the summer, I was super anxious about starting college, but I forced myself not to have too many crazy expectations, so I really enjoyed all of the little things that I never really expected,” Jung said.

She has made new friends quickly and enjoys exploring New York City with them.

“Of course, there’s the initial awkwardness of making friends and trying out different social groups after hanging out with your best friends for the past six years, but after that, there’s just so much to do and so much to learn about your new friends,” Jung said. “Especially at a school like NYU, where the campus is the city, you’re doing something different every weekend.”

Jung declared sociology as her major, but she is considering changing it by the end of her sophomore year.

“I really want to spend my freshman year and first semester of sophomore year taking all of the classes that I never had time for at Harvard-Westlake and ones that weren’t offered there to make sure that what I ultimately choose is what I want to pursue,” she said. “Even though I see myself ultimately going into business or the entertainment industry, I still want to take an art history class, a programming class and a cinema studies class. With that said, I am taking Intro to Sociology this semester, and I really like it, more so than I ever expected, so you never know.”

Miles Williams ’14:

Miles Williams ’14, a freshman at Cornell University, may major in business because of his interest in finance.

“I’ve had a good experience with the economics program here so far,” Williams said.

He has also joined several clubs, including the Cornell Finance and Consulting Club, a community service group called Jamaica Difference that offers educational opportunities to Jamaican youth and a group called COLA that focus on protecting the rights of on-campus workers.

Williams considers the social life at Cornell similar to that of Harvard-Westlake.

“Most of the people here are very driven and have intellectual desires beyond school itself,” Williams said. “Everybody also enjoys having a good time, which makes it a fun environment to go to school and live.”

The main difference between Cornell and Harvard-Westlake is the “large lectures with hundreds of people,” Williams said.

He has not yet confirmed his major.

Liza Woythaler ’14:

Liza Woythaler ’14 is exploring the performing arts opportunities at Wesleyan University. She throws burning projectiles called fire poi in a group called Prometheus, which uses props such as staffs and fire in performance art. She also sings in an a capella group called the Mazel Tones, which performs Hebrew and Yiddish music and is acting in the school performance of the “Rocky Horror Picture Show.” In addition, she is a member of Queer Wes, which she describes as being similar to the Harvard-Westlake Gay-Straight Alliance.

Woythaler also participated in One Day Plays, a 24-hour event during which students write and perform plays.

She enjoys the social life at Wesleyan because she sees her friends often and meets new people in classes and activities.

“It’s not uncommon that I meet sophomores or seniors and become friends with them,” Woythaler said. “The thing that’s new about college is that you’re near your friends 24/7, as opposed to the distance between your homes at Harvard-Westlake. So it’s way easier to hang out and do homework together or go get dinner.”

She is considering majoring in computer science, psychology or film, or double majoring in computer science and another subject.