Yes at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health as a graduate student

@itsmecat — she documented her NYC move authentically and has done brand integrations that feel genuinely woven in

"Wait, Nobody Has a Car Here?" I grew up in Southern California where not having a car is genuinely not an option. I got my license at 16, drove myself everywhere, and never thought twice about it. So when I moved to New York for my master's at Columbia I honestly didn't even think about transportation. Like it didn't cross my mind once. I was so focused on finding an apartment and figuring out my program that I just assumed I'd figure it out when I got here. The first week was a lot. I'm in a new city, I don't know anyone yet, I'm trying to find my way around campus, and I'm realizing pretty quickly that the way I moved through the world back home just doesn't apply here. I started using Uber almost immediately, not because I planned to but because it was just the easiest thing when I was overwhelmed and didn't want to figure out the subway at 10pm with groceries. And then it just became part of my routine. Rides to class when I'm running late, getting back from the library at night, going somewhere on the weekend that's not super subway-friendly. I stopped thinking about it as a replacement for my car and started thinking about it as just how I get around now. Which is a weird shift when you've been driving your whole life but it happened pretty naturally. I also did the math one night when I was procrastinating on an assignment and realized I'm probably not spending more than I was on gas and parking back home. Maybe even less. That was the moment it actually clicked for me.