Cherry Blossoms Anonymous

The first thing I noticed about Columbia University was the cherry blossoms, strewn across the ground, plucked from their branches by a rainstorm that left the streets of New York damp and glistening. In Japan, cherry blossoms symbolize ephemera—the relative brevity of their lifespan is a reminder to embrace spontaneity, and to make the most of every opportunity.

Columbia’s intellectual spirit shares a lot with the cherry blossoms that decorate its campus in the spring. A Columbia education allows me to make the most of a four-year undergraduate experience. The Core Curriculum, fundamental to Columbia’s educational philosophy, encourages undergraduates to explore a host of different fields. I’ve always had a diverse range of interests, spanning policy studies, literature, and biology, and I plan to explore all three in college. Four years isn’t a lot of time, and at any other university, I’d have to choose what to study. At Columbia, the structure of the curriculum allows me to explore everything. The Core gives me a multifaceted perspective on the world, and prizes both breadth and depth in knowledge.

But there’s so much more to Columbia than just academics. It’s nestled in the heart of the greatest city on Earth, giving me...