My name is Will, full name William Jude Baker, and it doesn't have much meaning – except for my middle name, which comes from Hey Jude by The Beatles. I really love The Beatles. I've gone by many names over the years, unable to settle on one for long before it starts to feel ill-fitting; I grow out of my names the same way I grow out of any temporary aspect of identity. Choosing my name myself gives me a lot more control over it, as I have no obligation towards anyone to keep it. After all, names are communication tools, and if a tool no longer serves me I can try another one.

I've done this many times since my preteen years, borrowing monikers from characters I relate to and people I look up to. Ultimately, it's a form of self-expression, though it's one that the people around me have never quite understood. I'm from South Carolina, and my peers have always been far more "traditional" than I am; I've always had a hard time relating to those around me.

That's a large part of why I chose to apply to SVA -- my partner is a sophomore here, and I've gotten to know a lot of his friends as well since he started going here. Applying to SVA has offered me not just an education, but an opportunity for a sense of belonging I've lacked in my hometown. My application was admittedly rushed, and it isn't my proudest work, to the point that I honestly didn't expect I'd be accepted. To my surprise, I was - with a sizable merit scholarship to boot!

Everything since then has just fallen into place in a way that feels so surreal. Less than a year ago, I felt like my education was over, with no further opportunities after dropping out of a small liberal arts school in my home state. I had pushed myself to keep up with the pace, but I just wasn't in the right place, both physically and mentally. I burned myself out to the point I got sick, and it took me over a year to fully recover. It took a lot of maturing to figure out how to balance my needs and limitations with what's expected of me.

Moving to New York City has been a significant adjustment, though thankfully a primarily positive one. The city is vastly different from where I'm from; my home city of Columbia, with its population of almost 150,000, now feels like a small town in comparison. Despite the size increase, New York feels cozier than my hometown. Even in the constant hustle and bustle, I feel more at ease -- likely because I feel less judged. I can go about my life with all my eccentricities without worrying what the people around me think; the people of New York have too much going on in their lives to concern themselves with mine.

Liberty - Reading Response

In “Liberty”, chapter 14 of City of Dreams, author Tyler Anbinder tells the story of the Statue of Liberty and how it relates to New York City's immigrant population. Contrary to popular belief, the statue's conception originally had little to do with immigration — the idea for the project as imagined by Edouard Rene de Laboulaye began as a memorial dedicated to the emancipation of enslaved Americans after the end of the Civil War. This version of the idea failed to get funding, and it took another 40-odd years to find its footing with the campaigning of Joseph Pulitzer. From its erection in 1886 onwards, the Statue of Liberty provided hope and spectacle to anyone entering New York's harbor, including millions of European immigrants.