“I didn’t expect to become a Global Transition Assistant and see so many other students come in and enjoy their first day for the very first time, like I did,” said Lamba. “I’m emotional, but also happy to have come this far.” 

Adjusting to American Education  

Lamba arrived at Fordham as a shy teenager from India. She attended a Catholic high school, Holy Child Auxilium School in New Delhi, even though she is Hindu. (In her home country, attending a Catholic school is considered prestigious, she said.) 

Last fall, Lamba joined the Fordham community. She wasn’t familiar with the American style of education—a liberal system where she could freely explore and incorporate her own thoughts and ideas, she said. 

But in time, things fell into place. Lamba found a major that felt right—economics—and was elected vice president of the newly founded economics club at Lincoln Center. Lamba, an aspiring entrepreneur, said she hopes to host discussions about global economic events and invite well-known economists to campus as guest speakers. 

Holding Onto Her Heritage Abroad

Lamba also learned how to celebrate her heritage abroad while embracing new cultures. She was elected event planner and board member of Desi Chai, a student club that celebrates South Asian culture with events like the Bollywood Ball, where students dress up as Bollywood characters. (Lamba cosplayed as Kareena Kapoor Khan from the movie “Jab We Met,” wearing a traditional kurta and jeans.) She also helped to plan a mock wedding or “shaadi” at the Rose Hill campus, in collaboration with Fordham University South Asian Entity and the Rose Hill Bengali Student Association. The wedding featured a bride and groom voted on by the students (who are not dating in real life), as well as traditional rituals and performances.

“India is known for its big fat Indian weddings,” Lamba explained. “It’s a fun way to celebrate the culture—and it’s not just India. Bangladesh, Sri Lanka—all the South Asian countries celebrate weddings with a lot of [fanfare].”

Over time, Lamba became closer with other international students on campus, including those from Azerbaijan, Morocco, and Norway. She was also touched by the kindness of the entire campus community, from the faculty, to the security guards, to the public safety officers. By the end of her first semester, she wasn’t as homesick as she thought she would be. 

Lamba largely credits Global Transition with making Fordham feel like her second home. Through tours, presentations, and community-building events, she figured out practical things, like where to buy a SIM card and how to open an American bank account, and more complex things—finding friendship in a new and unfamiliar place. 

“You’re an 18-year-old coming into a new country where you don’t know anything. Global Transition and the people were so nice—and focused on you,” she said. 

Now Lamba is a mentor to six incoming students from Kazakhstan, Philippines, Switzerland, Vietnam, and her native India. She said she hopes that they maintain a positive and open mind. 

“I was a very introverted person. Not very, but closed off, and I was trying to be someone I was not,” said Lamba. “Fordham helped me to be more direct—to be more of me, rather than someone else.” 

The new international students come from dozens of countries around the world, including China, India, Italy, and Vietnam, and represent 8% of the incoming class.* They are studying a variety of disciplines, including business administration, finance, and psychology.

“I cannot wait to learn about new cultures and perspectives from Fordham’s diverse student body,” said Lucas Lopez, a first-year student from Uruguay who plans on studying computer science. “I want to be part of the University traditions such as the tree-lighting ceremony during Christmas, attend a University basketball or football match, explore the city, and most importantly, I’m excited to meet people from all over the world.”

*Numbers as of 8/28/2023

“I’m talking about universities and this guy next to me says, ‘Why don’t you apply to Fordham?’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know Fordham.’” The guy had graduated from Fordham’s Gabelli School of Business, and his enthusiasm sparked Vidal Calvo’s own interest in the University, he said. “I started investigating … the majors and the community, and actually I found out that it’s a great school in New York City, with a university campus. And it was something I was very interested in.”

Now a senior at Fordham College at Rose Hill, after earning enough credits a year early, Vidal Calvo is double majoring in political science and economics, and he’s an active member of the campus community. He said going to school thousands of miles from home can be challenging, but his “neighborly and welcoming” classmates helped him adjust to college life in a new country.

“I made my best friends the first week that I got here,” he said. “I remember asking in the Queen’s Court chat, ‘Does anyone have a cable for a speaker, because I left mine at home?’ And two guys immediately came to my room with a cable—and they are now my roommates.”

Becoming a Student Leader

Simply feeling welcomed and finding a second home at Fordham wasn’t enough for Vidal Calvo. As a sophomore, he ran for United Student Government (USG) and was elected to serve as a class senator, the only international student to do so that year. And in April 2022, he was elected president of USG at Rose Hill, a position he currently holds.

He’s also an active member of the Fordham Model U.N. team that placed third in February at this year’s Harvard National Model United Nations, widely regarded as the field’s most prestigious competition in the U.S. The Fordham group also recently participated in the Harvard World Model United Nations in Paris, France, Vidal Calvo said, where they won four awards, including one he shared with Fordham College at Rose Hill junior Alexander Yankovsky. The pair took home one of the top awards in diplomacy for their work “representing” Togo on a mock committee on decolonization.

Previously, Vidal Calvo was involved with with Fordham’s mock trial and debate clubs, and the Fordham Political Review. And last October, Vidal Calvo was one of only two students selected to speak at Fordham President Tania Tetlow’s inauguration ceremony.

“We ask you to inspire the generations to come,” he said on behalf of his classmates, “and to teach students principles of honesty and integrity while preserving Fordham’s most remarkable achievement: caring about graduating good people before people with good degrees.”

In his leadership role, Vidal Calvo has advocated for more resources for international students, pushed to expand food options on campus, and worked to improve communications between USG and students, particularly through social media.

“I’ve always had a passion for public service since I was in high school,” he said. “I used to do a lot of volunteering back at home to try to help lower-income neighborhoods, the least advantaged back in Venezuela.”

After graduating from Fordham, he will pursue a master’s degree at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy before aiming to “go back home to try to be a politician there.” In the meantime, studying at Fordham has given him opportunities he couldn’t get in Venezuela, he said. “It’s this idea of free thought, freedom—this is a space where you can thrive and be safe. Those things are possible here; back at home they’re not.”

Advice for International Students

At Fordham, international students make up about 7% of the undergraduate student population, and they come from about 90 countries. Vidal Calvo said he tells incoming students to “be open to the possibilities” of making lifelong friends as they adjust to college life in the U.S. And he encourages them to share their cultural traditions with their classmates.

“That’s what makes you special,” he said. “Recognize that as a valid power for everything you’re going to do at Fordham and in the community.”

This fall, Fordham welcomed nearly 200 first-year international students to the Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses. The students come from more than 50 countries and study a variety of disciplines, including business, STEM, and communications. 

From Aug. 24 to 27, the first-year international students settled into their dorms and explored the city. They began Global Transition with trips to Target and Bed Bath & Beyond, where they stocked up on supplies. They also attended orientation sessions that showed them the ropes around campus. On the final day of the program, they visited some of the most popular places in the city, including the Top of the Rock, Chelsea Market, and Central Park, located just a few blocks away from the Lincoln Center campus. 

In total, there are about 700 international undergraduate students at Fordham, said Salvatore Longarino, director of the Office of International Services. The students come from nearly 90 countries, largely from China, India, Vietnam, and Brazil. This year’s total number of international undergraduates is higher than last year’s headcount, 662, said Longarino. 

High School Sweethearts in Vietnam

First-year student Vanessa Mautone, GABELLI ’26, said she has lived in six different countries. Mautone was born in Geneva, Switzerland, and lived in Malaysia, Italy, France, Vietnam, and the United Kingdom. Her father’s job as general manager for an international company required their family to relocate several times, she said. Mautone had visited the U.S. only once in 2016—on a trip to New York City—and now the place that she explored as a tourist will become her home. 

“I want to go into event organization in the future and heard that the Gabelli School of Business was an amazing school to study business in, especially at the Lincoln Center campus where I’m probably going to have a lot of amazing internship opportunities,” said Mautone. 

Mautone’s partner, Huy Nguyen, who met Mautone when they were high school students in Vietnam, is also attending Fordham as a first-year student. Nguyen was not part of Global Transition because he holds dual citizenship in both the U.S. and Vietnam, but he was born and raised in one of the largest cities in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City, where he said he has lived his whole life. 

Nguyen, a theater major, said he was attracted to Fordham College at Lincoln Center because it stands out from every other campus in the city. 

“I’ve always had an interest in performance, especially acting. Being located in the middle of Manhattan, I couldn’t have made a better decision. My ultimate goal is to end up in films, and I believe that the Fordham Theatre Program provides the most hands-on education experience,” he said. 

A ‘Homey Feeling’ From India to the U.S.

Preeti Lamba, FCLC ’26, was born and raised in India. She said she attended a high school that shares the same Jesuit values as Fordham. 

“I used to be in a Catholic school,” said Lamba, who attended Holy Child Auxilium School in New Delhi. “What I like about Catholic education is the discipline, values, and ethics that helped me to transform my life in the best way possible. … I feel like I can continue the same at Fordham. It gives me a lot of homey feeling.”

Lamba said she chose to attend Fordham because of its diversity, student-to-teacher ratio, and potential for networking in the heart of a global city. 

“At Fordham, I seek a vision to build a good network and take part in activities, be a leader, and encourage others to stand for themselves. I want to be part of various clubs like graphic design and culture,” said Lamba, an economics major who hopes to become an entrepreneur or an analyst someday. “I also want to make everyone a part of the Ram family, bring change, and advocate for people.” 

Opening Day is a part of Global Transition, a five-day program structured around helping undergraduate international students adjust, and is for many of its attendees the first step to starting college life in America. Including exchange students, there are 280 incoming international undergraduates this year, with 33 countries represented at Rose Hill and 46 countries represented at Lincoln Center.

Several Fordham student volunteers known as Global Transition assistants were out and about Martyrs Court on the hot summer morning—working the check-in tables, unloading moving boxes from cars, and passing out Fordham t-shirts and backpacks. As each new student entered the building, the volunteers warmly welcomed them in with a whooping cheer.

In the midst of the hectic day at Rose Hill, students from all over the world, including the Philippines, Egypt, and Bangladesh, expressed how excited they were to be at Fordham and in New York City.

Ria Avargerimath, a marketing and business administration major from Melbourne, Australia, was drawn to Fordham’s campus. “I really liked the campus. It gives you a campus feel, but you’re still really close to the main city and I just feel like there’s lots of opportunities nearby.”

Fordham’s campus was also a selling point for Lorena Mandarano, a biological sciences major originally from Rome, Italy, whose family now lives in Switzerland. “I love the community here. When I came here during spring preview, I just fell in love with the campus, with the people. They were so kind with me.”

For Jayanta “Jay” Saha, a computer science major from Dhaka, Bangladesh, Global Transition marked his first time in the Big Apple.

“When you are in a city that’s this lively, your mood just becomes ‘okay, this is the place I want to stay.’ When you think of New York, like this is the place I want to study. And it has ambiance and the mood to it,” said Saha.

Many students pondered being on their own for the first time.

Mandarano said, “I’ve never done laundry before in my entire life! I’m really looking forward to learn how to do that.”

And while the students agreed that their studies were paramount, they also said it was important for them to create memories.

Shilei Zhang, an accounting major from Beijing, China, expressed that “I want to meet more people and more friends. And I’m really excited to meet my roommate.”

Jaymee Francisco, an applied accounting and finance major from the Philippines, is excited for the sports scene at Fordham. “I’m into track and field and everything, so I was wanting to get into that. I might [try out]  next year.”

Youssef Emara, from Cairo, Egypt, who received a scholarship to attend Fordham, said he felt fortunate to have been accepted. “I want to make the most of it, the American college experience. Lots of my friends back home couldn’t travel out of Egypt cause you know, circumstances. So, I’m grateful to be here and I want to make it count.”

For some Global Transition assistants, giving back is a way to keep the legacy going. Kanak Shah, GABELLI ‘21, started out her Fordham journey with Global Transition as a freshman coming from India, and it was such a great “family-like experience” for her that she now volunteers as a Global Transition assistant. While she knows first-hand that moving from another country can be hard, Shah encourages international students to be themselves and not to feel nervous.

“Everyone at Fordham is so friendly and the whole community at Fordham is so welcoming to international students that it makes it all easier.”

In 2016, Ghayalod’s son Raj enrolled as an undergraduate at the Gabelli School of Business and found that Fordham lacked a similar support system. Raj’s mother, Pallavi Ghayalod, knew this was something she wanted to address.

Fordham’s Indian Association, which Pallavi founded, was officially launched at a reception on April 8 at the Gabelli School of Business on the Lincoln Center campus. Its goal is to create a strong network of support among current Fordham Indian students, Fordham alumni in India, and other members of the community in New York and across the United States.

“The Gabelli School wants to be a hub for global education,” said Donna Rapaccioli, dean of the Gabelli School of Business.

The Indian Association will work to celebrate the rich culture, history, and contributions of India and South Asia at Fordham. It will also help Fordham build stronger ties in India, spurring more interest and awareness of Fordham’s schools among students across the region.

“Fordham is seeking to create internationalists at the undergraduate and graduate level. We’re hoping that this initiative will bring the University closer to South Asia, and India in particular,” said Roger A. Milici, vice president for development and university relations.

Fordham undergraduates travel from 76 countries, and international students make up ten percent of the undergraduate student body. More than 100 students from India currently attend the University, and over 200 alumni hail from there. That network is key to recruiting prospective international students, who use social media and other online resources to decide whether they will attend an institution.

“When parents of international students find out that their child gets admitted to Fordham, they’re not thinking of the school. They are thinking of New York City, and things like, ‘Where is their kid going to live?’ Facebook is a great resource for parents to connect with other parents to figure out the answers to questions like this.” said Pallavi.  

Prospective students often speak to other admitted students, current students, and alumni via social media in order to determine where to enroll. “If I didn’t get to talk to Fordham Indian alumni about their experience, I wouldn’t have felt comfortable attending Fordham,” said Kapil Bashani, GABELLI ‘18, who spoke with three Fordham alumni via social media before making his decision to enroll in the global finance program.

Sris Chatterjee, Ph.D., professor and chair of global security analysis, finance, and business economics at the Gabelli School, and one of several faculty members who attended the reception, said the association was a critical addition to the University.

“At this time, with what’s happening in India, and all across the globe, many cultures are finding it hard to come to terms with each other. But India is not just one culture, but a confluence of many cultures,” he said.

The Indian Association at Fordham seeks to unite people across those different cultures and to ease the transition for students studying at Fordham from overseas.

The association is planning to host a reception in India this July.

I moved to New York City from Bucharest in 2014, when I enrolled at Fordham. At the beginning of my first year, I felt as though the cultural divide would be too great for me to overcome. But then, after I joined the student newspaper, a friend suggested that I write about my experiences as an international student who was new to the United States.

It was the first time it dawned on me that my being foreign could be an advantage, that I could bring something to the table that no one else could. I wasn’t less qualified because English wasn’t my native tongue, I was simply better qualified to tell different stories. That piece became an honest account of how hard it was being away from home, yet how thrilling it was to discover New York on my own. I was sharing my experience with my peers, each of whom could relate to it in one way or another.

It was an accomplishment achieved in no small part thanks to the help of a certain editor, a fellow student one year ahead of me. She acknowledged my hardship and homesickness. It turned out that I reminded her of her mother, an immigrant who had once upon a time moved to the U.S. from Italy, when she was about the same age I was. Until that day, I never thought I could feel such empathy from someone from New Jersey. Yet there we were—she having moved to Manhattan from across the Hudson River and I having flown across the Atlantic—sharing a table in our school’s cafeteria, both trying to figure out how to survive college. She is still one of my closest friends.

Living in diaspora is difficult, but powerful. It teaches resilience and courage. Having moved here makes me feel that no other challenge I might face in the future will be as daunting—and that’s a powerful feeling, to know the reaches of one’s bravery.

1. Give yourself time to process the huge transition you are going through. It’s a big change and you’ll be out of your comfort zone, feeling thrilled and exhausted at the same time. Homesickness will come head to head with the desire to discover your new surroundings, but as time goes on, you will start to feel at home on campus and embrace the adventure.
2. Once you’re more acclimated, use your time wisely. Join clubs, go to campus parties, and take advantage of your professors’ office hours. Develop your skills and your relationships in your new community; both will help in the long run.
3. Play to your strengths and make light of your differences. Make fun of your home country’s customs and American customs alike. Humor can be a great tool in bridging the divide.
4. Lean on people at school and back home; share what you’re going through. My mother knew everything I was up to on a daily basis, and it made me feel as though I was sharing the journey with her. My American friends were supportive when I was feeling homesick or struggling with classwork in English.
5. Let yourself be amazed by what you’ve accomplished. Look back once in a while and be proud of having taken the harder, less-comfortable path. You have high goals for yourself and you are fighting for them. That is no small feat.

—Ana Fota is a 2018 alumna of Fordham College at Lincoln Center. After graduation, she worked as a news assistant at The New York Times. She is currently a social media manager and reporter for POLITICO Europe.

The students spent the day immersed in Global Transition, a five-day program that welcomes undergraduate international students to Fordham and the Big Apple. They moved into their new homes, toured the Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses, and mingled with other students from around the world. The new students—many of them accompanied by their parents—had flown in from countries as far away as Syria, Sweden, and South Africa. Over the next week, they would explore the city’s attractions, including Coney Island, the High Line, Greenwich Village, and a Mets game. But the first day of Global Transition was their chance to sit, breathe, and take it all in.

In the dining room in the Fordham Law building, four incoming students—James Widodo, Michael Utomo, Quan Tran, and Li Wang—shared a table and traded stories. They talked about their hometowns, the reasons why they chose Fordham, and their love for the city.

“Everyone moves like they have a purpose [here],” said Widodo, an Indonesian native. Life in New York, he added, is far more fast-paced than his hometown of Jakarta, more than 10,000 miles away.

One of the biggest reasons why Widodo chose Fordham is the University’s famous location. The other, he said, was the prestigious reputation of the Gabelli School of Business, where he’ll be studying global finance and business economics. Nearly half of the incoming first-year international students—102, to be exact—are enrolled in the Gabelli School of Business. Other common majors include economics, film and television, integrative neuroscience, and psychology.

The incoming international class comprises 249 students, which includes first-year students and transfer students. They come from 45 different countries of citizenship, with the largest group of students hailing from China. 

First-year international students took in a Mets game during Global Transition…

…and received a warm welcome on the big screen!

In total, Fordham is home to 849 international undergraduate students. Last fall, the total number was 780, said Salvatore Longarino, director of international services.

As some of the newest members of this group, Widodo and his new friends prepared for life in a new city with a mixture of trepidation and enthusiasm.

“The thing that I will miss the most about home is being able to know the whole city,” said Tran, a student from Hanoi, Vietnam. “Here, I’m a stranger. I have to learn.”

The group also chatted about their favorite dishes from home. Widodo and Utomo—high school friends from the Jakarta International School—will miss the taste of martabak, a stuffed pancake sold from street carts in Indonesia. Wang, a student from China, will miss the fresh seafood netted by fishermen along the shores of Shanghai. But these newcomers also say they’re excited to try new things: Shake Shack, pho from Vietnamese restaurants in the city, and parties on the Upper East Side.

And the most shocking thing about New York? “The fact that we’re here,” Tran said.

Video by Taylor Ha and Tom Stoelker

But he always knew he wanted to leave his native Turkey to study here, and Fordham’s Bronx campus had a special appeal to him: Gültepe, the area of Istanbul where he lived, translates as “Rose Hill” in English.

He said the United States’ traditions of freedom of religion, inquiry, and speech were things that drew him here.

“In Turkey we are so divided politically, there is no space for talking freely,” he said.

After dabbling in courses in sociology, anthropology, archeology, and history, Kilicarslan, who is Muslim, is leaning toward a Middle East studies major. He’s already declared a minor in Jewish Studies, the first student at Fordham to do so.

Kilicarslan developed a particular interest in Judaism after having taken two courses: Jews in the Ancient and Medieval World, and History of Modern Judaism. He’s enrolled this semester in East European Jewish History, and last month he became Fordham’s first intern in the Museum for Jewish Heritage’s interfaith program.

As part of the internship, he helps facilitate dialogue between Muslim and Jewish elementary school students.

“In Turkey, I didn’t have a chance to study or even read about Jews and Christians. I had only some illusions about them, and some superficial knowledge. My goal here is to really understand these different cultures,” he said.

Magda Teter, Ph.D., the Shvidler Chair in Judaic Studies and professor of history, called Kilicarslan “one of the most exciting and intellectually promising students” that she has met in 15 years of teaching. She’s added new images, maps, and study quotes to her courses in Jewish history course as a result of his queries.

“Since he’s coming from the Muslim tradition, in which the Qur’an was transmitted in Arabic— and not in different versions and translations as biblical texts were—he’s asked very poignant questions about the process of establishing scriptural canon, and about its fluidity,” she said.

“Some of his most thought provoking questions have led me to change the direction and focus of the course I’d taught for over a decade.”

Kilicarslan said one benefit of learning about Christianity and Judaism is that it helps him better understand his own faith. The Qur’an references Jews and Christians, he said, and he sees no reason why they can’t all live together peacefully. The conflicts and persecutions among members of the three faiths has tended to be the result of economics, or political interests or aspirations.

“I’m interested in the complex situations among different groups, and in finding solutions for these situations. What I see is that, like me, a lot of people have [to overcome]a superficial understanding of others.”

“When people of different faiths focus on our common ground and wisdom, such as accepting the same God, seeing violence as unfruitful, and the existence of compassion and love in all three traditions, our tensions will decrease,” he said.

“I was out of a job twice, and so I experienced what it’s like to be in transition as a job seeker. One of them was in 2008, which was a very scary time,” Mitrakis says, remembering the Great Recession. “I know how frustrating some of the job search services can be. So the second time I was out of a job, in 2015, I decided to do something about it.”

Born in Germany to Greek parents, Mitrakis came to the United States for college. As a freshman at Fordham, he went from company to company asking for an unpaid internship until he got one. “And over time, they started paying me, first in lunches,” Mitrakis says.

His persistence paid off. After graduation, he landed a full-time job with Siemens in New York City. Over the years, he also worked in Dallas and London. Now he’s back in New York, where he is the corporate controller for the U.S. and Latin America at WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, an engineering consulting firm. But it’s the times in between that inspired Project: Job Search.

In Mitrakis’ experience “most places help you with your resume and then help you with interviewing,” he says. “But what happens in between?”

The program is aimed at career professionals, and is informed not only by Mitrakis’ experiences as a job seeker, an executive, and a recruiter, but also by interviews he conducted with HR professionals and others.

Michael Elliot was six months into his job search and feeling frustrated when he started Project: Job Search. Two months later, he accepted a position he loves. “The recommendations are very practical and action-oriented, and provided me with the real tools and additional confidence I needed to close the deal,” Elliot says.

The 10 short video chapters lead participants through the entire job search process, from building your job search tool kit to signing the final contract. Matching worksheets customize the topics to each individual, and users can go through the program at their own speed and even skip around.

These videos offer more than advice on typical job search topics, such as resumes and cover letters. Project: Job Search also has chapters on target companies and inside contacts, negotiating and probation periods, and unposted jobs.

According to Mitrakis, several recent studies suggest that a full 80 percent of jobs are unposted. “The higher you go in an organization, the more likely it is that you will land your job through networking versus a job board. So how do you get to the unposted jobs?”

Mitrakis is coming to campus to answer questions like these on January 4, 2017, but the program is already available free for Fordham alumni. He sees his program as a complement to Fordham’s other career offerings.

He hopes to expand Project: Job Search to include new chapters on topics like emotional well-being and managing your money during a job search. Eventually, Mitrakis would like to create a college version for students looking for internships or their first jobs, as well as an international version for other markets in other languages.

Though the basic 10-chapter program is complete, Mitrakis believes Project: Job Search should always “be a work in progress, always improving, always enhancing,” to stay relevant and help more people. “It feels great that I took my experiences and turned them into something useful that people can use. Hopefully it will help them during a difficult part of their life.”

What inspired you to change careers?
Baking had always been a passion of mine, but originally I had no intention of turning it into my profession. My first job after graduation was as a publicist. Then the economy crashed in 2008, and when everybody was getting laid off, I lost my job. I looked at my options and decided to take a risk: I made baking my career.

How did you get your first job in a restaurant?
The restaurant industry is fairly easy to enter from the ground up, even without previous experience, as long as you have talent and a strong work ethic. My first pastry job was a combination of my ability to sell my talent, a chef who liked me and had an immediate need for a pastry cook, and being at the right place at the right time.

What made you decide to start your own bakery?
When you’re working in a restaurant, you’re part of a team, and there are so many channels that everything has to go through. It’s not only about creating a menu you like and putting it out there; you have to please your executive chef, your managers, and the owner. Everything has to be cost effective, and that means you can’t always serve the things that you would want to serve. And because I’ve always really liked healthy food, I felt a little bit guilty about that. That’s why I decided that I needed my own space.

What was it like starting your own business?
It’s a long process. When you start, you have all of these ideals and these dreams. And then once you actually begin work, you realize it’s not that easy. You realize that nobody cares about this business more than you do. So it’s a lot of work, but you learn a lot as you go. I’m so grateful because my education has been the greatest gift my parents have given to me. And my time at Marymount prepared me for this challenge.

Did you face any particular challenges as a young female entrepreneur?
There is a perception that people have of me because of my age and because of my gender. So it was hard at first; I had a lot of meetings that didn’t end well. But you do learn a lot from every meeting. It’s not exclusive to the food industry, but there are still a lot of men who think that you just don’t belong. Now I’m seeing more women in managerial positions, and more female chefs and female owners, so that’s definitely a good thing. But it’s still not enough, not yet.

The desserts you create are gluten free, and you use natural, organic, and local ingredients. Why did you make that choice?
I took the plunge into health-conscious baking partly because I knew there was a market for it now—especially here in Brooklyn. There are a lot of people into the gluten-free diet and the vegan diet, but they still want to have cake, and they still want to have cookies and desserts that taste good. But it’s also because that’s how I personally eat, and because of my experience at previous restaurants. I do cheat sometimes, but I try to eat healthy and wheat-free most of the time. So that’s why my bakery has more of a health-conscious vibe. It’s all real food, real ingredients, healthy portions, and healthier sweeteners. I wanted to make my favorite desserts and allow other people to enjoy them too.

What’s next for you?
Well, the store is only five-and-a-half months old, so I’m still here all the time. Once I get to the point where everything is running smoothly and I don’t have to be here as much, and once we have enough financing, I would love to open another location. Maybe in Brooklyn, maybe in Manhattan, but for right now we’re just trying to reach as many people as we can online, through UberEats, and at this store. I wanted to build this bakery—this was my dream—and so for now, I’m living my dream.

—Emily Mendez