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Nathan Makolandra
18; Piedmont, South Carolina; majoring in dance at the Juilliard School
How excited are you to come here? New York City? Yes! I’ve wanted to go to Juilliard since I was two years old. Seriously, ask my mom. Y’all don’t know how excited I am.
Did you just say y’all? I bet people would notice my Southern accent, but I am the least Southern of all of my friends.
Did you get shit in school? I got picked on. Hard-core. In high school, people would always say, “Dance isn’t cool” or “You’re gay.”
But you are gay… Yeah, I haven’t been able to date because it’s South Carolina. It’ll be neat. I can’t believe I just said neat.
At least you didn’t say awesome possum. So how do you spend your free time? Music and YouTube are my favorite things. Man, I would love to get some cheap tickets to watch Broadway shows.
What else are you looking forward to? Pizza is my one weakness. New York is going to kill me. Or where can I find some celebrities, ’cause South Carolina has none. And then I can become their best friend in a nonstalkerish way.
Yikes. You worried about moving here—other than the restraining orders? My biggest concern is freezing to death. And not getting lost. And not being a starving dancer.—James Y. Lee
Cody Dulock
18; Waco, Texas; majoring in international affairs at Wagner College
Just how different are Waco and New York? A complete 180. If you wanted to do anything fun, you had to drive three hours to get there. There’s lots of cornfields and farming near me.
What was high school like?I played the French horn and was drum major of the marching band. That was exciting. I did a whole lot of volunteer work.
Um, so as New Yorkers, we gotta ask: Why Staten Island? Wagner was my long shot. I told my family, “If I get into Wagner, I’m going.” My dad brought me up to visit, and he said it’s too much hustle and bustle for him.
Are you worried New Yorkers are going to be hostile? A lot of people think everybody’s rude—butit’s just a different culture. When you have 8 million people living in one city, and they’re all trying to do their separate thing, you’re bound to get a little flustered.
Any favorite New Yorkers? Donald Trump’s a pretty cool guy. De Niro is a god as far as movies go.
What do you think you’ll miss the most about Texas? I’m a Mexican-food junkie: There’s nothing like rice and beans and enchiladas for me. I’m also a big baseball fan. I’m going to try to make the Yankees my new favorite team. —Roisin McGinn
Hiran Kangaraarachchi
20; Battaramulla, Sri Lanka; majoring in business at Queens College–CUNY
You’ve come a long way to be here. I actually dreamed about coming to the U.S., but didn’t think it would happen.
How is your life in New York different from life in Sri Lanka? My parents were strict. Now, I can go anywhere—parties, clubs, whatever. There can be bomb blasts in Sri Lanka in the area that you go partying.
You’re Buddhist, right? Yeah. There’s a temple here. I should go soon. Buddhism is based on karma. You’re not allowed to steal…. You’re not supposed to kill anything.Not even roaches? I used to ask the same idiotic questions to the monks. They never gave me straight answers. I try to avoid it. But if it’s really irritating—like mosquitoes—sometimes it’s just self-defense.
Do you have any stereotypes of New Yorkers? I thought it would be totally scary, like everybody carrying guns and stuff. But I haven’t seen anything like that.
Have you found it easy to make friends so far? I have 711 friends on Facebook. I’m very open, but my friends would say I have a bad laugh and I wouldn’t get girls because of it.
Do you hope to stay in New York and make it as a Wall Streeter? If I get the citizenship, I’d be more than happy to stay in New York. If I don’t, I have no problem going back.—Roisin McGinn
Stay tuned to meet the girls. For extended interviews, blog postings and more, go to timeoutnewyork.com/college.
