Living in New York means seeing celebrities on a regular basis. But having one sit next to you in a classroom is another story. With its prime location and its high ranking in the field of design, the New School attracts artists and in certain cases their children as well. Seems pretty cool, right?
“I once walked by Brooklyn Beckham in the UC. He tried to go into a locked classroom and once he realized it was locked, he turned around and followed me down the stairs. I thought about falling down the stairs so he would notice me,” said third-year Siobhan McPhail, when asked about celebrity run-ins at the New School.
These types of stories are widely spread throughout the New School community. A second-year sophomore, who preferred not to give her name, said that she once shared a suite at the Stuyvesant Park Residence hall with the stepdaughter of Big Little Lies actress, Laura Dern.
“She was always very reserved. Didn’t really talk much to us, she usually was on the phone and rarely home,” said the student. The student also said that they didn’t know who they were sharing their suite with until they looked her up on Instagram.
However, according to some students, many highly public figures tend to stay in their own world, choosing to stay within their own groups of friends, thus creating some social tensions among students. Some students feel that they are not good enough or worth their time to be speaking to these figures.
Sure, it adds for a fun dinner conversation with friends from back home. After all, can your friends say that they went to school with the well-known model powerhouse Hadid sisters or child of Posh Spice, Brooklyn Beckham?
However, many actual celebrity encounters don’t live up to the hype. Fourth-year Nick Blankenship said, “I saw Brooklyn Beckham leaving the UC with sushi in his hands. We made eye contact, it was anti-climactic.”
No one goes to school for the fame, Hannah Montana has proved that, so it makes sense that celebs or their children would want to keep a low profile. Apparently, Disney hit the nail on the head with the idea of the “best of both worlds:” attending school and living the student life and also the glamorous A-lister life.
Student life in the New School setting includes awkward eye contact across the UC cafeteria with someone you had a class with freshman year… so, congrats to any celeb at the New School for feeling the undying awkward pain of social interactions that the rest of the student population feels.
Going to class with your favorite Youtuber or a Hadid is something you can only find at universities like the New School. With notable alumni and world-class education, the New School, which has produced household names such as Marc Jacobs or Alexander Wang, attracts people from all over the world – even celebrities themselves.
