FIT - I LOVE YOU!

By Charlotte Spaid (Fashion Business Management, ‘21)

Well, it’s been about a year since the Fashion Institute of Technology went “remote”. I’ve come to have a love/hate relationship with this term, remote. Of course, remoteness is needed. But this particular piece stems from a point of a love letter to FIT. I’ll be graduating this spring. Even though this time that has passed since going online has had its ups and downs, I cannot help but give a piece of my heart to a campus I so love and memories I adore.

The warm spring weather now upon us, I think back to what a usual sunny day looked like on our lovely campus. Walking on campus after my morning commute always felt like a mini runway. A beautiful thing about our school was everyone expressed themselves through their artful fashion. I never really had to draw my style or art inspiration from anywhere else but my surroundings at FIT. One may think people at FIT judge you by staring at you, but they’re all looking at your outfit, which I like to think admiringly. I miss people complimenting me on my outfit or I to them, and talking about our recent fashion finds or news. Everyone at FIT knows fashion is an art form, and having this special community to relate to always will hold a place in my heart. Coming from a small town with a confined dress code, FIT allowed me to express myself as freely as I should.

Now, when I am in my virtual classes, sometimes I imagine what it would be like to be sitting there with my classmates in person. To see my fellow classmates’ and professors’ faces. To easily again have intelligent conversations bouncing off of one another. I miss being able to throw on something I thought was cute for my classes. Here at home, usually I have a somewhat stylish comfy outfit. But it’s not the same as everyone appreciating my outfit and I appreciating there’s.

I had always so loved walking out of class and seeing my friends hanging out on the street. The FIT campus was always particularly a fun one filled with interesting characters. Hanging out with our community, on this small block in the heart of New York City, is something I know we all miss dearly. From sitting on the ledge with our friends, watching people skate by, to being able to join in other’s conversations that you hear. But I hold hope in my heart that we will be able to share this community again. I asked some students what they miss the most, and hanging out with their friends on campus was among the most popular. “Spring campus, turning onto 27th and seeing a packed street, especially when your friends were scattered along the street and you had so many hellos by the time you get to Feldman. Then sitting outside and eating lunch, hearing so many different conversations going on at once and actually feeling like part of a community here, seeing the diversity every day!” (Jenna Gardner, Photography ‘21). I had a flood of answers just like Jenna’s.

Part of me recently looked back to being a freshman living on campus. The dorm life was a rather interesting, somewhat tough experience. But the experiences and memories shaped me in the direction I wanted to go in. If I could go back to seeing small me living in New York City for the first time, I would; there would be lots of things I would tell her. But feeling those warm FIT friend memories brings me so much joy. “I never thought I would, but I miss living on campus and being surrounded by friends!” (Gill Mitreuter, Photography ‘21). I too, never imagined I would miss the dorm life, but these days I do find myself reminiscing. In a way, my first year on campus helped grow me into who I am now. As cheesy as that sounds, life would be so different without it. When you decide to move off campus into your own apartment, a piece of you grows onward, and in other ways, we all miss being in the same building with our community.

FIT carries a certain feeling when you’re on campus, whether in class or with friends. A feeling of adrenaline, of fellowship and of cheerfulness. These people and this special place you cannot receive anywhere else. My first official visit to FIT was an open house in October of 2016. My parents and I had driven through the night after I had cheered at a football game to get to FIT. It was what you call a magical experience indeed, as one would say. Even though everything is different now, I’d like to say that spark is still there. My graduation approaching quickly, I can say we should all be ever so proud of ourselves for not only what we’ve been through but for attempting to maintain the great community FIT has. Though I know most of our hearts belong back on campus, these experiences we had will never be forgotten. It may be rather difficult to look back now, but our community here at FIT is so resilient and truly special. Cheers to us, the community that keeps the bones of our campus lively.