This fall, NYU Shanghai welcomed 515 new first-year students, with a 1:1 ratio of Chinese to international students. Members of the Class of 2028 hail from 42 countries around the world and speak 56 different languages. Among them, students from China represent seven ethnic groups and come from 21 provinces, while international students primarily come from the United States, Asia, and Europe. Nearly 15 percent identify as first generation students, and the average number of languages spoken by each student is three. But who are the members of the Class of 2028, really? Read on to find out the most common name and zodiac, and even how much sleep they typically get!
Max Yang Mingqian '28
Hometown: Shanghai, China
How has your first semester at NYU Shanghai been? Engaging, great courses, great professors, and peers.
Favorite class? It’s difficult to say which is my favorite. GPS has interesting texts that cover various topics from different perspectives with professors from all across the world providing their perspectives. My Honors Linear Algebra professor also provides great lecture notes, making the course easy to understand.
What keeps you busy outside of class? I work at the ARC, engaging with students and ARC fellows and LAs. I work for the student government’s external committee, reaching out to businesses and universities to invite them to events. We’re planning a Thanksgiving event. I like meeting members of the community around campus and getting to know them.
What do you think you might major in? Mathematics
Message to your future self? Leave some time for yourself. When I reflect on my first half of the semester, there were times when things got a bit overwhelming, so when I think about organizing my life, I want to focus on leaving time for myself. College is fast-paced and exciting, but I need time to recharge.
Isabella Martinez '28
Hometown: Long Island, New York, USA
How has your first semester at NYU Shanghai been? My first semester has been all over the place at first. I love it. It's like everything everywhere, a bit overwhelming, but as time goes by, things are sort of falling into place and I’m establishing a routine.
Favorite class? My favorite class is Chinese. Compared to my other classes, it's not as stressful because I have a background in speaking it. And right now I’m adding vocabulary and applying the language. In the last two weeks, we had a unit on shopping and recognizing certain vocabulary. The other day, I realized that I could read the comments and reviews on Taobao and I was like, “This says the quality is good!” So I like the immediate application of what I’m learning.
Message to your future self? I would say prioritize your health more, especially throughout these college years. You have to take it upon yourself to learn how to have a healthy lifestyle. Live in the moment while planning for the future. It's nice to find a balance between both.
Gabriel Ferreira '28
Hometown: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
How has your first semester at NYU Shanghai been? A really good experience. It’s different from what I imagined it would be, but it’s nicer than what I expected. It’s been a dream because I always planned to study abroad.
Favorite class? Chinese—it’s really difficult and I was struggling in the beginning but now I’m enjoying it. My teacher makes the class fun, so I don’t feel the time pass.
What keeps you busy outside of class? Working out—every day after my last class, I go to the gym. Right next to the dorms, there’s a beautiful park and I try to go running every morning. It’s one of the best parts of my routine. The park has lots of flowers and I see a lot of people practicing traditional Chinese exercises.
What do you think you might major in? Computer Systems Engineering
Message to your future self: There are lots of opportunities to enjoy life here at NYU Shanghai and I hope you took advantage of them. And I hope you learned from your mistakes.
Michelle Ma '28
Hometown: Shenzhen, China
How has your first semester at NYU Shanghai been? I feel like the past two months I really struggled. At first it was a bit confusing for me. I’m just trying to figure it out, and I think I made some progress, so I’m going to be ok. It’s a big difference from the education I’ve received. There are so many resources, but if you want to use them, you need to reach out by yourself. It’s a little challenging for me, also the language.
Favorite class? I guess it’s GPS. It really introduces me to different cultures and different perspectives. The classics need you to think of things I’ve never thought of before. In the class sometimes I don’t understand. Some of the words I’m not familiar with or the concept or the culture itself.
What keeps you busy outside of class? I just started to run and sometimes I just go for a walk in the Expo Cultural Park next to our residence hall. I usually walk there with my friends. I plan to start to play badminton again, and I found a group of friends to play together with.
What do you think you might major in? Neuroscience and IMA.
Message to your future self? Be brave and just be who you want to be.
