There’s something special about being a member of the Union family. On campus or off, whatever you need, there’s usually someone ready to jump in.
Case in point: Aaradhya Sharma ’27 and Marissa (Gaines) Gorski ’10. Working together, they brought Concordiensis staff to The New York Times (NYT) earlier this month.
“While exploring LinkedIn for successful alumni in the newspaper and media industry, I found Marissa’s profile,” said Sharma, an economics major with a minor in film studies and a Seward Organizing Theme in commercial filmmaking. “As treasurer of Concordiensis, I wanted to go beyond day-to-day operations and create more professional development opportunities for our team. I reached out to Marissa, asking about the idea of organizing a visit to The New York Times.”
Gorski, who works on the business side of the company in marketing operations and engagement, was more than happy to help make it happen.
May 8, she and 13 students toured the NYT headquarters in Times Square.
Concordy staff got to see the NYT museum (open only to visitors and employees), the newsroom and “The Morgue” (where NYT historical records are kept). They also had the good fortune to bump into the NYT Games digital puzzle editors -- Joel Fagliano, Wyna Liu and Sam Ezersky -- the creators of the Mini, Connections and Spelling Bee, respectively.
“At a time when the mission of The New York Times is more important than ever, providing students with this experience was a great way to give back,” said Gorski, who majored in French language and literature and minored in American history at Union. “I’ve been in the students’ shoes before. I had the best time at Union but remember well how intimidating it was to figure out what to do after college.
“I never would have thought I’d end up working at a company like The Times, and this visit gave me a chance to show the students, ‘Why not you?’”
Which is just what Sharma wanted.
“Meeting an alum like Marissa, who has navigated from Union to a leadership role at the NYT, makes the path from our campus newsroom to a global media company feel tangible and achievable,” he said. “This trip also inspired us to elevate our own work and to think critically about storytelling, embrace journalistic integrity and consider how our voices can contribute meaningfully to the broader media landscape.”
Following graduation, Sharma hopes to pursue a career at the intersection of finance, media and technology. He sees himself working in areas like financial innovation, sports/media investing, wealth management or producing impactful films.
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