At the start of every fall semester, we introduce a few of the newest members of The Cooper Union’s student community. In the first installment of this year’s multi-part series, we meet Angel Jones, Austin Blaylock, Asiyah Coppin, Maia Coto, Nikkol Chen, and Naasir Bonilla, six first-years who shared a little about what brought them to Cooper, what they’re looking forward to once the semester gets underway, and how they’ve spent their summer. 

Angel Jones
Kansas City, Missouri
Art

Art has always felt like the path I was meant to follow, but it was National Portfolio Day at the Kansas City Art Institute that truly confirmed it for me. I spoke with Cooper Union’s representative Lea Cetera for almost an hour, and the encouragement she gave me changed how I saw my future. I faced challenges in high school and didn’t always feel supported in my goals. The support from my peers overpowered the negativity I experienced in school, and that moment with Lea gave me the confidence to fully commit to studying art and to believe in what I could accomplish.

A big supporter of mine, my brother, once considered Cooper, and although he ended up accepting an offer from the local art institute, he always spoke highly of Cooper and wondered what life in New York would have been like. Hearing him reflect on that for years made me start to seriously consider Cooper for myself. It pushed me to imagine what it would mean to study art in a place where students are challenged at the highest level and surrounded by culture and diversity. The Hometest only deepened that certainty as did seeing others’ Hometests after we were all accepted. The whole process pushed me to think differently, and I realized that Cooper was the kind of community I wanted to be part of.

For a long time, I thought I might study architecture in college since it was another big interest of mine. But over time, I realized that art was the choice that felt the truest and where I feel like I belong. What excites me about Cooper is that even though I am not in the architecture program, I’ll still be in an environment filled with architects, engineers, and artists, all approaching creativity in different ways. That mix of disciplines feels rare, and I know it will keep me inspired. Along with me being in New York City filled with inspiration.

This summer, I traveled to Cancun, celebrated my birthday, spent time with my best friends, worked on commissions, sold artwork, and shared time with my family. More than anything, I’ve been anticipating Cooper, imagining the people I will meet, the new challenges ahead, and the chance to finally grow in the environment I’ve been working toward. 

Austin Blaylock
San Francisco, California
Engineering

My parents are both software engineers, so that culture has been around me my whole life. In school, I always leaned toward math, so when I was introduced to coding in middle school, it just clicked. It fit the way my brain was wired and opened up an exciting new way to explore subjects I was interested in! 

I first heard about Cooper from a friend, who had learned about it from his college counselor. As I looked into it more, Cooper’s mission stood out to me right away! Unlike with other universities, I felt like I wanted to choose Cooper instead of waiting for it to choose me.

I’m really looking forward to the small classes at Cooper! For computer science classes, especially in the first couple of years, it’s easy to get stuck in lecture halls with hundreds of students. I’m so excited to avoid that at Cooper and have a more personal learning experience that I wouldn’t find anywhere else.

I’ve spent most of my summer working at a climbing gym, teaching kids how to climb, which is equal parts fun and frustrating! I’ve also been climbing a lot myself, both indoors and outdoors, making the most of California’s nature while I’m still here. On top of that, I’ve been biking, running, and swimming as training for a potential future triathlon!

Asiyah Coppin
Queens, New York
Architecture

Architecture leaves one constantly improving and learning up until the end of their life. It was this fact and my love of learning and creating that made me want to become an architect. I never want to stop evolving my creativity and applying it to the issues and communities I care for. I hope that my experiences and insight of the world will push me to be better throughout and beyond my years at Cooper.

My journey with Cooper began with the Saturday Program. Participating within the program for three years cultivated my interest in the school’s vision and environment. It became true to me that Cooper was the school to attend in order to become the architect I envision myself as.

I’m looking forward to becoming more well-rounded, not only through the resources and curriculum at Cooper, but also through the creative and unique student body. 

Over the summer I worked part time and have invested time into my hobbies. I enjoyed crocheting, drawing, and journaling. I also read the books and watched the shows I’ve been putting off. And I spent time with my friends and family. All done in anticipation for what’s to come this fall.

Maia Coto
Seymour, Connecticut
Art

I’ve seen art as an enjoyable hobby ever since I was little. Though when I started attending an arts high school, visual arts had evolved from a hobby into a form of expression. Creating art to express my beliefs and emotions has been something that I value a lot, and something I want to be able to share with the world by using art as a career. So, I believe that studying art will help me not only reach that goal, but also help me understand the arts in new ways I have never thought of.

I had heard about Cooper from many people. For instance, my teacher Willie Stewart was a Cooper alumnus. When thinking of schools to apply to, Cooper always seemed daunting, but I felt that it would be a disservice to myself if I didn’t take on a challenge like the Hometest. Once I had seen that I had gotten accepted, that was all the validation I needed to know that this was the college I had to attend.

I’m looking forward to being pushed beyond any limitations. I chose Cooper for many reasons, but one of the most important things I value about it is that you must work hard there. I want to make sure I can be the best artist I can be. If that means pouring my blood, sweat, and tears into my work, it will have been worth it. 

Over the summer, I have been working, from doing yard work to photography, just to make some spare cash. Along with this, I’ve also been spending time with friends before college begins.

Nikkol Chen
Brooklyn, New York
Engineering

From using Jenga blocks to LEGO or even just random rocks, I love building something and seeing how tall or outrageous I can make it without having it crumble on me. With engineering, I get to do this as a job, get to show off my work to way more people, and of course get to learn the science and math that ensures that these creations will never fall. I appreciate how creative engineering solutions can be while still adhering to the same safety guidelines as other projects.

When researching colleges, I had three main criteria. I was looking for colleges that were relatively close to home (in the Northeast), have good engineering programs, and have smaller class sizes. My friends have previously done summer programs at Cooper, so the school was already on my radar. Plus, we frequently hang out around the East Village after school, so I've passed by the super cool building at 41 Cooper Square multiple times. Cooper ticked all my boxes, and when commit day came, it was practically a no-brainer with which school I picked. 

I am really looking forward to taking some of the VIPs [Vertically Integrated Projects], especially Motorsports and Smart Cities where I think I can really learn new technical and soft skills. On the flip side, I also look forward to taking some humanities courses involving art history and film.

Over the summer, I completed the Brooklyn Public Library Browse the Branches challenge and received a tote bag with a symbol for each of the 62 branches! Other than that, I also worked at a tutoring center for six weeks and planned many hangouts with my friends before they leave the city for college. I've been slowly coming to terms with the fact that I will go from seeing them almost every day to once every couple of months.

Naasir Bonilla
Bronx, New York
Architecture

Growing up in New York City, I was fascinated by the city’s numerous art installations and high-rises across the five boroughs. These works were a core inspiration to me as they were expressive, innovative, and purposeful. Like the architects who have influenced NYC’s unique cityscape, I want to use my creative intuition to make a lasting impact on society. Growing up in the Bronx, I embraced the belief that everyone deserves a place to feel comfortable. Becoming an architect would allow me the opportunity to expand upon this philosophy. I want to bring communities together by developing spaces that are purposeful and beneficial to society indefinitely.

The Cooper Union was first introduced to me at a networking event where I was fortunate enough to meet an inspiring architect who happened to teach at the institution. Later, I joined Cooper Union’s Intro to Architecture summer program as part of the 2024 cohort. During the program, I grew knowledgeable of the numerous core modeling, rendering, and graphic applications taught in the school curriculum. As a result, I accumulated a taste of what life was like for an architecture student. With this wealth of new knowledge, I left with a completed portfolio based on a model I developed throughout the course. Months later, I applied to The Cooper Union through the Common App, completed the Studio Test, and, on a late subway ride in April, I received the great news of my acceptance.

At The Cooper Union, I am most excited to collaborate on projects with my peers, participate in student clubs, and eventually develop my fifth-year thesis project. I also look forward to any opportunity to hone my designer's mindset and to further my education by taking advantage of study abroad programs and internships. 

Over the summer, I worked with both the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) and interned for the nonprofit organization OpenPlans, advocating for open street availability and accessibility for New York public schools.