New York to Newport

HAPPY 4th of JULY!!!

I am proud to say that I have been to New York. It took waking up at 5 a.m. to a long three hour train ride for me to reach my first experience at New York. I was anxious for the well known rush of the city that never stops and I was expecting just that but when I stepped out, I noticed that it was not as fast pace as I thought. Maybe it was because it was early in the morning, approximately 10 o' clock, so people probably slept in or were busy.

Then from there, we headed to 34th street where we met up with Ms.Kronenberg and boarded the subway to Columbia. My previous assumption was that Columbia was going to be a bustle and hustle place but I guessed wrong. It was quite calm; I was not expecting that. However, I have to keep in mind that it was July 3rd and people were probably off to celebrate July 4th with their family or anything of that sort. Columbia has a really nice and serene campus in general but I wish there was more UMPH into it. The campus is also small compared to what I intially thought. This just shows me that visiting the campus really do make a difference! From the tour and walking around Columbia, I realize that Columbia is not the place for me. I love the that it is in New York (I am a city girl), but it does not give me that vibe and warmth that I want in a campus. The atmosphere is not right. It doesn't impress me like how M.I.T. impressed me.

Then we went to Barnard, an all women's college, which is literally right across from Columbia. I know that it is not good to judge a school before actually visiting it but after visit Wellesley, I came to the conclusion that I do not want to attend an all women's college. Last year, I took the Women and Leadership class at Brown. This class challenged me mentally and physically to go above and beyond the expectations for women. We talked about how we want equal rights as men and we want to be integrated into their society. Therefore, I do not want to attend an all women's college because it will seems to juxtapose the idea expressed through many females of equality. However, the good thing about both of these schools is that the students at Wellesley are able to take classes at M.I.T. or Harvard and the students at Barnard at Columbia.

After the little tour, we went on the ferry ride to see the Statue of Liberty and got a audio tour at Ellis Island. Walking through the audio tour was like walking through a glimpse of each culture that have passed through the very buildings I was walking in. It is shocking that so many people had to register in that building to have access to citizenship in the United States. A good amount of my time at Ellis Island was looking at the pictures of the immigrants who came to United States.

A good amount of us students met up in the line to board the ferry early (thus we were on time for the departure of the ferry), but some were late. Therefore, we missed the ferry and we had to wait a good 15 to 30 minutes for the next one. It was near 4 p.m. and us Brown students were starving since our last snack was at 7 a.m. so we grabbed a snack at Picnicks. Afterwards, we shopped a little at the stalls and then headed off to Ground Zero. It is shocking to believe that two great big buildings use to stand just feets away from me and now it is gone. It is depressing to know the tragedy that occured there. I could not even imagine the numerous lives lost and the families and friends that have to suffer and mourn the lost of a love one.

That was basically all for New York. Now, about Newport.

If you think waking up for New York was horrid, try waking up early two days in a row! We went to Starbucks to grab a snack and then boarded the bus. It was a good 45 to 60 minutes bus ride. When we got out, we walked around for a bit then split into two groups. One group went to the beach and the other went to explore the shops around Newport. I bought various little gifts for my family and friends. I noticed that while walking around, there were a lot of tourists of all race. It felt relieving to know that I was not the only outsider there. For a little city, Newport is quite a busy city.

After a long day at Newport, we finally came back to Providence. Now here I am blogging about my experience in the last two days.

While in New York, I notice a lot of people with accents who were trying to sell T-Shirts and souvenirs to tourists. Then I come back to Providence and see all these students around me who are, money wise, pretty well off. They come from wealthy high class families and all of that. Then I see these students at Newport spending large amounts of money on high price and high name brand clothing. I see them walk around all the time with expensive looking items. Now that I take a better view of it, I sympathize for those people who were trying to sell souvenirs for a living. They are hard-working and maybe works harder than most people but yet they do not get very far while some people have money handed down to them. Even I admit that I was once intimidated by the wealth and background but now, I see that I can handle being in their presence. Afterall, we are all humans and although the gap in family income may be possibly distant, it is not so difficult to get along with them. In fact, some of them admire me for coming from such a "murky" background and I am proud. I am proud to represent my school district. I am proud to represent my community. I am proud to represent me.