New York, New York!

                My senior class just got back from our trip to New York City. I can definitely say that it brought us even closer than we had been before. My graduating class is only 119, and we don’t really have many cliques, which makes it easier for all of us to get along. Our school is also in a very rural area, the closest big city to us is about an hour away. Needless to say, going on a trip like that with a bunch of your friends is exciting and it will definitely bring everyone closer together.

                When we got to New Jersey we took a ferry into the city. The boat took us all around the city and past the Statue of Liberty. However, we were not able to go to Liberty Island because of the construction due to the recent hurricanes. It was raining when we arrived in the city and none of us were prepared for that, and all of our luggage was on the bus in New Jersey. So, the first thing a lot of people did was buy an umbrella for ten dollars.

                We made our way to the 9/11 Memorial at Ground Zero. The tribute to the men, women, and children who lost their lives in the events of September 11^th was indescribable.  The size the fountain and the amount of names engraved around it were amazing. Visiting the memorial was definitely a time for reflection. Despite how loud and fast paced the city is, around the memorial was quiet and calm. It was a completely different feel than anywhere else that I have ever been.

                Our next stop was Chinatown, where the rain turned into torrential down pour. My friends Kayla and Bear went from shop to shop looking around and avoiding the rain. Despite our efforts to stay dry, we were drenched by the time we bought our umbrellas. At least ours were only three dollars. Luckily, we had time to dry off on the bus tour around Time Square before we were dropped off. When we got off of the bus, it finally stopped raining and we were able to shop without being getting soaked. After our time to shop, we went to dinner at the Hard Rock Café.

                The next day we took the bus back into the city from our hotel in New Jersey. It was probably the most entertaining bus ride that I have ever had. We played all of the New York themed songs that we could think of and our chaperoning teachers danced down the aisle way. It was an interesting sight to see! One of our chaperones was my chemistry teacher, she was definitely the highlight of the trip. The most exciting thing for me was when I realized that we were in the Lincoln Tunnel, which reminded me of my favorite movie, Elf!

                We got to Rockefeller Center that morning and some of my friends and I adventured all the way to Trump Tower and stopped at random shops along the way. My favorite part of this was that I got to walk through Central Park, which made me feel a little bit more at home, aside from all of the fencing and pavement. Then the entire group went back to time square to shop again for a little bit before we saw the musical “Once” at the Jacob’s theatre on Broadway.

                I had figured it would be easy to sleep through the bus ride home, but I was sadly mistaken. Not many of us were able to sleep at all. We arrived at the school at about 1:00 AM Thursday. We were all grateful to be informed that we did not need to be in school again until Friday. Now that commencement is approaching rapidly, I feel very fortunate to have spent so much time with my classmates.

Congratulations Class of 2013!