On Tuesday morning we departed on a what was going to be an exciting 8 days in New York City, but first we had to endure a long flight to John F. Kennedy Airport. Our class has been looking forward to this trip for months and are excited to experience the sights, sounds and history of the Big Apple. After our long travel day, we made it to our hotel where we had more of a relaxed evening in preparation for the days ahead. On Wednesday morning our class woke up and was eager to begin the activities of the week.
Our Wednesday began by taking the subway to Battery Park. We were all excited to experience the New York City subway, as it was a first for most of us. The excitement quickly faded as some faced the challenge of trying to figure out how to properly use the metro cards. Luckily, we were all able to overcome those tricky metro cards and we trained on. When we boarded our train, we quickly learned a lesson that you have to hold on tight to something while the subway is starting and stopping. Some learned this the hard way as a few of us were shifting and tripping through the turbulence. After what was a unique first experience on the subway, we made it to our destination. Battery Park was a very pleasant experience, even though we came at a time where some areas were undergoing construction. Battery Park was filled with a diverse community of people and unique patterns of flowers. Due to construction, we couldn’t get as close to the Statue of Liberty as we would have liked, but Mr. G snapped a “great” picture on his iPhone 15.
Following Battery Park, we walked down to Wall Street where we were surprised with the sight of a bronze bull. We were excited to take many pictures with the bull. After our impromptu photoshoot we endured our tour of Wall Street Wall “street” as we were trying to keep up with Mr.G’s fast pace. On this tour, we learned about the historical role Wall Street played in the American financial markets, and Mr. G also explained the difference between an octopus and a squid. The end of our walk on Wall Street was when we began our time at the 9/11 Memorial. As a class, we’ve collectively been to many museums, but we’ve all agreed that this specific museum was one of the most powerful experiences we’ve ever had. The memorial was filled with monuments from the original World Trade Center and unique videos and backgrounds of the event and people.
After such a heavy experience it was time to unwind and the only thing that came to mind was retail therapy. We went to Century 21 and a nicely sized Target. Then we realized it was almost time for us to go to the New York Yankees game, or what some of called the BIG game. We went back to the hotel changed and rode the subway once more. As we walked up those beautiful subway station stairs, we saw one of the most beautiful stadiums our class has ever seen: Yankee Stadium. The stadium was packed with die-hard Yankee fans and ruthless energy. Before coming to our seats, we stopped at the Yankee store and some of us picked up some sick drip. Then we strode with confidence to our seats. If we’re being honest, the game began with 0 hits for the first 10 minutes, underwhelming. But we were hopeful as the only way to go from rock bottoms is UP. Suddenly Arron Judge swung and hit the ball causing it to soar into the stands. The crowd was loud and filled with passion. We had an experience you’d think you can only have once. But 3 more homeruns happened and again our hearts were pounding with excitement. After the game we made our way back to the familiar subway station and went back to our hotel to get some rest.
Stay tuned for more updates from our trip!
