by Jerrad Colaire
Every child has a dream of something they would like to do, someone they would love to meet or getting a chance to go somewhere they have been longing to. All my life I dreamt of one day coming to ‘The Concrete Jungle’, to experience all it had to offer, form the subways, to the street performances and everything in-between. So imagine my surprise when I heard that we were going to have the opportunity to visit New York City to present our research projects, I was so more than just excited. My excitement was through the roof! However, being here isn’t all fun and games.
Since being here, we have visited four colleges/universities. Though I was elated to visit the Brooklyn Colleges and see what they had to offer, I was a bit disappointed. Many of these institutions did not offer what I am interested in doing; robotics, however, that did not stop me from enjoying the experience. Other schools like NYU have amazing and very diverse course selections, however, in my opinion the organization of the university was very scattered. In addition to visiting colleges and universities, we visited historical sites and museums.
This adventure is without a doubt the most eye opening trip I have taken. I had never thought about visiting the 9/11 memorial and museum but I’m glad I did. For me, experiencing that was one of the saddest moments on this trip. Seeing the lives that were lost that day made me think about my life and how easily it can be taken away from me. I remember walking into a room and seeing a teddy bear in one of the exhibits, that almost brought me to tears. I can’t think about how the families may have felt on that day, my heart goes out to all of you.Although it was a very sad time in history I loved the museum and how the display was setup. The museum showed me that life is short, live life in the now no matter how hard it might be, live it well but not wild because at anytime it could be over.
Nevertheless, we continued on our journey taking one day at a time. As we walked through the city I could really see and understand why they called it the ‘concrete jungle’. Looking up, the buildings float over you like a forest of trees, covering the lush green grass beneath it. I look forward to my next encounter with the ‘concrete jungle’ and to make more memories as we continue our tour.