As opposed to a lot of Stevens students, I’m not from New Jersey. My home is New York, and I grew up frequently visiting Manhattan. Saturday trips to The MET, the occasional Broadway show with dinner, and music concerts were a large part of my childhood and early teenage years. But when I came to school here, the last thing I wanted to do was take the PATH into Manhattan and spend a day in the concrete jungle.
During my senior year of high school, I took a tour of Stevens, and I remember the tour guide talking about how he didn’t expect to be going into Manhattan as often as he was. So when I committed to Stevens, I was envisioning the many times that I too would be taking day trips to the city. How could I not want to with the skyline staring right at me?
After freshman orientation and once I got acquainted with living on my own, I was surprised to find that I didn’t have a very strong desire to go to Manhattan. I actually felt more excited thinking about walking down Washington Street than walking in the city, and I realized that it made sense. Going to Manhattan had become just another normal part of my life. Sure it was fun to be in the city, but it was never an invigorating experience that left me wanting more. I had never felt the feeling that tourists feel when they traveled to NYC.
A part of me felt guilty or frustrated that I felt this way. I’m 10 minutes away from the city that people dream about going to their entire lives, and here I am completely content with merely admiring it from afar. I realized that it has everything to do with perception.
In 2017, I traveled to Washington, D.C., and I loved it. I like to call it a “nicer Manhattan,” and I remember feeling really excited being there. I’m sure there were plenty of people there who would have much rather been in Manhattan, but I was in awe. I had this same experience when I travelled to New Orleans on a school trip. I was realizing that there were so many cities that I had yet to see that gave me the same excitement and rush that I imagine Manhattan gives a lot of people.
My perception of Manhattan as a New Yorker is different than the perception of Manhattan of someone who’s lived in Colorado their whole life. And I realize that plenty of you more than likely enjoy Manhattan. It’s not that I am against being in the city; it’s just nothing exciting to me. If anything, I encourage you to go more if you really love it because your perception of it is thrilling to you. You go and enjoy Bryant Park while I dream about taking a stroll in the French Quarter.
