NYC With Lily and Acadia
Lily:
My name is Lily Parks and I am a senior at Elisabeth Irwin high school in downtown Manhattan. I was born in NYC but raised in Rowayton, CT until I was seven years old. Growing up in a small town and moving to a big city was a very hard change for me, but has given me so much more of an understanding of the things that I want for myself as I grow older. I hated the city for the first 9 years that I lived here and that was just because it wasn’t Rowayton. But recently, I have grown to absolutely love New York. The opportunities here are endless and there is so much to do and see.
My senior project stemmed from this growing love I have for New York. When the pandemic hit, I spend the first 3 months in quarantine in my family’s house in Kent, CT. I spend a lot of time outside with my dog and hiking with my family. When we finally returned to the city for the first time in months, I was shocked at the empty feeling that I not only felt inside myself, but the empty feeling that the city had as I walked around. As more months passed, that empty feeling came and went and New York began to return to a more normal.
Acadia and I were determined to figure out what that empty feeling did to the culture of New York, and with that, we got our senior project. We went to many different businesses across many of the boroughs and interviewed citizens of NYC. All of our work was documented on a blog that we created and includes writing, videos, and photos. I am very excited to show the work that we have been doing for the past two months in exploring the city and in all its greatness.
Acadia:
Even though most will think of Manhattan as the heart of New York City, I think of Long Island City because that is where I have grown up my entire life. Living in Queens has given me a greater appreciation for Manhattan. I have gone to LREI since I was 4 which means I have gone to the city basically every single day for the past 14 years. After corona hit and we were stuck inside for months, my appreciation for Manhattan and Queens grew so much more. I knew that when senior project rolled around I would want my focus to be on the city as a whole, so I could have one last goodbye before college.
I wanted to explore the effects of Covid-19 on the city, especially at a time where everything was beginning to open up and seem like it was moving in the direction of normal. Being able to wake up each day and go to parts of the city that I haven’t been to before, or never really got a chance to explore was amazing. Even going to places like Grand Central where I have been going my whole life, and observing the architecture, the stores, and the people there was exciting.
Overall, I am thankful for the experience of senior project. I am thankful that I got to learn more about the city, something I care about deeply, with one of my best friends. This project turned into my “goodbye” with the city before I leave for North Carolina in August. Although I know I’ll be back all the time, I know it might be different so this was a good experience to have.
Here is the link to our blog!
