April Coverage Event: The Big Apple

The Big Apple!

On April 6, 2013, the Student Support Services took some of their students on a field trip to New York City. The trip was supervised by Mr. Robert Shawn Jones, and Mrs. Tamara Lowry, the director of the Student Support Services. We all met in front of Pullen Hall at 4:30am, and were on the road by 5:30. We arrived in New York at around noon. Upon our arrival, our day in the Big Apple started with our tour guide taking us to see some important and historical sites such as the Freedom Tower, the first fire station to answer to the terrorist attack 9/11 in 2001, and the Federal Hall National Monument (see pictures below). 

Freedom Tower

First fire company to answer to 9/11. 8 of their men died.

Federal Hall National Monument

After the tour, the students were allowed to go out on their own for seven hours to see whatever they wanted to see. If we wanted to go shopping, site seeing, or even experience the New York Subway, we could. Me, and a few of my friends walked as far as Central Park. There were tons of performances held in Central Park. Coming in, we saw the St. Columba’s Pipe and Drum band play in celebration of Tartan Day which is “a celebration of Scottish heritage on April 6, the date on which the Declaration of Arbroath was signed in 1320” (Wikipedia.org). While in Central Park, we walked as far as Sheep Meadow, where we saw families spending quality time together, enjoying the beautiful weather that was much needed. Exiting Central Park, we saw two more performances. The first one was a faux magician trying to con his audience into giving him money before he “performs” the magic trick. We also saw a couple of break dancers showing us their moves. 

After seeing the wonderful performances, it was time to start heading back to our checkpoint so we could meet up together and start heading back to campus. At the checkpoint, I asked a few other people what they did with their seven hours in New York. Brandon Richardson, a sophomore at Frostburg State, said, “I spent too much money here in New York. Me and Neesh went to the Ripley’s Believe It or Not building where we spent $27 for nothing. I wanted to go see the Empire State Building but it slipped my mind.” Paulette Lewis, also a sophomore, was one of the students that experienced the New York subway. “We took the subway to Brooklyn and Staten Island.” Overall, the experience was great, but the traffic was ridiculous! Not only on the roads, but on the sidewalks as well. Everyone was bumping into each other trying to get where they needed to go. You could tell who was from New York by the nonchalant attitude people had after being walked into. They seemed to be conditioned to it. For us tourists, we thought it was so rude. “I cannot live here,” said Samantha Hammett, a sophomore at Frostburg State.

Once we got on the bus, the biggest challenge was getting out of New York City. There was bumper to bumper traffic no matter what detour we took. It took us two hours to get out of the Big Apple. Thankfully, we arrived back in Frostburg at 4am. From there, the students dragged their feet all the way to their lovely beds in their dorms.