Bright lights, Broadway Marquees, loud traffic noises. New York City was everything I expected it to be and much more.
To give a bit of background information, everyone who knows me knows how much I’ve dreamt of going to a city I had never been. Ever since seventh grade, I’ve always talked about wanting to attend NYU (New York University). I was so confident that I wanted to go to a school far away from home. I wanted to visit a place I had never visited. In my life, I’ve taken initiative in many areas of life and chased many opportunities to try and make this dream of mine a reality.
This February, my Family and I were fortunate enough to take a five-day trip to the city that never sleeps. This small getaway was surreal yet eye-opening. Every activity I participated in during my visit was so reassuring to my emotions as to why I wanted to commit to going to school there.
While in New York, I was able to see Wicked, the fifteen-year-old famous Broadway show. As the Stage Manager for In the Heights, the musical produced by the HP theater department last year which was the first large scale production in over ten years, I was amazed by the amount of work put into this performance. It was the real deal. Coming from this tiny little Hispanic town by the name of Huntington Park with a small growing arts community, I was obviously blown away. As an applicant for the Architecture Program at NYU, I needed to feel that strong arts community and seeing Wicked gave me this small sense of belonging because of my gravitation towards the arts.
Throughout the week, I visited and toured two schools in Manhattan. The first was Parsons School for Design which had an amazing campus with a wide range of opportunities for students. As I walked around the school, I liked it but I realized there was something off. It wasn’t until I toured NYU and saw this big community of students who all shared similar goals where I really felt at home.
I personally feel as if I’ve done a lot at Huntington Park. Being a part of various clubs, programs and organizations, holding titles and representing most of them have helped me grow. I have more character, I have more drive, and I have more purpose to go to school every day.
However, I’ve come to the point where I am now a big fish in a small pond.
Yes, I am scared of leaving. Scared of starting over. Scared of the high price tuition. Scared of not making it.
Yet, if I were to be accepted to NYU, I would do anything to attend, even if it means leaving behind my friends, my family and even the life that I am used to here in HP. I am not going to let my comfort zone be what stops me from achieving any of my goals. I am a firm believer that one should reach for the stars and that no one should limit themselves from reaching their highest potential and visiting the “concrete jungle where dreams are made of” has validated this state of mind of mine.
I want to end this piece by reiterating that if you have a dream that you are passionate about, do not let anything discourage you from being the best you can be because they are YOUR goals.
Life starts outside of your comfort zone.
By Alex Huerta, Reporter