I moved to New York City in 1994, straight out of college. I had just been accepted into Teach For America, with a placement to teach junior high school science in the Bronx. I had never set foot in New York before. I took an Amtrak train from Boston to New York, which goes underground somewhere in the Bronx and delivers you underground at Penn Station, beneath Madison Square Garden. I got swindled for twenty dollars in my first ten minutes above ground, and wondered if I'd ever make it there. On the cab ride to where I was staying, I just looked up at the endless tall buildings, unable to take it all in.

I ended up loving it, and taught for seven years in New York. That first year, I went to the Empire State Building in the evening after work several times, just to admire the city. This was long before 9/11, and looking back now it seems like a very long time ago.

New York City is a unique place, and I am very happy to have lived there.