Ashley Laurent

Professor Skelly

English 21002:

Writing for the Social Sciences

 

Discovering the Difference

The Earth is our home planet. We learn, grow, and develop here. What makes the Earth an amazing place is the people, creatures, and how we’ve implemented a common lifestyle. Some may be used to the busy streets, tall buildings, and crowded areas while some are used to countryside, agricultural, secluded way of life. Every place is different in its way. Living in New York City my whole life, I’m used to the large, crowded areas. Aside from that, there are peaceful areas such as parks and large schools. That’s why I chose City College as my field site. The landscape was built with separate areas for people to study, go to class, do homework, or maybe just relax. The environment at City College is understood to be usually peaceful because it is a learning environment. Surrounding the campus is St. Nicholas Park and on the other side is a huge contrast from the peaceful area. Broadway is filled with a plethora of small businesses, restaurants, crowds of people, and many cars passing through. It’s interesting how different these areas were although they are close to each other.

Here I was at City College, 2:30 PM, September 24th, with my friend doing homework together. We were here earlier this morning and it was quite chilly. Autumn weather is coming close. The leaves are changing colors and falling, the wind is stronger and people are wearing jackets or hoodies. Now, in the afternoon, the weather became really warm. My friend took off her hoodie because she was hot. She even drank some water to cool down. Some people have their jackets hanging over their shoulders because of the unexpected change in weather. People are sitting on the benches or grass possibly studying, in a class, enjoying a meal, getting work done, or admiring the view. The grass smells freshly cut, which I considered pungent. It stings my nose but the wind pushes the smell away little by little.

Around 2:53 PM, my friend and I got hungry. We went down W 135th to Broadway. The area was completely different from the City College Campus. Older people were sitting outside apartment buildings laughing out loud probably at a funny story. Kids were racing down the block giggling with joy. Further in many restaurants and other small businesses are taking over the whole block. Vehicles were speeding down the road and loud horns can be heard. The swift change in setting was amazing to me.

By 3:20 PM, my friend and I head to St Nicholas Park and sat on a large rock. There were plenty of birds pecking through the dirt for food and a vast amount of crickets chirping together. You can see couples, friends, family hanging out together in the peaceful park. People bring their pets to the park for a walk and I see a large dog barking at a smaller one. I thought it was funny how the smaller one seems to have more fighting spirit than the larger dog. My friend and I walked around the park and fed some birds.

Observing these different places within the same area interested me on how different they are. Each place gave a different vibe based on our senses. I found it amazing how our senses can see many things in a different light.