New York, NY

I’ve been in love with this city for as long as I can remember. My parents brought us into the city often when we were kids, and when I was in high school I used to dream about one day living here. During college I would skip class (more times than I should have!) and take the train to explore the city on my own, later I left that college and went to culinary school here. . It’s the place I have always felt most myself. I walk the streets and feel the energy of the people running through my veins. I’m surrounded by buildings, some older, some younger than I, and I am mesmerized by the work and dedication it takes to make such structures. I see different cultures everywhere I turn and it makes me curious of the world and the people I have yet to meet across it. This city helped make me the person I am today and I love it. . Which makes me wonder, will I miss it? I am leaving, and the days of taking the forty minute train ride into the city to wander for hours will be gone, at least for a while. And I worry, will I miss the rush of it all? The noise that at times can seem deafening but is the soundtrack of millions of lives being lived at once? . I’ve always loved it all, but I know a part of me also wondered what big, open spaces felt like. What does it feel like to look up and see mountains in the distance? What thoughts does a person have when drinking a cup of coffee, while walking down a quiet, small town street? Who would I become when I didn’t feel the need to rush from one place to the next, but instead enjoy a slower lifestyle? . I’m leaving to find out, and I wonder if I will lose the parts of me that NYC created when I go? Will they be replaced with the love of mountains and fresh air? I hope not, I hope my heart will grow bigger, and I will find pieces of myself in the fresh open spaces, the same way I did on the crowded streets of a busy city. . This has always been my city, but those could become my mountains, so I find myself standing here, grateful, scared, and excited, to be able to experience both city and mountains throughout my life, and excited to meet the person I will become when I do.