My Trip To NY (Part 1)

Hey everyone!! I'm back from my mini vacation to New York!! It feels so crazy to be back! Haha you might notice that I said part 1 for this post and that is because I took so much photos (500+) on the trip and I have so much to say that I felt the need to split things into separate post! If I didn't, my post would probably be way too long for anyone to read lol. As I'm writing this post, I'm still trying to figure out the best way to write this post. I want to share everything and all my pictures haha, but there is simply too much! I think I'm just going to take you through my day event by event.. with lots of collages so I can show more of my pictures without overwhelming you guys!

As always, I took the bus to get to NY. The only difference was that I was by myself this time! It wasn't that bad though since one of our friends came on the same day and we talked a bit on the bus so I wasn't that lonely. Once we hit Chinatown, I got off the bus and was pretty much left on my own. Let me tell you, I was kinda freaking out.. I mean I had printed instructions on getting to the hotel from google last night, but being there in person was a lot different than being there on google maps!!  I acted like I knew where I was going because I didn't want to bother my mom's friend and after they left, I quickly started asking people for help haha. Fortunately, people in NY aren't that mean and I got quite a bit of help! The hotel I was staying at (which I can now reveal) was the Millennium Hilton. This was one of the only hotels that allowed 18 year olds to check in and was close enough to my colleges so I could walk.

55 floors!! oh my!

The walk to my hotel was a little bit over a mile and according to google, it would take ~30 minutes. I am a runner and I tend to walk a lot (1 hour + a few times a week) so I didn't think 30 minutes was anything big... well I forgot the fact that I had 15+ lbs of luggage with me haha. Remember my struggle with packing in my last post.. lol, I ended up packing so much that I barely wore half the things I brought! The 30 minute walk to the hotel took about an hour for me since I had to stop and rest so many times haha. I didn't get lost as much as I thought I would though!!! It was just honestly a much longer walk than I thought since I didn't take into consideration how heavy my 3-4 luggage bags were..=)

Once I got to the hotel, it was a huge sigh of relief for me!! I was able to check in early with no cost and was given a room on the 26th floor! I kinda have a fear of elevators, but there was no way I was about to walk up 26 flights of stairs. It was time for me to conquer my fear of elevators and I did it!! After that super long walk, I was so tired!! I planned to go out and get some food, but instead I snacked on my apple and before I knew it, I passed out on my hotel bed haha!! I don't know exactly how long I was asleep, but when I awoke it was already dark. I wanted to go out so badly, but I was too scared lol so instead, I just took in the amazing sights of the hotel.... and ohh boy was the hotel nice!!! The hotel itself had 55 floors and I could not believe how high it was!!
The hotel also came with a free gym and pool. The pool was amazing and I personally just loved the whole atmosphere inside the hotel. Everything felt so high class and perfect!

My room was also beyond amazing. It took my breathe away when I first walked in. I expected the room to be small because.. well it's New York and space is limited. My room was actually pretty roomy and had a king sized bed!! I tried to get a smaller bed when I booked the room, but I was only given the choice of either a king bed or two twins. I felt that two twins was strange for just myself, so I chose the king bed! The best part of my hotel room though had to be the crazy view!!! I mean no need for me to explain... just take a look for yourself at the last picture haha! (saving the best for last here)
Okay, I'll admit that I was a little baby the first night and instead of going out and getting dinner like a normal person, I was so scared that I stayed in the hotel all night and snacked on the food that I had brought.. which sadly wasn't a lot. I also managed to hit the gym and explore the hotel even more though!

I went to bed pretty late that night (around 3-4 am... and no one stopped me!!.. I am such a loser lol) because of all the excitement I felt being in NY. I awoke around 9 in the morning and quickly scrambled to get ready for my 1st college tour at Pace University. I got dressed and left the hotel. You don't understand how independent I felt walking out of the hotel by myself like that.. I felt like I was on my own and making my own decisions which is basically what I was doing. No one questioned me about where I was going!! As I stepped out of my hotel, the first thing I saw were the buildings which you see in the above picture! Those buildings were skyscrapers!!

So according to my computer, the walk from the hotel to Pace is suppose to take under 10 minutes. However, knowing me, I get lost walking to the house next door so I left a good 45 minutes early. I'm proud to say that it didn't take me 45 minutes to find Pace University haha! I actually found it rather quickly, thanks to the "Pace flags" and arrived to the tour very early!
The tour guides at Pace were super nice!!! They were so welcoming and were quick to answer any questions I had about the school. The tour itself was pretty sweet too!! We started off inside the school and then went outside since Pace's campus is basically NY city.

We even checked out the dorms on John Street. I saw the pictures online and I thought that the dorms were very nice and after seeing the dorms, I still believe they are nice, but just not as amazing as the pictures haha. The dorms are a decent size though which I liked.
I won't go to deep into everything that I saw on the tour, but my opinion of Pace was a mix to be honest. I really loved the positive vibe that the school gave off. Everyone was so helpful and I even got a cute little goody bag at the end of the tour! However, I personally felt that the academics at the school seemed to be lacking a bit for my taste. Don't get me wrong here.. Pace is an amazing school, but I just didn't feel that academic wise, it was for me sadly. I felt that Pace was more of a school for business rather than what I want to study...
The location of Pace gave me mixed feelings as well. I really LOVE the location for the fact that it is always so lively there and everything is so convenient. However, being located in NYC is also very expensive and distracting. I know if I was there, I would easily spend all my money in a month and be broke for the rest of the year. Even though I love it there, I can't afford it at the moment. I also felt that with the open location, there was a lack of a sense of community. I felt that I would like that feeling, but in reality now that I have put more thought into it, I think I personally want a traditional college campus instead.. I mean

  I have my whole life to live in the city, but only once chance to experience college life. 

Even though I had my sights set on the city, I think that little quote up there changed my mind about things. I want to know what college life is like and being in a traditional campus is going to give me that.. it's sad right now, but I think I will be thankful I made the choice not to go to the city when I am older.

Streets of New York!!

After my tour of Pace, I realized there was still a lot of daylight and after talking to my mom, I decided to go visit NYU! New York University was about an hour walk from where I was and I honestly planned to walk there. However, after talking to someone on the streets, they explained to me that NYU was very far and that I should take the subway. . yeah my expression when I heard that was =0.. The subway honestly scared the heck out of me and going alone was a huge no no for me. 

However, as you can tell by the above picture, I did eventually decide to take the subway. I was freaking out being down there by myself. I'll just say that I am scared of dirty things and subways are so dirty in my mind. Plus I have heard some really creepy stories about subways before... After taking the subway, I feel that my fears were over exaggerated haha. The subway made traveling so much easier and faster! It was a bit hard to know which train to take, but a lot of people down there were friendly enough to help me out! =)

As soon as I got off the subway, I walked out and saw Washington Square Park and NYU!!

This is a library at NYU... This is just WOW.. I felt speechless when I first saw the decor here!

Can you spot me? haha?

I'm not going to go into NYU that much since I personally don't plan to go here next year and my post is already too long haha. The cost is just too ridiculous for me.The visit to NYU was also a bit impromptu, but I really enjoyed it. The college is definitely a prestigious one I'll say. Everything from the buildings, to the academics, and even the students there gave me an impressive vibe! Going here could open a lot of doors for me and I will probably look into NYU if I need grad school. In fact a lot of people on the tour were actually looking to NYU for grad schools so I think I will be doing that too in 4 years ! =)

This view looks like it came from a movie.. but I promise you, I was actually there!

The above picture is what I saw from my room at night.. this was a ridiculous view.. like I still don't believe that I was physically there seeing it. It felt so surreal! My whole trip actually felt sort of like that and it's hard to believe that it's over now! I want to tell you more of my trip, but I'll save the rest for my post next Wednesday. I write so much haha.. it'll be worth it later when I look back haha

I know I have been to NY numerous times in the past, but this trip in particular was so different in the fact that not only did I go by myself, I also stayed by myself there. I'll be honest and say that I super nervous beforehand.. (like mini heart attacks mixed with excitement) but I'm glad I did it. Visiting colleges and walking around Manhattan was so much fun and I truly think I in a way sort of grew as a person after coming back. It's hard to put words to it, but I  feel more independent and sure of myself now... I mean I kinda have to be confident in my choices while in the city since I was alone and had to depend on myself to get where I needed to be haha, so yeah,  I definitely feel a lot more mature after coming back from my trip in more ways than one! =) 

Who has been to New York City?
What do you think of my 1st day in the city and the colleges I toured?
Have you ever had the feeling after an event where you feel like you've been changed as a person?

Sorry for any mistakes in the post. I wrote this post kinda on the spot and talked about whatever came to my mind! I'm still suffering from post vacation blues a bit and trying to take in the fact that I was in really New York experiencing these things and that now I am back to my normal life. It's so hard to explain, but my vacation felt very surreal now that I look back on it. I miss NY so much... =)