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Loneliness Collage

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My biggest circle of influence is family, being an aunt because I have been helping take care of my niece since she was born while I was only 2.

I feel like I have least authority/ expertise in college because I just started and still getting used to the transition from high school.

Over the years in cheerleading the influence I had on people changed each year because I joined my freshman year of high school and always shared tips or advice to help my teammates perform better.

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Nostalgia Collage

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Anticipation Collage

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Claim: Students should get free bus passes.

a. Public transportation reduces traffic

d. it helps the environment

b. Students pay tuition

c. Riding the bus is fun

I picked this as my strongest reasoning because The National Bureau of Economic Research states the impacts of public transit on traffic. "Average highway congestion delays increased 47 percent when public transit service was not available." This reasoning is backed by data on traffic congestion and environment benefits.

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The Impacts of Public Transit on Traffic

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Average highway congestion delays increased 47 percent when public transit service was not available.

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Claim: Classes should start later in the morning.

c. Students would be more focused

a. Teenagers naturally wake up later

b. Teachers are also tired in the morning

d. Cafeterias could sell more breakfast food

I picked students would be more focused because students don't get the 8-10 hours of sleep that's recommended and impacts the students ability to learn or study. The National Education Association supports this by also saying "Many experts advocate later school start times—sometimes up to an hour—to help students get the sleep they need." Doing this makes sure that students are awake and actually paying attention to what the teacher is saying.

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As schools across the country continue to struggle with the academic and mental wellness fallout of the pandemic, many educators and district administrators are rethinking some of the mainstays that have defined public schools for decades, including homework, technology, and the length of the school day and week.

One potential change that generated momentum even before the pandemic is later school start times. According to the most recent federal data (2017-18), U.S. public high schools began their day at 8:00 a.m., on average. Forty-two percent of schools started earlier, including 10 percent-predominantly suburban schools-before 7:30 a.m.

These start times are too early, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Middle and high schools should start at 8:30 a.m. or later to give students the opportunity to get the sleep they need.

Over the past decade, a consensus formed among researchers that later school times would benefit student sleep patterns, which would enable them to walk into class more alert and more prepared for learning. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends teenagers, ages 13 to 18, should regularly sleep 8 to 10 hours per night for good health. Students without enough sleep are more likely to suffer from symptoms of depression, perform poorly in school, and not engage in daily physical activity.

Proponents believe the post-COVID school climate makes a shift to later school start times even more urgent. With stress and mental health challenges on the rise, later start times are seen as a relatively pain-free step in making schools healthier and happier places for students.

Still, later school start times can have ripple effects in school districts and the impact will not be felt equally by all students, families, and educators. Addressing these potential drawbacks and listening to all stakeholders is critical, experts say, before districts take this step.

What the Research Says

The existing research makes a compelling case that changing school start times can encourage healthier sleep. A 2018 study that looked at two public schools in Seattle found that students' sleep increased an average of 34 minutes each night after start times were moved nearly an hour later.

Students' academic performance, at least in the biology course that was the focus of the study, also improved. Among students whose start times were delayed, final grades were 4.5 percent higher, compared with students who took the class when school started earlier.

"School start time has serious implications for how students learn and perform in their education....To ask a teen to be up and alert at 7:30 a.m. is like asking an adult to be active and alert at 5:30 a.m.," said Horacio de la Iglesia, who co-authored the study. "Adolescents are on one schedule. The question is: What schedule will their schools be on?"

Another recent study painted a more modest picture of the academic benefits. In 2021, researchers at the University of Minnesota looked at 18,000 students in grades 5 through 11 after four school districts postponed the start of their school day by 20 to 65 minutes. Students' grade point averages increased by a modest 0.1 points, on average. While the researchers categorized the sleep benefits as "large," the academic improvements were considered "small."

But what do we know about the effect of later start times on educators? In 2022, researchers found that middle and high school teachers at a suburban school district in Colorado felt less stressed and more rested three years after the high schools started 70 minutes later and the middle school began 40-60 minutes later.

"Later secondary school start times is a significant policy shift that not only improves the health and well-being of adolescents, but can also equalize healthy sleep duration for all K-12 teachers," the researchers concluded.

Early Starts Show No Impact on Elementary Students

Like the Colorado district evaluated by this study, districts may need to move elementary school start times earlier to accommodate later times among middle and especially high schools. Staggering these start times can alleviate the potential logistical complications of this transition-particularly in areas where the number of school buses is limited.

Later start time initiatives focus on middle and high school students because that is the age group more susceptible to the ill effects of inadequate sleep. A study released in October by the American Educational Research Association found that early school start times do not have a discernible negative impact on elementary school students.

"We found earlier start times for elementary schoolers do not have the same negative effects as they do for middle and high schoolers," said study co-author Sarah Crittenden Fuller, an associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "Moving elementary schools to earlier start times is unlikely to harm the educational outcomes of these younger students." (Similarly, the study in Colorado on teacher impact reported no ill effects on elementary educators after their schools implemented an earlier start time.)

Fuller and her colleagues also noted that school start times have the largest impact on traditionally disadvantaged groups and that those groups are most likely to be affected by the disruption of a later start time.

"To the extent that districts can change start times to bring middle and high school start times in line with the science on adolescent sleep, this may help close achievement gaps," said Fuller. "In addition, traditionally disadvantaged groups may benefit most from supports that schools and districts can provide to address disruptions in childcare and transportation created by a change in start times."

Not for Every Student and Family

Those potential disruptions will be monitored in California, where in 2019 lawmakers passed a law mandating districts not begin public high school any earlier than 8:30 a.m. and middle school earlier than 8 a.m. The law went into effect in September, affecting roughly 3 million students.

Later start time advocates praised the law as a huge step forward for students and predicted it would motivate other states to follow suit.

Indeed, other large states have proposals that duplicate, even exceed, the reach of the California law, including Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey. New York's bill, for example, would mandate that no school can start earlier than 8:30 am.

Despite the widespread popularity of the idea of later school start times, the California law is controversial.

Many educators, district leaders, and parents believe the shift will present significant operational and logistical challenges, complicate the scheduling of after-school extra-curricular activities, and disrupt the schedules of working parents. Both the California Teachers Association (CTA) and the California Schools Board Association opposed the measure on these grounds, also citing the erosion of local control and a failure to respect parental decisions and community input.

When the bill was being debated in 2019, CTA called attention to the challenges facing low-income families with less workplace flexibility. "We know from experience that many of these parents will drop their children off at school at the same time they do now, regardless of whether there is supervision, and there is not enough funding from the state for before school programs to ensure the safety of students who will be dropped off early," CTA spokeswoman Claudia Briggs told the Los Angeles Times.

"Traditionally disadvantaged groups may benefit most from supports that schools and districts can provide to address disruptions in childcare and transportation created by a change in start times."

Sarah Crittenden Fuller, University of North Carolina

Adriana Aguilar, a parent of two and a resource teacher in the San Ysidro school district near San Diego, has had to adjust her morning and afternoon schedule but, thanks to the support of her husband and family, is managing. She worries that many other parents may not have the same flexibility.

"This new time may benefit teenagers, but it does not accommodate the lifestyles of single-parent families, families with multiple children who attend different schools, and families where both parents work," she told the San Diego Tribune in August. At her school, Aguilar says the later dismissal times also affects students who participate in sports and other after-school activities.

Overall, she says the move to later start times is well-intentioned but, in her experience, student schedules/activities, and lack of proper nutrition play just a big a role in inadequate sleep.

"Until these topics are addressed, teens will continue to be unfocused and fatigued regardless of school start time."

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Later School Start Times More Popular, But What Are the Drawbacks? | NEA

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Middle and high school students need more sleep to be prepared for school. Although later school start times can help, districts should be careful in how they implement this major change to student and family schedules.

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Claim: Everyone should learn how to cook.

a. Cooking saves money

b. Cooking is healthier than eating out

c. Cooking shows are popular

d. You can impress your friends

Cooking saves money is the strongest reason why everyone should learn how to cook because if you continuously spend money eating out, it comes out of your pocket everyday instead of maybe once a week if you buy groceries and cook meals for the week. Stewardship Capital Financial Advisors suggest that "By reallocating some of that spending into groceries, it’s possible to stretch your food budget significantly further. That’s why learning to cook is, without a doubt, one of the most valuable skills for saving money."

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Eat better and save money by cooking at home - Stewardship Capital

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Learning to cook is, without a doubt, one of the most valuable skills for saving money.

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Claim: Reading fiction improves critical thinking.

a. Fiction helps people imagine perspectives

c. Fiction builds vocabulary

d. It strengthens empathy

b. Some novels are boring

When one reads fiction they are putting the book into their own knowledge and creating an image out of it to get a deeper understanding of the book. Greater Good Magazine supports this idea, "means readers of fiction aren’t merely learning to understand the world as it is, but, also, how to imagine a different one. And it is this act of imagining that makes alternative futures possible—a future without endless, violent conflict, for example."

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I started college in the fall of 2003, when I was seventeen years old. I'd spent the last year dissecting news articles with my AP Government class on the U.S.'s escalating tensions with Iraq. War had moved beyond theory and into inevitability-yet I didn't know how to express my horror and had even less of an idea of what to do with it. Then, six months after the first time the U.S. invaded Fallujah, I read Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried.

In this award-winning novelization of his experiences as a soldier in the Vietnam War, O'Brien tells the story of Rat Kiley and Curt Lemon. Rat and Curt are best friends-inseparable-until the moment when, during a game of catch, Curt steps on a hidden landmine and dies instantaneously. The abruptness of the incident and its placement in the middle of a scene of languor tells one kind of truth about the arbitrariness of war. But what struck me most-what motivated me to find out what I could do instead of merely understand-is the scene that comes after.

The narrator, who is also a soldier in Curt and Rat's unit, tells the reader that shortly after Curt's death, they stumble upon a baby water buffalo. Rat strokes its nose-and then shoots it in its right front knee, its back, twice in its flanks. Piece by piece, he tears the buffalo apart. The narrator tells us:

Now and then, when I tell this story, someone will come up to me afterward and say she liked it... That as a rule she hates war stories... but this one she liked. The poor baby buffalo, it made her sad... What I should do, she'll say, is put it all behind me. Find new stories to tell.

I won't say it but I'll think it... You dumb [expletive].

Because she wasn't listening.

It wasn't a war story. It was a love story.

The story of Rat and Curt didn't just illuminate to me that the human costs of war extend far beyond death-it allowed me to feel the anguish of it, albeit a tiny fraction of it. From Uncle Tom's Cabin to 1984, novels have been used for generations as a way to urge readers to confront real-world sociopolitical issues. And it works-I know because I'm proof.

There's scientific evidence to back me up, too.

In a recent article entitled " Sitting Still and Reading: Rethinking the Role of Literary Fiction in Civics Education," literary scholar Annie Schultz argues for the importance of teaching literature alongside simulations of civic practices. She claims engaging students in civic activities, like community organizing or Model United Nations, should be paired with "literary representations of existential journeys to political consciousness." That, through doing so, "reading and thinking can become emancipatory activities."

Indeed, an ever-growing body of research shows fiction has the proven capacity to make readers more open-minded, empathetic, and compassionate -capacities critical to ensuring we come out the other side of a global pandemic and a culture of militarized white supremacy with greater societal equity.

Why? Perhaps because a reader sits with a novel for hours, days, weeks-far longer than when consuming any other art form. This concentrated time gives a reader an embodied experience of the other, increasing their awareness and appreciation for differing perspectives.

Canadian cognitive psychologist Keith Oatley, who has been researching the effects of fiction on psychology for decades, found that the neural mechanisms the brain triggers to process narratives are similar to some of their real-life counterparts. For example, when reading the word "kick" or about someone pulling a cord, the same areas of the brain related to physically kicking or grasping are activated.

One study found that one of the most important features of whether or not reading a passage of fiction simulated the default network of the brain-the network believed to support the human capacity to engage in rumination and simulate hypothetical scenes, spaces, and states of mind-was "whether or not they described a person or a person's mental content." In other words, being exposed to a character's thought processes encouraged a deeper level of reflection than when reading abstract or "non-social passages."

The intimacy of a reader's relationship with a fictional narrator's interior dialogue is perhaps one of its most singular characteristics-a process Schultz describes as turning "the inner lives of oppressed characters outward."

Fourteen years after first reading O'Brien's book, I found myself back at my undergrad alma mater. I was teaching a writing class and used that same chapter of The Things They Carried-the one with the story about Rat and Curt. In the book, the narrator never self-identifies themselves by either name or gender, but a young cis male student claimed he knew the narrator was male because the narrator didn't wax poetic about their emotions. When I asked him what character he felt expressed the most emotion in the piece, he paused and said, "Huh-Rat. A man."

It seems likely that this insight opened a door in the student's mind-and perhaps he was able to let go of his idea that men couldn't express a lot of emotion. One group of researchers argue that in "reading the written work of others, you enter their minds. In coming to terms with the mind of another, you can come to better discover your own." In doing so, we can discover new perspectives through which to understand ourselves and others. Schultz concludes her article: "We do not ask students to limit their thinking to that which is acceptable within the languages and systems in place but, rather, to narrate their own histories and selves as a way to create themselves and society by extension."

Years ago, I stumbled upon Plato's Apology -his account of Socrates' defense while on trial for "corrupting the youth of Athens"-in a used bookstore. Socrates explained he was trying to disprove the Oracle of Delphi's proclamation that he was the wisest of all men-yet, after every interaction he had with men he was told were wise, he determined they were not. It was this exposure of false wisdom (and, I imagine, hubris) that earned him the admiration of the Athenian youth.

One of the groups Socrates discounts is the poets. In his disputation, he says, "Not by wisdom do poets write poetry but by a sort of genius and inspiration." His claim was that poets couldn't be wise because their work was rooted in imagination, but I-and maybe the jury who found him guilty and sentenced him to death-believe the opposite to be true. The invented, fictive space is where truth can be found precisely because it doesn't claim to hold it. Rather, fictional narratives provide the reader with an experience on which to reflect and discern meaning.

When readers read fiction, they know they are encountering human-constructed characters, settings, and situations. This necessary suspension of disbelief-of having to entertain the possibility of other realities-means readers of fiction aren't merely learning to understand the world as it is, but, also, how to imagine a different one. And it is this act of imagining that makes alternative futures possible-a future without endless, violent conflict, for example.

A white paper published in 2017 by the National Academies of Science goes so far as to make the argument that narratology-"the study of narrative, narrative structure, and narrative discourse"-and narrative psychology-an understanding of "how narrative influences cognitive processes"-should be an interest of national security. The paper was published in response to a policy brief distributed by the Department of Defense which focuses "on a critical and enduring challenge in warfare-the need to understand relevant actors' motivations and the underpinnings of their will." The authors of the white paper write:

If there is doubt about the value of narrative... to national security, it only takes one look beneath the events displayed in the daily news...: somewhere prior to the action garnering international attention, communication happened that resonated with an audience, who found more reasons to act than not.

That is a point that becomes only more salient with every passing day, in 2020.

I am not trying to claim that O'Brien's book single-handedly transformed me into an anti-war activist, but it did force me to sit with the unspeakable brutality of one war and reflect on its implications for a new one. It inspired me to continue seeking out news on the ongoing occupation of Iraq, to start writing political commentary for my college newspaper, to take a class on the Vietnam War, to visit Vietnam with a remarkable professor who is himself a Vietnam vet, to join anti-war marches in Philadelphia, to organize my first demonstration on the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Fallujah with an Iraq War vet in the spring of my senior year.

My first job after college was as the National Media Coordinator for Iraq Veterans Against the War (now called About Face: Veterans Against the War), a national nonprofit made up of post-9/11 service members fighting against American militarism. Since then, I've exclusively worked in the fields of communications and community organizing for mission-driven nonprofits and organized labor for more than twelve years.

When a friend recently told me he only reads nonfiction because he (like Socrates!) prefers to read something "real," I couldn't help but think he got it wrong. Fiction isn't the antithesis to reality-it helps shape it. In her new book of essays, Azadi: Freedom. Fascism. Fiction, Arundhati Roy opens by recalling a conversation with her editor. When he asked her what she thought of when she thought of the word "Azadi" (Urdu for "freedom"), she said, "[W]ithout a moment's hesitation, 'A novel.'"

Roy continues, "A novel, to me, is freedom with responsibility." And that, I think, is what makes fiction a revolutionary tool-it doesn't just provide readers with the capacity to imagine different futures, but, crucially, the very real people in them.

Greater Good wants to know: Do you think this article will influence your opinions or behavior?

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How Reading Fiction Can Shape Our Real Lives

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I started college in the fall of 2003, when I was seventeen years old. I'd spent the last year dissecting news articles with my AP Government class on the U.S.'s escalating tensions with Iraq. War had moved beyond theory and into inevitability-yet I didn't know how to express my horror and had even less of an idea of what to do with it.

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Claim: Voting should be mandatory

a. Democracy works better with more participation

d. It would make election fairer.

c. Other countries have mandatory voting

b. Some people don't care about politics

Democracy works better with more participation is a stronger reasoning because having less participation means everyone mostly has the same ideas constructed into their head about voting. More participation means minorities or cultures would vote more often. Assembly voting agrees "when more people vote, the more representative the government and its decisions become, and the more trust voters have in it."

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Voter Participation: The Lifeblood Of Healthy Democracies - Assembly Voting

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In order for democracy to reach its full potential, it is important for voters to participate and cast ballots when they can. In spite of this, governments

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Claim: Homework should be reduced.

c. Students get stressed from too much work

a. Students are too busy with jobs and activities

d. Teachers spend too much time grading

b. Extra practice improves learning

When a students gets a lot of homework from all of their teachers with due dates all in close range can be their major source of stress on top of family duties, work, clubs, and/or sports. Stanford researches acknowledged "Pope and her colleagues found that too much homework can diminish its effectiveness and even be counterproductive." When a student receives too much homework they are not learning, they are just trying to complete the work they received.

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A Stanford researcher found that too much homework can negatively affect kids, especially their lives away from school, where family, friends and activities matter.

"Our findings on the effects of homework challenge the traditional assumption that homework is inherently good," wrote Denise Pope, a senior lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Education and a co-author of a study published in the Journal of Experimental Education.

The researchers used survey data to examine perceptions about homework, student well-being and behavioral engagement in a sample of 4,317 students from 10 high-performing high schools in upper-middle-class California communities. Along with the survey data, Pope and her colleagues used open-ended answers to explore the students' views on homework.

Median household income exceeded $90,000 in these communities, and 93 percent of the students went on to college, either two-year or four-year.

Students in these schools average about 3.1 hours of homework each night.

"The findings address how current homework practices in privileged, high-performing schools sustain students' advantage in competitive climates yet hinder learning, full engagement and well-being," Pope wrote.

Pope and her colleagues found that too much homework can diminish its effectiveness and even be counterproductive. They cite prior research indicating that homework benefits plateau at about two hours per night, and that 90 minutes to two and a half hours is optimal for high school.

Their study found that too much homework is associated with:

* Greater stress: 56 percent of the students considered homework a primary source of stress, according to the survey data. Forty-three percent viewed tests as a primary stressor, while 33 percent put the pressure to get good grades in that category. Less than 1 percent of the students said homework was not a stressor.

* Reductions in health: In their open-ended answers, many students said their homework load led to sleep deprivation and other health problems. The researchers asked students whether they experienced health issues such as headaches, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, weight loss and stomach problems.

* Less time for friends, family and extracurricular pursuits: Both the survey data and student responses indicate that spending too much time on homework meant that students were "not meeting their developmental needs or cultivating other critical life skills," according to the researchers. Students were more likely to drop activities, not see friends or family, and not pursue hobbies they enjoy.

A balancing act

The results offer empirical evidence that many students struggle to find balance between homework, extracurricular activities and social time, the researchers said. Many students felt forced or obligated to choose homework over developing other talents or skills.

Also, there was no relationship between the time spent on homework and how much the student enjoyed it. The research quoted students as saying they often do homework they see as "pointless" or "mindless" in order to keep their grades up.

"This kind of busy work, by its very nature, discourages learning and instead promotes doing homework simply to get points," Pope said.

She said the research calls into question the value of assigning large amounts of homework in high-performing schools. Homework should not be simply assigned as a routine practice, she said.

"Rather, any homework assigned should have a purpose and benefit, and it should be designed to cultivate learning and development," wrote Pope.

High-performing paradox

In places where students attend high-performing schools, too much homework can reduce their time to foster skills in the area of personal responsibility, the researchers concluded. "Young people are spending more time alone," they wrote, "which means less time for family and fewer opportunities to engage in their communities."

Student perspectives

The researchers say that while their open-ended or "self-reporting" methodology to gauge student concerns about homework may have limitations - some might regard it as an opportunity for "typical adolescent complaining" - it was important to learn firsthand what the students believe.

The paper was co-authored by Mollie Galloway from Lewis and Clark College and Jerusha Conner from Villanova University.

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Stanford research shows pitfalls of homework

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A Stanford researcher found that students in high-achieving communities who spend too much time on homework experience more stress, physical health problems, a lack of balance and even alienation from society. More than two hours of homework a night may be counterproductive, according to the study.

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Claim: Social media does more harm than good.

b. Social media spreads misinformation

d. It creates anxiety and comparison

a. People waste time scrolling

c. It helps people connect with friends

Social media spreads misinformation quickly causing people to let it influence certain decisions. These decisions can be harmful in areas such as medical and politics. This can have an effect on a person's emotions or wellbeing. Harvard Kennedy School did a misinformation review and from their research it reveals that "In this research, we were interested in whether participants who feel more concerned with misinformation are more likely to seek news sources that align with their political affiliation."

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The consequences of misinformation concern on media consumption | HKS Misinformation Review

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For the last decade, policymakers, journalists, and scientists have continued to alert us of the threat of misinformation for making sound decisions in the political, health, and environmental domains. In this study, we evaluate whether perceiving misinformation as a threat affects media use, particularly considering selection of media sources that are politically aligned. We show

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Claim: Video games should be considered a sport.

a. They require strategy and skill

b. Players practice many hours

d. Gaming competitions draw huge audiences

c. They don't involve physical activity

Strategy and skill is required when playing video games giving them a lesson of teamwork as well into play. "They include high levels of concentration and the ability to perform well under pressure." says Scholastic News who was doing on research on "Is Playing Video Games a Sport". Researchers concluded that similar to traditional sports video games skills involve planning, decision making, and hand to eye coordination.

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What’s your opinion? Cast your vote in this big debate.

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Claim: College students should take at least one art class.

b. Creativity is useful in any career

d. Art encourages problem-solving skills

a. Art classes reduce stress

c. Some students dislike art

Creativity is a key skill that each student should learn in a basic college course. "They found that art classes improve cognitive development along with skills surrounding the understanding of visual culture. And when combined with art criticism, students learned how to find deeper meaning in pieces and utilize analytical skills." Daily Campus reviewed Why Students Still Need Art Class in University. I believe that students don't need to have artistic ability but should have the opportunity to work on that ability more.

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Why we still need art class in university

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From my days in elementary and middle school, I remember the number of book projects and art presentations. I remember Crayola marker stains all over my hands from a history project and using sciss…

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I decided to make a map smaller of the Cayman Islands so that there is more space for an audiences appeal to the trip. The map took over the draft poster. The activities were squished into the corner and the creditability with Kim Kardashian was not clear.

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Green and Yellow Illustrative Travel Poster Landscape

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My walking research began at Rockefeller Center subway station between 47th and 50th street and continued south along 6th avenue toward Bryant Park. I take this walk often in Bryant Park mostly on Friday's or when I have no plans after school just to relax before going home. This stretch of Manhattan differs each day and time between the urban life of tourism, work, and quiet social interactions.

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As soon as exiting Rockefeller Center station I was met with the sound of trains leaving below, horns honking, and people conversing. The air was filled with smells from halal carts and roasted nuts along with a fall breeze. Once I reached 6th Avenue there are many banks such as Chase, Citizens, Bank of America etc. Most buildings in the area are filled with glass and because of their height they block certain areas of sunlight which causes some areas to be more chilly than others. Along 6th avenue there are large office buildings and corporate logos. The sidewalk is crowded but an unspoken rule here is efficiency. If stopped in the middle of the sidewalk people with give bothered and impatient looks. Very little loitering occurs in this area, everyone is trying to get to where they need to be in constant motion. Street vendors attract this rhythm which is why newsstands, coffee, and snacks fill this area maintaining the space. Most interactions from these vendors are short which reminds me of the AIF article where is notes about who is visible or invisible in public spaces.

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Almost 5 minutes into the walk I start approaching Bryant Park. Since the holiday season is coming up, workers are starting to set up for the winter village that brings so many people together each year. The mood had softened and opened up to a very green scenery with trees, food businesses, and open seating. Once you walk into the park, the noise of cars suddenly disappear and you mostly hear people conversing or tools operating. Many people that are sitting in this area are also focusing on the construction going around them since it become very distracting. Entry is completely free but if you do want to eat or drink something here it is going to cost you. Most people I observed were families eating, coworkers enjoying their break, elderly playing chess, friends enjoying coffee catching up, and students studying. There is visible maintenance in the park from park staff such as sweeping up any left behind trash or cleaning the public bathrooms in between uses. There is a carousel in which kids can enjoy while parents watch. While walking inside the park you may notice certain fact areas such as this one "Buildings Overlooking Bryant Park" that just gives you something interesting to find out while passing by.

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Before I started taking this walk I knew that Bryant Park was known for many things but mostly as a destination in the busy Midtown Manhattan to take a rest get rid of the chaos for a while. Walking through 6th avenue from Rockefeller Center station I was able to see two different environments in one walk. Also there is a view from the outside of Bryant Park of Times Square which is a completely different environment compared to the park. From my personal experience I was able to notice things like homeless people on the sidewalk in need of money, advertisements on construction walls, and a mix of tourist and business people complete the area. During this walk I thought about the history of this area and 6th avenue was originally a industrial street but turned into "Avenue of Americas" for unity. Bryant Park was neglected in its past due to high rate in crime and drug use, but later was closed for renovation and significantly improved forward operated by a non-profit organization. In the park the food spots attract people to enjoy a brilliant view as well as try new and interesting spots. To find out more I can just visit the public library that is connected right to the park.

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The Crystal Palace and Latting Observatory
Inspired by the success of The Great Exhibition of 1851, held in the famed Crystal Palace exhibition hall in Hyde Park, London, New York City began preparations for a similar exhibit on U.S. soil. The New York Crystal Palace was built on Reservoir Square, the park just west of the Croton Reservoir. Designed by Georg Cartensen and Charles Gildemeister, the glass and metal structure was built in the shape of a Greek cross and boasted a domed roof 100 feet in diameter. It remained standing until October 5, 1858, when it burned down.

The Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations, also commonly referred to as the Crystal Palace Exhibition, featured four thousand exhibitors and displayed the industrial wares, consumer goods, and artworks of the nation. Notable exhibits included mineral resources of the U.S., the newest precision steam engines, and the largest crocodile ever captured. United States President Franklin Pierce delivered a speech at the opening ceremony on July 14, 1853.

Built next to the Crystal Palace in 1853 as part of the exhibition, was the 315-foot-tall Latting Observatory. Conceived by Waring Latting, and designed by architect William Naugle, this octagonally based, iron and wood tower was the tallest building at the time of its construction and offered patrons unobstructed views of Staten Island, Queens, and New Jersey. It perished in an 1856 fire.

The first of its kind in New York City, the Crystal Palace Exhibition set off one of the first major tourism booms in New York with over one million visitors. (In spite of its popularity, the exhibition's sponsors lost $300,000 on the venture.) The exhibit closed on November 1, 1854, though the structure remained standing and was leased for a variety of purposes over the next four years.

Bryant Park is Born
In 1884, Reservoir Square was renamed Bryant Park, to honor recently deceased Romantic poet, longtime editor of the New York Evening Post, and civic reformer, William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878). Around this time, the city approved designs for the New York Public Library, submitted by architects John Merven Carrére and Thomas Hastings. The Beaux-Arts building was completed in 1911, with a raised terrace at the rear of the library and two comfort stations at the east end of Bryant Park.

A Park in Transition
Throughout the 1920s, the north half of Bryant Park was closed to the public due to construction of the Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT) subway tunnel along 42nd Street. IRT contractors began work in early 1922, using park space to store equipment and debris until 1927. Reflecting on this decade, the author of a 1936 The New Yorker article remarked that in the past fourteen years "Bryant Park has been closed to the public for half of that time on account they were digging in it . . ." also calling it one of the most "badgered and turned-up lots in the world."

Five years later, in April 1932, the Washington Bicentennial Commission erected a replica of Federal Hall on the east side of the park, just behind the New York Public Library. After the celebration, the hall remained standing and boarded up for several months until it was torn down in April 1933.

The Modern Bryant Park
By 1979, New York seemed to have given up Bryant Park for lost as an urban amenity, as well as an historic site. In 1974, the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated Bryant Park as a Scenic Landmark, calling it "a prime example of a park designed in the French Classical tradition - an urban amenity worthy of our civic pride." Five years later, however, William H. ("Holly") Whyte wrote in a report solicited by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund: "If you went out and hired the dope dealers, you couldn't get a more villainous crew to show the urgency of the [present Bryant Park] situation."

But by the late 1990s, actual lunchtime head counts on a sunny day would reach the 4,000 range - and the drug traffickers had been gone for a decade. The Rockefeller Brothers created the Bryant Park Restoration Corporation (BPRC), under the founding leadership of Andrew Heiskell, then Chairman of Time Inc. and the New York Public Library, and Daniel A. Biederman, a Harvard Business School graduate and systems consultant with a reputation as an innovator in downtown management. Heiskell and Biederman, in 1980, created a master plan for turning around the park. In the words of an Urban Land Institute case study, "Biederman began experimenting with a series of efforts to bring people back to the park, while also exploring how to generate revenue."

A seven-year push combined supplementary park maintenance, temporary kiosks, and public events ranging from historical park tours to concerts, which reduced crime by 92 percent and doubled the number of annual park visitors.

Summer 1988 saw city agencies approve BPRC's plans (drafted by Hanna/Olin Ltd.) to build new entrances for increased visibility from the street, to enhance the formal French garden design (with a lush redesign by Lynden Miller), and improve and repair paths and lighting. BPRC's plan also included restoration of the park's monuments, and renovation of its long-closed restrooms. That same summer, the city approved BPRC's designs (by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates), for two restaurant pavilions and four concession kiosks, which were to generate off-peak activity and added revenue for operations. These facilities opened in stages in the 1990s.

Bryant Park reopened in April, 1992, to lavish praise from citizens and visitors, the media, and urbanists. And, as the Urban Land Institute wrote it in an award citation, "the success of the park feeds the success of the neighborhood." Soon the chorus was joined by the business community, whose assessments helped fund the renewal and now benefit from higher rents and property values.

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From ta potters field to the modern day park, learn a bit about the history of the famed New York City park.

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By walking this route I was able to encounter and interpret the city in multiple ways. 6th avenue represented business and transit while Bryant Park embodied rest and relaxation. Springgay & Truman write that walking is “a method that attends to affect, relation, and movement.” This walk brought my senses around more than normal seeing how public spaces can change around you so quickly. Different atmospheres speaks and welcomes different people depending on the type of environment each person likes to be in. I left Bryant Park with acknowledgment of surveillance, maintenance , and common curtesy into the public space.

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Interviewing Sam Humans of Campus (SJU freshman)

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Interviewing Sam Humans of Campus (SJU freshman)

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1. What made you apply and choose St. John's, how did you decide on your major?

2. What does a typical day look like for you as a freshman?

3. Is there anyone on campus (a student or staff member) that has made your experience more better and memorable?

4. What kind of impact do you hope to leave on this campus once you graduate?

5. What's once thing you've learned about adulthood since starting college?

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"I started dancing when I was two or three", Sam said, smiling softly from his chair, his brown outfit catching the afternoon light. "My parents told me that even when I was in my stroller, I'd move my hips and legs like I was already on stage." Dance has always and still is a huge part of Sam's life. Now a freshman finance major, Sam balances numbers with rhythm, commuting everyday from Brooklyn, putting his all into studying and still finding time to dance and teach little kids to dance. "I've learned that adulthood means no one's going to do things for you, you have to be responsible for your own actions," he said. Though he describes himself as a private person, Sam is ecstatic to talk about people who've supported him. "My first year advisor helped me so much, I'm really grateful for him." He hopes his time here at St.John's leaves a message for others "Being a freshman isn't that hard. If I can do it, everyone can."

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Green and Pink Bold & Bright Sugar Research Findings Report Infographic (1)

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For my you're here map I decided to do a monopoly inspired game map drawn on my ipad. Just like in monopoly, you stop on specific moments of my semester to represent my growth I experienced as a writer, a student, and commuter. Each space symbolizes a key moment, from academic milestones like earning A's on my midterms and completing my first college essay, to personal experiences such as mastering my commute to campus, attending law events, and meeting classmates who became friends. You start on Go where the semester begins and work your way around the board. The chance spaces represent unexpected challenges like my car accident or feeling out of place on campus at times. The community chest marks positive surprises including new friendships and helpful campus resources. The railroads reflect my daily travel to campus as well as taking trips home on the Metro-North. Just Visiting shows moments of uncertainty such as going to campus events alone and trying to figure out where everything on campus is while free parking highlights calm and reset moments like going to St. John's Christmas Tree Lighting, first basketball game and trying new restaurants around the city. Once you come to the you're here marker it is a closing to the end of the semester as I end finals. Future investments and to be continued represent the upcoming semesters and events that will take place after this semester.