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Rated ‘T’ for teens: ‘The Big Apple seemed to have it all’

By TAYLOR SHAFFER

On June 9, the Music Department from Central Mountain High School went to New York City to see the Broadway musical “Wicked,” and for the ones who have never been in a big city before, it was an experience for them. The busy streets of New York were a complete switch from the mellow streets of Lock Haven, or wherever they may live.

It was a new experience for me as well. I had never been to a big city before then. My parents had driven through them when I was in the car, and I’ve gotten to sneak glances at them, but I’ve never seen the city up and personal. It was exciting and fun to trapeze through the streets of New York, but at the same time it was scary and shocking.

I’ve never been to the big city before, or somewhere with such diversity as New York. When I arrived, I could understand why New York was nicknamed, “The Melting Pot.” There were so many different ethnicities and different kinds of people, and it was mesmerizing to see with my own eyes. From people walking in suits, to people holding up signs for money, and others standing on the side of the road belting out saxophone music, The Big Apple seemed to have it all.

It wasn’t hard to spot the difference between Lock Haven and New York. Lock Haven is a calm butterfly sitting on a flower, while New York is a busy bee, working all hours of the night. The stores are different as well. Almost every store we went into had two to three floors, with escalators leading the way up. Here stores are fairly small and common, with only one floor usually.

We decided to go to Madame Tussauds, a wax museum located in New York. They had everything there from the Kardashians, pop stars, Marvel Superheroes, Ghostbusters, Phantom of the Opera, anything you could imagine. It was truly amazing to go through there and see the wax statues, which looked so realistic.

After Madame Tussauds, which took two hours to venture through, we went to the Hamilton store. If you don’t know what Hamilton is, it’s a musical written by Lin-Manuel Miranda. It’s a Broadway musical about Alexander Hamilton and his story as a founding father. The store was expensive, the cheapest shirt was around $30, so I bought a package of pins for $15, and I regret nothing.

We wandered around stores and shops, gaping at the things we wanted to buy and the prices.Then it was finally time for the thing we all were looking forward to– Broadway. We shuffled in and had to go up three different escalators to reach the top floor where we were supposed to sit. The view was amazing, and the vocals were splendid.

Towards the end of the trip, after the Broadway show, we decided to go to Times Square, and I was in absolute awe of this place. The electronic billboards, and the skyscrapers I had only seen in movies had come to life. I felt like my brain had turned into a kiddy pool, there was no depth in the moment. I couldn’t believe or comprehend what I was seeing, I was overwhelmed.

Besides all of the things I had experienced, it was hard for me to believe that people lived there, and that was their everyday life. It was shocking to realize that someone knew their way around New York instead of wandering aimlessly and hoping they don’t get lost.

New York was certainly an adventure for me, and I’d like to be able to visit it again one day. I can say one thing though, I would never be able to live in New York City.

——

Taylor Shaffer is a tenth grade student at Central Mountain High School. Taylor has a passion for writing and will produce a weekly column appearing on Tuesdays in The Express community newspaper.

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