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| Mr. Murray's advisory on the streets on GA. |
On November 12th, we - the senior class at GA -
went on our class trip to New York City. There was an immense amount of anticipation
for what the day would bring, and the excitement was at an all time high. We
were ready to escape the stress of applying to college and studying for a day
to go on an adventure with our classmates. We all met at the bus lanes at 7:30
that morning, and waited for those stragglers who couldn’t quite make it out of
bed on time. We got on our designated bus and sat surrounded by friends. Movies
were playing on the screens, but people were more interested in chatting with
those around them. It was nice to spend time with people in my grade, in an
unfamiliar environment, that I don’t normally get lots of time to be with.
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| Mr. Murray's advisory on the streets of New York. |
We were
given half an hour to figure out our plans for when our free time came around,
and the first event of the day was meeting at Top of the Rock. It was pretty
cloudy so we couldn’t see much of the city, but there were some quality
pictures taken. We were then given the whole afternoon to experience the city
in our groups of 3 or more. I went with 5 of my friends to a nice, quiet, and
inexpensive sushi restaurant, called Aoki, that my friend Sophie Hearn - expert
on all things New York - guided us to. We embraced our “New York chic” look,
ate some sushi, and engaged in memorable conversations. We then walked from
Aoki to Baked by Melissa, a cupcake shop, which I had never experienced before.
My friends and I all bought an assortment of 6 miniature cupcakes to try out,
as we saw our friend Hunter buying an assortment of 25. Needless to say, they
were great and I can’t wait to stop in there again. It was such a tiny shop but
as the saying goes, good things sometimes come in small packages! We finally
made our way back to the theater and met up with the rest of our classmates,
ready to sit down and rest our tired, walked-on feet.
GA alum Jarrod Spector ’99 played the role of Barry in the
performance Beautiful: The Carole King
Musical. He has become a very well known actor in the Broadway world, after
just finishing his run as the lead, Frankie, in Jersey Boys. Everyone truly seemed to like the musical, even those
who had never been to one before! He came out and did a Q and A with us after
the show, and I was so surprised at how grounded and light-hearted he was! He
was open to all questions and gave us some really great advice about how to
finish up our senior year, such as picking fun and adventurous Senior Projects
and enjoying every minute because it flies.
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| Jarrod Spector '99 chats with the Class of 2015. |
He was very open in talking about
his college experience: he went to Princeton for a couple years and decided
that it was not the right fit for him! So he left and decided to follow his
heart and become an actor so he began auditioning and it led him to these
amazing roles. Speaking with him was definitely the highlight of many people’s
days -especially mine.
We finished
up the day eating dinner at Bubba Gump’s! My friends and me, when we go out to
eat, put our phones in the center of the table to encourage conversation and
have a ‘present presence’ as I like to call it. The rule is that if you touch
your phone to answer a call or text, then you have to pay for a greater portion
of the meal.
Having over
150 people traveling as a pack is never easy, but it sure is a great time. I
loved this trip and I enjoy every opportunity I have to interact with my
friends and other classmates in different contexts. I’ll remember this day as
being filled with laughter and adventure, and sitting on park benches eating
all of our Baked by Melissa cupcakes because let’s be honest… who doesn’t love
a good cupcake?
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| Dinner at Bubba Gump's. |
