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Everywhere you look in America there is a push to live together harmoniously, to respect and embrace differences, a push for greater and better things, progress in action and in thought. In New York City you live and are defined by this every single day. The America we all want is reflected in its five boroughs. Diversity on an unimaginable and beautifully immense scale. It is the vanguard of a future America that is seen both within and outside the nation and it leads by example.

What amazed me the most about the city is the fact that most people just mind their own business and do not really pay attention or react to anything that is going around them.  Everyone is in his own private world, just as E.B. White wrote in his article, "Here is New York." When I first arrived in New York, this turned me off from the city, making me feel like I just did not belong.  People never made eye contact with each other or tried to make small talk on the subway.  Since I am not from a large city, I got the impression that most New Yorkers were just not very nice.

Hamilton College will have a team in this year's America's Greatest Heart Run and Walk on Saturday, February 28.  To make our team the best, we need you! You can participate in one of the runs (30K, 10 miles, 5 miles or 3 miles) or one of the walks (5 miles or 3 miles).  Last year we had a total of 85 participants who raised $5,641.  Our goal is to beat that record with more participants raising more money!   

Associate Professor of Art History Deborah Pokinski gave an exhibition tour and talk, Käthe Kollwitz: Famous in Her Own Time, on January 28 in the Emerson Gallery.

Ellis Island is a place everyone should visit.  Visiting this historical site, seeing the Statue of Liberty reminded me to value being an American citizen in a free nation.   Standing more than 100 ft. tall, Lady Liberty is the most impressive sight to see in the middle of the Hudson River.

Several days before the pivotal New Hampshire presidential primary, 11 Hamilton students spent the weekend in Keene, N.H., campaigning for Democratic presidential hopefuls John Kerry and Howard Dean. The students volunteered in the candidates' Keene offices, helping with tasks such as canvassing (door-to-door campaigning) and visibility (holding signs). They also had the opportunity to see their candidates speak in person, at a Dean event in Keene on Jan. 23, and a Kerry event at Dartmouth College on Jan. 24.

Mark Masterson, visiting assistant professor of classics, led a one-day colloquium at The Philadelphia School of Psychoanalysis. This colloquium is an offering by the school for the continuing education of practicing psychoanalysts. He made a presentation of the sexual systems in the ancient world and the ways in which modern knowledge of them is limited by preconceptions and the nature of the evidence.

Thus far, my impression of New York City is one of socioeconomic polarization. Walking down 5th Avenue, you see stores with expensive merchandise and on the corner a homeless person begging for money. Part of the city seems to have more money than it can spend and others not enough to survive. The wealthy have managed to construct walls so that they need not interact with the poor. And even when the poor attempt to attract attention, they seem to be ignored. Where is the middle class in New York City? As I explore the city, I hope to find a bridge between the extremes.

My first week in NYC has been surreal. The city fears no one and has the ability to make the strongest man feel inferior. This has allowed me to realize that my experience will only be as positive as my attitude.  My fate rests in my own hands, and if I choose to do so, I will reign supreme. It is in my everyday interactions that I will assimilate into the “big city” culture. If I choose to sit back and wait for opportunity to strike, I may reach the end of this journey extremely dissatisfied.  I have left the routine of Hamilton College and immersed myself in this infinite city. The journey begins now, and I am proud to say that I am a part of this program. My internship is more than I could have ever asked for. The contacts I have made and will develop are invaluable, and the work environment allows me to enjoy my duties and keeps me eager to learn more.

New York City is a place of extremes. It is stunning, but for many, can be overwhelming. In one location, you are able to see the very poor and, quite literally, some of the richest human beings in the world.  Some may think that the tops of buildings is where you realize how tall they really are.  That it isn’t until you can see for miles, and the people look like swarms of insects that one can really grasp a skyscraper's magnitude.  While the view from the top of the Empire State Building is a thrilling sight, it does not stand alone.  The streets of New York are lined with these towers of cement, marble, and steel;  all one really has to do it look up to feel their enormity.