This wonderful trip to New York is sadly coming to a close, and I could not be happier with the outcome. I just got back to the hotel from Chinatown, after taking subways around the city all day. Travel went extremely smoothly - I am very confident that I could get around NYC by myself. Accomplishing my travel fears was my personal goal, and I consider it a big success! I had two wonderful lessons with oboists that play with the two major orchestras in the city, and I feel as if they were pleased with my playing, my second goal therefore was a success!
Goals aside, when I first arrived in the city, I did not like what I was experiencing. The city was overwhelming, crowded, and busy. To be put very bluntly, the complete opposite of back home! Now, on the night before I leave NYC, I really do love being here. Yes, living here would be very expensive, and I would always be busy working and studying, but there is always something rewarding and exciting to do. There are restaurants on every street corner, bazaar shops that one would still probably be discovering months after moving, and countless interesting interactions with people to be had. New York is a fascinating city because it offers so much to anyone willing to take a chance. Once you enter, the city has a way of teaching you things, like how to get around, how to be smart, and how to live. People seem to truly live in this city. Unlike many places in the country, there are so many varied personalities, each living their own unique life. Will I come back here to study and perform? I definitely do not have the answer yet. However, when do I return, I know that I will be very excited and confident. The person returning to NYC will be the very opposite of the one who arrived last Thursday.
Thank you Mitra, Dr. Rieck, everyone in the cohort and everyone else who made this trip possible.
This experience has changed my life.
Jonathan Conjurske
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