Epiphany in the Corn Fields

Enduring a thirteen-hour car ride with nothing to look at it except corn fields, barns, and cows was a struggle.  After a week of finals, I wanted nothing else but to catch some zzz's on this trip to help cure my sleep-deprivation.  However, the incessant babbling of my parents' book-on-tape put a damper on my plans.  So, with hours to kill, I was left in the backseat (squeezed between a mini-fridge and the door of my Toyota Corolla) to stare out at the American Heartland of Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

This provided ample time to reflect on my freshman year at the University of Notre Dame and to plan for the future - summer '11 and beyond.  As I texted my friends while driving on the endless throughway I-80, I became increasingly excited about returning home and reuniting with them for another summer in which our only concerns would be having a good time and making it to work on time in the morning. 

However, there was something more that was driving my excitement in the backseat of the Toyota.  Meeting up with friends was going to be great, but something very simple seemed to be my greatest yearning: getting back to the soil of the Empire State and my hometown on Long Island.

Living in South Bend, Indiana, for eight months made me miss the familiarity and excitement of New York.  I realized that I had become complacent about what a blessing it is to live in New York.  My classmates talked often about how they dreamed of receiving a great education at Notre Dame and then using the degree to land a big-time job.  The final destination of their plans usually placed them in NYC at a prominent Wall Street firm.  They asked me all kinds of questions about the "Big City" and I was always proud to answer.

Therefore, as I came upon this realization somewhere between South Bend, Indiana and my hometown on Long Island, I decided that I would start a blog to chronicle life in New York.  I plan on posting not only about the common topics of NY sports and politics but also about the little things that differentiate New York from other regions of the country. 

My mission is simple: to provide insight into why I love New York and to introduce some of its lesser-known treasures to those from out-of-town who hope to land that big-time job someday.

I believe my friend put it best during a late-night discussion in South Bend: "I've done a lot of traveling - to Florence, Venice, Rome, Athens...And being from Chicago, it's hard for me to admit this, but there is no doubt about it:  No city compares to New York.  I want to live and work there someday.  It's New York or bust."