**DISCLAIMER: ALL IMAGES TAKEN BY AUTHOR, GABRIELLA**
College! Filled with newfound freedoms and your own schedule to plan your days however you want. While it seems like the whole world has just become oh so easily accessible to you it tends to end up feeling like you are forever stuck on campus until break rolls around; especially on a hill like Holy Cross. Even the environment of going out each weekend tends to put you in the mindset that you have to stick around in fear of missing out on something. But of what? What are we really missing out on? If it’s meant to be in your life, it will be. No matter what you do, no matter all the different paths you could’ve or do take, eventually what is meant for you will come to you, you just have to be open to receiving it. Why should I fear missing out on some mediocre house party filled with people I hardly know at all. Isn’t our time worth more than that? Now don’t get me wrong, I love a good party every once in a while, sometimes it’s exactly what you need. But not every weekend of every month of every semester of college. In my first semester I found it especially difficult to explore Worcester and the surrounding areas of Massachusetts; partially because freshmen usually can’t have cars on campus but also my friends and I wanted to go out and meet our new classmates on the weekends. Another factor that came into play was the cost of getting there and usually having to use Uber or Lyft which can become pretty expensive. However, once the second semester rolled around, more and more of us became antsy to get off campus and go exploring. Because of this, we became pretty good at finding other ways to get around like the school’s shuttle system and learning the train routes. After a handful of trips to Boston, I figured I might as well try and explore more of the east coast and the states surrounding me. I mean, I moved across the country for this! I have to take advantage.
That’s when my friend Dayle and I decided to plan a weekend trip to NYC. Now yes, the city IS expensive but we were determined to figure it out. We decided to stay with my Aunt and Uncle who live pretty close to the city and planned how to get where we wanted to go. We ended up saving a lot of money by taking different ways of transportation and got to experience a lot of fun things along the way too. By taking the ferry into Soho we got to see everything from a whole new perspective and enjoy the ride along the way versus being stuck in a car in traffic. We ended up spending our weekend exploring the city like shopping in Soho and exploring the Color Factory museum. Taking this trip made me realize how much fun exploring the world with your friends can be. I highly recommend planning out a weekend with your friends to go exploring around your college town or somewhere you’ve been wanting to visit!
