College is a time to explore new topics and learn things that you wouldn’t have the opportunity to learn in normal everyday life. If given the opportunity to take a class on immigration, I probably wouldn’t have chosen it if another option was available. However, as a Macaulay Honors Student, the course The Peopling of New York City is a requirement; I now see the numerous benefits of this class. Living in New York City, immigrants are everywhere around us and it is important to better understand these people, and to understand their backgrounds and the processes and struggles they need to go through in order to become American citizens. To understand this was especially important for me, since I am a fourth generation Italian-American and have not felt this struggle personally. This class presented many challenges, but a struggle is necessary in order for one to learn something valuable. I had never analyzed data and used charts in the way that we were forced to do for the statistical profile assignment, but I now realize how essential this skill is for a person to conduct comprehensive research.
In addition, the visit to the Tenement Museum and the Walking Tour were a nice touch to the class. As a resident of the Lower East Side, I have walked by the placed we visited numerous times, but I was not aware of much of the history of these places. I found the short reports we had to write on these two trips beneficial as well. This is because I thought about these trips in the context of my own life and was able to make innovating conclusions about a neighborhood I call my own.
The work assigned in this class cannot be completed without thoughtful analyses. Yes, at the time one is completing the assignments, they may stare at their MacBook Pro screens for a long while letting anxiety get the best of them, crying hysterically, bewildered where to begin. However, when a student looks back at their work, observing the completion of assignments that involved hard work and a dedicated struggle to prove their point, it is extremely rewarding.
At the end of this course, I can truly say that I have a new found interest in immigration. Who knows, one day I might be using the information I have learned in this class in order to pursue my future career.
