New York City:
From the perspective of a Foreign Exchange Baruch Student
The old city where I was treated unequally
The old city where status was determined by money
The old city where money controlled success
The old city I once thought was the best
The old city I would once die for
The old city I once loved
A new city that welcomes opportunity
A new city that shuns the idea of disunity
A new city filled with art for all
A new city that has the power to pick you up when fall
A new city where it’s people hustle
A new city where there’s always a bustle
My city where I travel to everyday
My city where I always have a way
My city where the rush of commuters fills the air
My city where I promise to cherish and care
My city I have invested my dreams and goals into
My city with highs and lows
Our city where we attend school
Our city we can get success by using it as a tool
Our city we love to explore
Our city that always has an open door
Our city that in comparison flies high and above
Our city we love
SELF REFLECTION:
My decision to base my poem from the perspective of a foreign exchange student not only has to do with my desire to participate in the foreign exchange program, but mainly because those students are the ones with the most accurate perspective of New York City. As someone who was born outside the States, I know the outside awe and wonder many people have of our great city. Although our frequent visits to the City for school or work may begin to infiltrate our own awe of the city, it is important to remember the first time we laid our eyes upon the skyscrapers of New York City. That is the moment we realized what a great city we lived in and the opportunity we had to make our dreams a success.
The purpose of this poem is to help give readers that feeling of nostalgia once again, through the eyes of our unnamed foreign exchange student. Poems can be interpreted in many different ways and its true meanings are often left to the readers to discover. The reason I chose a poem to tell this story was because I wanted readers to have that freedom of discovery. Some may view it as a piece of hope and promise while others may view it as a poem of a student who escaped the traps of his old life to make it here in the States. Rhyming was used throughout the poem in order to emphasize the feelings of unrequited love and display the awe and wonder this student had for his new city, New York City.
The development and structure of the poem was intentional and meant to take readers on the same journey the foreign exchange student has been on. By starting with descriptions of the “the old city” the foreign exchange student is able to set the scene of his life. This helps readers to see what kind of background and place this student came from. An unrequited love for this students’ old city leaves him broken and in search of a “new city” that allows him to keep his dreams and passions alive. The vocabulary and diction used in this poem helps to depict the emotional and mental transition of the foreign exchange student. As the poem continues, the foreign exchange begins to describe New York City with a more personal tone. In the beginning, it was just “a city”, then as time passes it starts to become “my city”, and it eventually ends with a more unified, “our city”.
– ABISHEK JOHNSON (AJ)
