Daily Archives: October 3, 2014

Meant to Live – Switchfoot Concert @ Columbia University hosted by Pulse

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This past thursday night, after receiving a guaranteed ticket (from the CCNY Intervarsity) to an already free concert featuring Switchfoot, I made an impulse decision to finish my English 210 paper within 2 and a half hours so that I could attend this concert. After finishing class at around 4 pm, I sat myself down in my dorm room and got to work on my paper. Luckily, I finished my paper and submitted it literally 5 minutes before I had to leave for the concert. And man, was I glad that I did.

Now here comes the good part after the hard work. Upon arriving in front of Lerner Hall at Columbia University with the Intervarsity group, my eyes immediately saw the enormous line (those who didn’t have tickets) that stood awaiting to get in. For those who did have tickets (mostly Columbia students and intervarsity groups) were able to enter straight in without a wait. To my surprise not too many people actually obtained tickets, which meant we were able to get pretty decent seats. The concert opened with the Colton Dixon band (I’ve never heard of them before then, but they’re pretty good) and then Switchfoot came on afterwards. In comparison to classical music and the music played at the opera, it is much, much different. But both were really good in their own aspects and style. So, what would have been a regular and boring night, had I not went out to the concert, turned into a great night with new friends, good fellowship, and late night pizza. Also, who doesn’t love free concerts in NYC?

Le Nozze di Figaro

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Boy, was I in for a surprise Saturday night. Although I had to attend the opera on my own, it did however, provide a whole different experience for me. I walked into that beautiful Met Opera House at Lincoln Center, preparing myself mentally for a long, long night of opera singing. The atmosphere that was created was in a way, exhilarating, with everyone wearing formal and elegant attire. It definitely felt nice just being a part of that environment. My favorite part of the opera was hands down the music being played by the orchestra in the pit. In high school I was a part of the pit orchestra for the school’s musical for 2 years in a row. So, personally I know the level of intensity and the seriousness within the pit to perform well, perfect rather. In my opinion, without the music played by the orchestra, the opera and musicals, would be nowhere near as good as they are. It would simply become a show featuring acappella singing. The orchestra sets the mood, creates the drama, pleases the ear, enhances the story, and much, much more. So, my heart goes out to them, and I applaud the orchestra for doing such an amazing job, which in turn helps the cast do their job better as well. It felt wonderful to simply be able to sit there and rest. I couldn’t help but close my eyes at certain points just to take in each note played by each instrument, enjoy the music, and forget about any sort of worries that were in the back of my head.

A Subway Story

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Tuesday, September 30th.  The time? 10:30 A.M I had 30 minutes to get to class.

I was rushing to get on the F train from Hunter College. You might be thinking how and why I ended up in this most unfortunate situation. You see, because I started class at 11 A.M that day, I thought I would’ve been able to get some breakfast with my friends at Hunter and still make it to class in time, provided I left by 10:30. The breakfast was a success. Four of my close friends and I had an extremely entertaining and greasy breakfast at the local Golden Arches, reminiscing and laughing the time away. When it became time to leave, though, I realized that I would have to take the F from Hunter back a couple of stops in order to catch either the A or the D train to CCNY. Realizing I might actually be late to class, I panicked. I hurriedly said goodbye and vanished into the bowels of the subway station.

I was speed-walking, determined not to be late. With each step I took towards the turnstile, I got more and more hopeful.

My mind was focused on the single goal of getting to class on time.

I might not be late after all!! Yes!!

And then all of a sudden, BOOM!! I felt a sickening crunch in my stomach.

I had forgotten to swipe my MetroCard and walked straight into the turnstile.

(For those of you who are curious, I was, in fact, not only late, but very late, close to 30 minutes.)