As the last requirement of our projects, my group members and I attended the Macaulay common event on May 12th between 1 and 3. At first, I really didn’t know what to expect. I wasn’t sure whether we would be presenting before a large auditorium or in front of a classroom with only a few people. Furthermore, due to the fact that unlike our classmates, most of the audience did not view our presentations throughout the entire semester, I knew that we would have to present the information with more clarity and detail. However, this task would prove to be difficult, due to the fact that we had to fit the entire presentation into 10 minutes. Overall, I believe that the event was a great way to reconnect with our peers from other schools, while sharing our knowledge, ideas and research.

One thing that I really enjoyed about the event was that I got the opportunity to communicate and reunite with my peers who attend the Macaulay program in other colleges, some of whom I haven’t seen in a long time. It was really nice to see them and to share our experiences. Furthermore, it acted as a great networking event that allowed me to meet new people who attend the Macaulay Honors Program. The new relationships that I formed with some of my contemporaries may prove to be very important as I leave college and join the business world.

I was really bothered that each presentation had a time restriction of 10 minutes. Besides for the fact that it was very difficult fitting in all of the information into 10 minutes, I felt that the audience members weren’t able to grasp our entire presentation because we had to rush through certain key parts. I found it very frustrating because after working extremely hard throughout the entire semester on our project we were cut short and couldn’t present it in full detail. Furthermore, I felt that we didn’t get the opportunity to hear the the speeches of the other presenters in their entirety, which put us at a loss. I believe that if the staff who administered the event gave the presenters a little more time, the audience would’ve been able to grasp a better understanding of the other projects.

One thing that I really enjoyed about the Macaulay event was the fact that in a matter of 2 hours you are able to learn about many topics and subjects. For example, in 2 hours I learned about the different environmental protection agencies in New York, the community of Bushwick, the issue of homelessness in New York City and many others. In a short amount of time I became knowledgeable on many issues. My favorite presentation dealt with homelessness in New York City, in particular the homelessness of dogs. I was very surprised to find out that there are millions of homeless dogs in the city, mainly because of puppy mills, which breed dogs to sell them and make a profit.

I believe that my group did an excellent job through our presentation. We were able to clearly explain our research question and provide the proper evidence to fully examine our topic. Fortunately, we were able to finish within the allotted amount of time and at the end I believe that the audience fully understood how the Atlantic Yards affected the housing market in downtown Brooklyn.