Comparing and Contrasting DC and New York

By: Gemma Bush

Over Thanksgiving break, rather than heading back home to Ohio, one of my WAIP roommates and I decided to head to New York and spend a couple of days seeing the Big Apple! I had never been to New York before, and I had a lot of fun. One of the many perks of being in DC is that cool cities like New York and Philly are only a relatively short bus ride away, whereas in Columbus they'd be much less accessible.

View from top of empire state building in NYC

Read on for my take on DC vs. NYC!

Food:

Both DC and New York have a ton of great food. I would say that DC seems a little heavier on chains, whereas in New York you'll see a lot of singular little restaurants, though both of them have some of each, of course. New York's Chinatown is a lot bigger and more intense, and you can find more amazing Chinese food in New York in general than you can in DC. New York is also the place for amazing bagels, great New York pizza, and delis that tend to serve giant piles of meat between two slices of bread with nothing else on the sandwich. The first two are delicious. The latter is frankly weird. DC is more the place for great Ethiopian food, and really yummy chains that you can't find in Ohio, like Roti, Sweet Green, Shake Shack, and many more. 

Public transportation:

In a contest between the DC metro and the New York subway, I'd say that the metro wins hands down. Metro stations AND trains are newer, cleaner, and better smelling than those of the subway! And that makes a big difference in overall appeal. Also, the metro is much better staffed as far as someone being around to help you at each station if something goes wrong with your card. When we were using the subway in New York, things kept going wrong with my roommates' card and there was never ANYONE around to help. There's just no staff at a lot of the stations, only machines. Also, interestingly, the subway is much shallower than the metro (meaning the metro is much deeper underground.) This is because in DC buildings can't be taller than the Washington monument, so they often have to build down, forming extensive basement sections. In New York, they don't have that going on, and can just build skyscrapers and have a shallow subway. 

Weather:

New York is MUCH COLDER than DC, between the fact that it's further north and the fact that being among the tall buildings mean you get like three hours of actually being in the sun as opposed to the shade per day. If you go there for a weekend, bundle up!

Overall atmosphere: 

I'd say that DC is less overwhelming, but New York is more fun. New York was a blast for the three nights I was there, but at the end of the trip I was honestly ready to head back to my "quiet little" DC. New York is just so crazy! People yelling and lights flashing all the time, never knowing if the next block is going to smell like yummy food or trash, and people dressed in all sorts of zany fashions. But you can't see a Broadway show in DC (not ON Broadway, at least), and you can't get authentic New York bagels, or see Macy's at Christmastime, or Times Square, or go to the top of the Empire State Building. For me, New York is a lot of fun for a weekend, but DC is a more sustainable place to live. 

What going home to Ohio taught me about D.C.

What going home to Ohio taught me about D.C.
By Abby Vesoulis

My time as a John Glenn Fellow in the Washington Academic Internship Program is coming to an end in less than three weeks. I had the blessing of going home to Columbus, Ohio for Thanksgiving – it was the first time I had been back all semester, and the only time I got to see my college friends in months. I was looking forward to it for days, maybe even weeks.

While it a was a much needed break from the stresses of writing a 25-page research paper and working close to full-time at my internship, I was eager to head back to the District by Sunday morning. I think that’s because D.C. is becoming what I think of as “home.”

Already, some friends and I have begun searching for apartments to move into and jobs to apply to. We love D.C.’s young and excited spirit, its array of food choices and its uniqueness. I love that most of its inhabitants moved here to try making a difference. Though it may be a town divided by red and blue, people who care about one side of the aisle have more in common with their opponents than with anyone who generally doesn’t care.

Being reunited with Wings Over, my sorority sisters, my parents and my pup were essential to finishing out this semester strong, but those things also reminded me that Columbus, Ohio is only one component of my life. While I will always be excited to be back with those gems, there is no reason for me to live anywhere other than D.C. when I graduate.

Columbus will always be there to welcome me back, but hopefully for only a weekend or week at a time.

Pictured: My dog, Albus Dumbledog

Give yourself an extra time to reflect

On November 3, 2017, I was given a second chance to revisit the Independence Hall, where both the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted. Although I have been to Philadelphia numerous of times before, this visit was different, I wasn’t with my husband and two kids, I was with my young fellow WIAPers.

As I listened to the narrative of the events that led to the establishment of the two most important American documents for the second time, I realized that the person I am at that moment is not the same person I was when I first heard the narration. This time I was different, I was informed, and my mind was now politically engaged and sympathetic to the patience and collaboration of each individual person that was there debating, creating, and adopting the collections of words that the American people hold dear and valued the most today.

post and picture by Grace Mercado

While I stood looking out of the same window frame that the Founding Fathers possibly looked out from over two centuries ago, I understood at that moment of how vital it was for them to find a common ground to collaborate and collect the fundamental words that played important opportunities for the future of America.

I don’t doubt that they would be proud to witness the significant changes, innovation, and the continuous strive for a better tomorrow, that we hold the same value they can only have imagined witnessing outside this building’s window.  

The smiles, the interaction between many racial diversities, and different walks of life, looking and taking pictures of the building I was in, would have been an amazing sight to see for our Founding Fathers. And although not all of them agreed with each other, they all believed in what was put in the United State Constitution:

“We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America” (Preamble of the U.S. Constitution).

To conclude, It was within those moments I became convinced that giving yourself (myself) an extra time to reflect, especially if it’s not the first time, the chance to learn or to realize something new. From that moment on, I was more humbled, blessed and thankful than ever before. I wonder what new reflection I will gain the next time I go back.