Ms. Makda threw the hood of her jacket over her head, too lazy to reach into her backpack and pull out her black umbrella. For this morning was already off to a bad start, as she was running ten minutes and had a 10:45 Philosophy exam.
She attempts to remove her iPhone from her pocket and untangle her earphones, as she power-walked uphill on 96th street. As she struggles, she feels a familiar push upon her shoulder– throwing her off balance and sending her back to the summer of 2014 while tumbling to the concrete.  She tastes the saltiness in the Jones Beach air, grips the sand beneath her feet, and has no care in the world other than avoiding skin cancer at all costs. That was the last time she was truly carefree.
She stumbles to find her balance and words to express her nostalgia, as the familiar face of Wendy Wallace lends her a helping hand. She takes the train with Wendy, engaging in small talk that neither of them truly wanted to have, making empty gestures, and acting as if they were really still invested in each others’ lives. Although Amber is flattered by Wendy’s concern for her family’s well-being, she would much rather have sat on the train alone and studied for her exam. She has grown tired of the superficial nature of these types of conversations, and eagerly anticipates her stop’s arrival.  The train finally reaches the 23rd St station, and Amber darts off the train as fast as the elderly woman in front and her own legs allow her. Nothing like meaningless conversations and a rushed morning to start the week off right!

It was 10:15 am, Chris was exhausted from her five-hour shift she had completed. Exasperated by the pouring rain, she only had 45 minutes to grab something to eat and a change of shirt. As she came down the stairs, the smell of grandma’s cooking of traditional chicken curry took her back to the countryside of her home country, where her mother would prepare that dish about two or three times a month, the finger licking tenderness was nothing but a scrumptious authentic one, that you could die for.

It was now 10:52 am, time flew by so fast, she grabbed the umbrella, walked out the door and as she was about to cross the pedestrian, she noticed the “peeping tom” of the neighborhood, Mrs. Noseyberry. Mrs. Noseyberry who would always spy on her neighbors or tell them not to park in front of her house reminded Chris of “patrol cops”. Ugh! the dreaded thought just made her roll her eyes. Chris waved with a grin on her face to Mrs. Noseyberry and continued her six blocks walk to the Q29 bus stop. Chris craved to be home, under her warm and comfy blanket as she walked the empty sidewalks in the pouring rain but she had invested too much in college to let all that money and time go down the drain.

It was now 11:11 am, the Q29 bus had arrived, Chris journey of 20 minutes began which included 12 stops in between and maybe a five minutes nap time. As the bus approached her stop, she noticed an older couple, that made her felt a little delighted and warmth inside, not conscious of herself, she smiled. Chris walked towards the Queens Boulevard subway, noticing the regular faces, the homeless guy, the two halaal food vendors, the honey-roasted nut guy and then there are the insignificant others that ever exists until chosen to be noticed.

As Chris approached the M&R subway, she listened closely to the announcement, “delays! delays! delay!” She swiped her metro card and went down waiting for her train. The R train arrived, at that time of the day, there was hardly any commuters on the train. So she would close her eyes until she reached the fourteenth stop.  The sound of the closing subway door alerted her, she opened her eyes to see the most beautiful creature she had ever seen. Thinking to herself,”I’ll never forget the Steinway subway stop.” His broad shoulders, mesmerizing eyes, and his blonde hair, my oh my, the intoxication he caused by just sitting across from her. Chris felt so ashamed to fall asleep in front of him, she tried to let his gorgeousness keep her awake. She gazed at his beauty as he walked out the door of the 34th street stop.

It was now 12:15 pm, Chris got out at the East 23rd street stop, crossed the pedestrian and walked through the Madison Square Park, not paying any attention to her environment, she rushed through the rain. She walked down East 24th street, and all she thought of was to get out of the increasingly heavy rain. As she entered Baruch’s vertical campus building, she sighed heavily.

D.Ramratan

Tun walked out of his work building, 80 Maiden Lane, and a gust of brick cold wind hit him. IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE SPRING. GET ON THE SAME PAGE NEW YORK. He walked across a plaza towards the 4,5 Wall Street Station. Freezingggg. Freezingggg. Ever step he took, Tun’s hair got heavier and heavier with each rain drops. You are going to be sick, he could hear his mom reprimanding him. At the same time, his problems do not end there for his stomach growled. It was noon and yet he still hadn’t had any lunch. Midterm was in 50 minutes too!

He walked into the train station, walked down a stairway and waited for his train to approach. He noticed a really tall blond, pale and white girl, not far off, walking towards his direction, but, he paid her no extra attention. What should he do? What should he do? Lunch or no lunch? There was a Halal food stand on the walk to school and he hoped there was no line today. Swooshhhh, the train approached.

He got on the train…Ding-dong, no one wanted to move, there was no moving space, it annoyed him as to why people never moved even though there was space in the middle of the car…but today, it was surprisingly pretty empty. But back to the topic, he knew he couldn’t last long with his stomach in that condition and wouldn’t do well in his midterm in that state.

Garmacy, Chipotle, Pizza, Deli on 25th street; he couldn’t decide; all those places had long lines. Ding-dong, 14th street. Tun got off the train and transferred to 6 local to 23rd station.

The time was now and Tun knew he needed to seize the opportunity as soon as he saw it, or else, he would never be able to get food until after the midterm. Halal food, he knew it, the line was long. Chipotle, he also knew it, the line was long. Pizza, he wasn’t in the mood for it. So, the last shot he had was the deli on 25th.

As he walked on 23rd street and turned left on Lexington Avenue, Tun was hoping, and almost praying for the deli to be able to serve him his lunch.

—————————

Ten minutes earlier, in the Wall Street Station, Pitka, originally from Finland, walked towards the top end of the station platform. It was more convenient for her to alight the train from the first car at her destined stop.

As she walked towards the end, she noticed a man, Asian, four to five inches shorter than her, around five nine. He gave a quick glimpse at her as he noticed someone approaching his direction. Just like the way he glimpsed, he went back to his original position, with his face deep in thought, battling between invisible forces.

As she passed the Asian man, she knew exactly what was wrong and couldn’t help feeling the same. Work was a b—-.

It’s 6 am. Alarm on iPhone is ringing, ringing, and ringing. Taejun cannot listen to the alarm because he fell asleep late night. He snoozes the alarm. Then, he takes five more minutes. But it does not take a long time. Soon, Alarm on iPhone is ringing again. He seems to like to decide to wake up now. He turns off the alarm. Spring is coming. But New York is still in Winter. He looks at the window. Darkness is not gone yet. He likes this. He likes the darkness turning into the brightness in the morning. That’s why he wakes up in the morning even if he loves sleeping. He is checking notifications no iPhone such as messages, social media, and emails. He strongly looks forward to getting news about “today class is canceled.” But he already knows, it is not going to happen whenever he wants. He eats bananas and milk. He is wearing clothes and preparing for going to a gym. Everyone knows Summer will be soon after Spring.

Working hard…

He is taking a shower and considering about how to live today. He thinks to make a better day than yesterday. It’s is not easy in the world. Anyway, his today already begins.

Whenever he goes out from the building, he turns on Google maps. He always considers which route is faster; N line or R line. He is walking to MTA. It’s brick outside. His walking is quicker because he guesses MTA is almost arriving. He is right. He takes MTA right away. Unfortunately, he cannot use iPhone while in MTA. Boring… Boring… Boring… Borin… Bor… B…It’s 23rd station. He crosses over the Madison square park. It’s so beautiful. He thinks like “I don’t want to go to class. Just sit in here and watch people.” Never mind. He keeps walking to Baruch College. Finally, he arrives at Baruch College. Congratulation!

Okay, now.

When go back to home? Huh……………..

Woken up by her unpleasant alarm, she was forced to get out of bed knowing that any minute wasted would cause a deduction in her letter grade for her course. After slowly but with a fast pace of getting dressed and ready, she stepped out into the cold wind looking at the gloomy weather while experiencing cold sharp air being blown right towards her face. Avoiding the hunger that is calling out to her from her stomach. Knowing that there wouldn’t be a bus on time to take her to the N train station. She checks the transit application anyway, She then puts on her headphones pressing play for the playlist she updated the night before. After walking 8 blocks full of crowdedness and cigarette odor, she smiles as she crosses the street light right before the station. The station full of like and dislike, again there was no available train for Manhatten bound. She felt frustration running up her back as she gains flashbacks being late to her Music 101 class. Having to stand outside for 20 minutes even if she was late for 1 second. The eyes of classmates staring her down and the deduction in her letter grade really haunted her. As she got on the Coney Island-bound N train she recognizes a familiar face that she seen from school. She realizes that she’s not the only one who has to go through this every morning. The train stops at New Utrecht Avenue, she rushes off to catch the Manhattan-bound D train that seems to be slower than the N train to her. After her mind was weighted with the idea of being late she finally arrives at Bleecker St where she’ll transfer to the local uptown 6 train. With one stop on the 6 train she finally arrive at 23rd St station where she runs up the stairs into the street filled with the smell that would wake all the senses of her hunger. Minute later, she arrive in front of Baruch College, having her ID ready to swipe her way into tardiness.

In the morning, Ping was awakened by his alarm, he opened his cell phone to see what time it is, the screen shows the time now is 5:30, he felt he might be late, so he quick to got dressed, took the bag and put headphones on his ear and ready to go out. He opened the door, in that moment, he was unhappy, because it is raining outside, he went back home and to took an umbrella. He locked the door, opened the umbrella, and then walked to 4th Avenue to take the N train to Union Square. The street is still very dark, only a few cars driving on the road and only two people walking in the street, but, he only heard the sound of raining. After arrive at 4 Avenue, he closed his umbrella and walked to the downstairs, he swiped his Metro card to entry to the platform and waiting for Manhattan bound N train came. Wait a few minutes later, N train arrived, he entered the train, he saw the ground and some seats are wet, it looks very dirty. He opened the phone, looking for the review sheet to prepared for today’s exam, stood for almost 40 minutes, he heard the broadcast said that ” This is 14th street”, he closed his phone and ready to get off the N train and transfer to 6 train to 23rd street and got off at 23rd street. He went upstairs and went straight to Lexington Avenue and turn left to Baruch college at 24st street.

Pingsheng chen

She stepped out of her front door into the cool air. The door slammed behind her, as it always did, yet today it made her jump. The evening before, she laid in bed discussing the state of the world and how she wished she could just stay inside with her cat and her space heater. Yet, here she was, out in the real world again, heading to school. She walked down the long, straight path to the subway, and decided to stop in to get coffee at the local café. It wasn’t so much that she wanted coffee, but more that she hoped to use it as a warm up for the rest of the social situations that the day was certainly to bring. Disappointingly, her favorite barista wasn’t there, and the blonde girl behind the counter never had anything interesting to say. They exchanged the usual pleasantries, and she went on her way. She continued on the walk through the cold, windy air. Why did she even get this coffee? It tasted bitter, and she was already awake enough. After weighing the guilt of wasting her money, she decided to throw the coffee out. As she turned to the nearest trashcan, she ran face first into a hipster guy with a long beard. “Oh my god, I’m sorry.” Her face flushed and she recalled more and more of the reasons she had dreaded leaving her apartment. She put her headphones in and turned up her favorite playlist of only Sia songs. It took her back to the fall where she travelled all the way to Toronto just to see her favorite artist sing her favorite music. Sia had been there for her in all of the different times she needed it, and today was no different. Feeling a bit more optimistic, she walked down into the subway and made her way to the Manhattan-bound L train platform. The train rushed in nearly immediately. Since moving to the city, she had always loved the way it felt when a train flew past. It was a little bit dangerous, a little bit loud, a little bit exhilarating. She got on the overcrowded train and took a deep breath. She had always hated crowds, and every morning felt like a calculated risk, one she had to get through. Luckily, her trip from the Morgan Avenue stop to the 3^rd Avenue stop was fairly short. 15 minutes later, she emancipated herself from the crowd and exited the hot, sticky train, entering, yet again, the cool and crisp air. She recalled the days in which she lived in a town where everyone was far apart and she drove on her own through giant highways to get where she needed to go. Sometimes she questioned why she moved where she was so often uncomfortable, but, in reality, she relished the moments she was able to feel awkward and nervous. To her, they were chances to grow. She headed up another long and straight path from 14^th Street all the way to 24^th Street, still blasting Sia through her headphones. She arrived at school, and after all of this, felt at least a little more confident about the choice to leave her apartment that morning.

(Sorry this was so long, I had a lot of fun writing it!)

Soumba  woke up at 6am after her alarm rings for several times, she rushed to the bathroom and took her bath. She had to wake her one year old year daughter to get her ready for the daycare. Her daughter didn’t want to wake up, she took her to the bathroom, she finally woke up, soumba had to sit down and feed her which took her about thirty . When she was done she rushed downstairs with her daughter and she realized that it was raining she wasn’t wearing the perfect shoes and had no umbrella as well , she had to go back get her boots and umbrella.  When soumba came back from the house her bus at East tremont was gone, she run to her daughter daycare to drop her and had to wait few minutes for the lady to open the door. after dropping her daughter she run gain  to the train station on burnside to catch the 4 train. When she was getting in the train she accidentally stepped on a lady foot which started to yell and she said sorry. Soumba was looking for sit she had to move in the middle but her jacket was all wet so, she had to be careful she finally sat down and started to read her note because she had an exam on her business law classes. Soumba was so focus she almost missed her stop she run out on 42 street grand central to take the 6 train to her school, after 3 stop she was finally there. she had to run to class and couldn’t get her coffee at 7 eleven because she was late.

Jasmine woke up to the sound of her annoying alarms, showered, got dressed and was ready to head to school. She walked out the door and the front gate locking the doors behind her. She walked to the end of the bus and proceeded to wait for her bus in the rain and gloom. She could take either the Q8 or the Q41 in the direction of the Jamaica 165st Terminal. She took the bus that came first which was the Q41. She got off the bus at Sutphin Boulevard- Archer Avenue and walked 10 ft to the train. She swiped her metrocard and walked down the stairs to the front car of the Manhattan Bound E train. She smelled pee and garbage while waiting in the station. She got on the train and was headed towards 53^rd St-Lexington Avenue. When she was about at Kew Gardens which is about 2 stops into her 7 stop trip on the E train, she noticed the smell of coffee stood out among the other gross smells of the subway. Adrienne looked at the young girl who stood next to her and wonder if she could smell the coffee from her travel mug. She noticed the girl was wearing beats and wondered if the girl bought them, got them as a present or eve n perhaps stole them. She noticed the girl was also sweating and wondered how she could possibly be sweating with the how cold and rainy the day was. Jasmine was a dream land until she got to 53rd st- Lexington Ave where she bolted off the train and ran up the escalator to transfer to the next oncoming Brooklyn Bridge bound 6 train. She got on the train and her next stop would be 23^rd street. She got out at 23^rd street walked up the stairs and headed north east on Park Ave South towards East 24^th street. She turned right onto East 24^th street and then walked straight down to Baruch College.

YuQing was awakened by the alarm clock on her IPAD at 8:30 AM. She closed the alarm clock and started to dressed herself. After she washed up and ate breakfast, she left the house alone at 9:00 AM. She walked straight along 80^th Street to 17^th Avenue, then she turned right to walk straight along 17^th Avenue to 79^th Street. She took D train at 79^th Street. It was rainy and the D train is late, so she was a bit wet when the D train arrived. She sat down and took her phone out to read the post in the social media which was called Weibo. “This is Manhattan bound D train, the next stop is 36^th Street” YuQing noticed that the D train arrived 9^th Avenue, and there were a lot of people in the train right now. She felt the air in this D train became worse and worse and she felt hotter and hotter. The D train has been more and more crowded since many stations of N line was closed for renovation. The crowed train recall the memory of her student life in Guangzhou. The subway in Guangzhou was more crowded than the D train, especially the 3 train which cross the center of Guangzhou. The passenger had to form a line to wait for the subway. YuQing also experienced the 3 line. She was pushed to the train. Inside the train, people is very closed and can feel other’s breathing. The smell was very bad. When the 3 train arrived Zhujiang New Town, YuQing wanted getting off the train, but she was pushed out the train. This was a bad experience. “The next stop is Grand Street” YuQing Noticed she arrived Atlantic- Barclays Center and the train would arrive Manhattan after the train crossed over the Manhattan Bridge. She met her friend, Yihui, at this train. So demure now, Yihui Feng who sat next to YuQing thought her (Yihui Feng knew her as friends); very kind, happy because of contentment, and loving to read comic books.

“This is Broadway-Lafayette” YuQing had to say goodbye to Yihui and got off the D train to transfer to 6 train. She took off 6 train at 23^rd Street and walked straight along 23^rd Street to Lexington Avenue. Then, she walked straight along Lexington Avenue to Vertical Campus of Baruch at 24^th Street.

–Yu Qing Wu