I am a New Yorker.  I am an American, a Long Islander, a High School Graduate. But above all that, I am a New Yorker. New York is never dull and is always moving at light speed. Few things ever stay the same in New York. But some things are ingrained into the very fabric that makes up New York. Some things are a part of New York’s past, it’s future, and it’s present. It is part of the very blood that flows through the city veins, it is one of the many things that define New York City.

The bagel is the core of New York.

The history of the bagel is so intertwined with the history of New York that you can not tell the story of one without the other. New York is the key ingredient in Bagels. It is a well known fact that the farther you travel outside of the 5 Boroughs (And Long Island, Long Island takes pride in it’s bagels) the less likely you are to find a good bagel. If you can even find a bagel at all!

As a New Yorker it is my duty to understand the complex and varied history of the bagel. From it’s humble beginnings at the Sabbath table in Krakow, Poland, to it’s fame and glory when an astronaut brought a dozen bagels into space. A bagel is more then a mere morsel of food, it is more then yeast,honey and malt, it is a right of passage for every New Yorker. The bagel unites the melting pot of New York. Greeks, Spanish,Jews, Muslims etc, can all agree on the beauty of a good bagel! The bagel in it’s doughy glory is the glue of New York, it is the symbol of peace. Without bagels the entire city as we know it would cease to exist. It is the foundation of society, it is the matriarch of democracy, it is the very heart,soul, sweat and tears that defines our nation!

Pretty much I wanted to do this topic because I really like bagels.

For our New York Times Project, our group decided on the topic of bagels. Although this theme may seem strange and unrelated to life at Baruch, bagels actually play a big role. We all agreed that food plays a large role in who we are and how we bond with new people; the discussion of food is one of the reasons of how we all became friends in fact. We felt that bagels, and food in general, bring a sense of comfort and home which are both relieving emotions when entering a college or university as a freshman. Not only are bagels a delicious food commodity, they are also great to read and write about. When searching in the New York Times, there were surprisingly more articles than we had imagined; articles regarding price, anatomy, bagel vs. donut and soon on. Bagels proved to provide friendship, happiness and a cheap cost which are ideal qualities for college students.

I don’t think you’ll ever come across someone who has tried a coffee at Starbucks and say they didn’t love it. How did this idea formulate you may ask? Midway through daydreaming in FRO, the thought of Starbucks dawned upon me. I figured it was a perfect topic due to the fact that it’s so simple and obvious, people wouldn’t choose to write about it. This assignment dictated us to choose a topic and demonstrate it as if it was the front page of the New York Times. I knew picking the topic of Starbucks would be interesting to research and give us a lot to write about. My group-mates and I found it interesting to learn about the origins, coffee beans, and great expansion of Starbucks overseas. Since we all spend a portion of our day at this beloved coffee joint, it was in our best interests to explore its rich history and share it with the class. There is no doubt that whomever you speak to that attends Baruch can assure you that they never run out of coffee. With the convenience of four nearby Starbucks, both in the school and across the street, all students and faculty of Baruch are always well- caffeinated.. so there’s no excuse to be falling asleep in class :p

The reasons for why I chose this particular topic, titled “Baruch’s Children”,  which centered on the general aspects of life that affect children, are simple enough. The assignment for the New York Times project included a part that had to be written by the group and had to be about something about Baruch that at least one of us had experienced and felt the least bit interested in. Not to make Baruch seem lesser than it is, this part of the assignment cut down a lot of the possibilities for what our topic could be. The basic routine of my day was basically to go to my classes, go home, and then repeat – which left no real room to explore what the school had to offer. That is, until I got the opportunity, through the Work Study program, to spend my break time working at the Baruch Early Learning Center – which I had only accepted because I thought that if nothing else it would be an easy gig. Pushing aside the fact that I was very wrong, it soon became one of the more enjoyable periods of my day-to-day schedule. The kids were fun to hang around and have the sort of boundless energy that boldly strides the line between cute and unbearable. They have stuff to say, and never run out – which is something I see so very littler of these days. It was refreshing to see how these kids reacted to stuff and how things seemed from their perspective. They’re an endearing bunch and I grew to really find peace in being around that place. So, with that being the only real Baruch experience I have had, it became the topic. The rest would fall into place because media sources like the New York Times always have some sort of point of view on the welfare of children. Even if they only do something like a fluff piece, meant to fill up space, there is at least still a large base of articles from which to work. The project would then pretty much do itself, in theory.

My group and I decided to use culture as our topic due to the fact that all of us share different cultures. Our cultures are what makes us who we are. Each of us came into Baruch with a different perspective, and we decided that we should share our perspective with our peers, in order for them to understand us better. The articles we chose illustrated  a part of our culture that we wanted to share. My article was about the history of Jamaica. It grabbed my attention because it incorporated both food and music (and everyone knows I love food and music). We were not concerned about  culture in Baruch because Baruch actually highlights it. However, we wanted to express our appreciation for different cultures being permeated throughout our school.

The NY Times Project helped me to strengthen the bonds of teamwork through my group and helped me to learn more about the Shutdown. I typically stay away from the news, so I was unaware of the Shutdown until my supervisor mentioned it while I was on the job. This meant that one of the main projects would have to be put on hold and it gave me the inspiration to suggest that as our group’s theme. My teammates were on board with the idea and that’s how it all started.

The first article I chose was how the Shutdown affected the research that was being done on the ice. I thought that it was a good article to include because it showed how the Shutdown had far reaching effects that went beyond the States. I published an article that showed more of a personal effect and how the Shutdown affected the average person as well. Less customers for the family restaurants, and many other ways in which people were affected. I published a pair of articles that announced that the Shutdown was over and also covered some of the after affects. Everything would not go back to normal immediately, following such a big event. This is only a short break and the Shutdown will continue if a deal is not reached soon. I also linked the Shutdown to Baruch and how it could possibly affect the school as well. All, in all, this project required team work and a willingness to put 100% effort into the project. We did well and made the experience fun