After reading the poem “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman, I re-read it to find one particular line that spoke to me and was most relatable to my commute to Baruch College. The line that I chose was “I accept Reality and dare not question it”. I chose this specific line because New York City is a very diverse place with all types of people with diverse personalities and lifestyles.  On my way to Baruch everyday, I walk by so many different people. These people consist of construction workers (lots of them), street performers, maintenance workers, and other pedestrians whether they are tourists or native New Yorkers enjoying the day.

This line “I accept Reality and dare not question it” spoke to the way that I believe all people in New York City, and most do, act when they are walking down the street. If you were to take the commute that I take every day, you would notice that everyone, no matter whats going on around them, are minding their own business. This is something that I believe holds true to everywhere in the city. Whether there is a group of kids dancing in the subway to try and earn some money or people fighting on the sidewalk, it always appears that nobody reacts to these events as if they are living in their own bubble. The word “Reality” is the commute I take and the commutes that other people take on their way to work or school, and “dare not question it” symbolizes the imaginary bubble that people place themselves in when they are just trying to get where they need to be.

Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” made me reflect on my journeys, regardless of how large or small – my journey of life, which is never-ending, the journey of my career that has recently begun, and on a smaller scale, my journey to Baruch is reflected as well. We all view our journey differently, and regardless of origin and destination, my journey is different than even that of the person sitting next to me on the train.

My journey to Baruch begins with a ten-minute drive to the Convent Station NJ Transit train station. I always try to leave ample time before the train departs so as not to rush, but somehow still manage to pull into the parking lot as the train is pulling in, with just seconds to spare. On the platform, I hear the toot of the train’s horn as it whizzes past the weary-eyed commuters “of old and young, of the foolish as much as the wise,” all with different destinations (16). We hoard in packs near each door, anxiously waiting for it to open, and one by one, board the train. I make my way to the upper level of the second car of the double-decker train, and find my way to a window seat. By this point, I struggle to untangle my headphones, while taking out my laptop to get some work done. Simultaneously, I hear the footsteps of the conductor as he steps up the stairs, click, click, clicking his hole puncher. “Tickets, please!” he wails as he strolls the aisle, gazing across a sea of monthly train passes being shown. Around “me many long dumb voices” fill the cars, as others roll their eyes in search of quiet (24).

This express train whizzes past multiple stations, with other commuters standing outside, waiting till our train “becomes unseen and receives proof in its turn,” until their train finally arrives (3). The train makes its final stop at Brick Church, before closing the doors for the last time before our Penn Station arrival. As the train crawls through the swamps of Secaucus, it comes to a screeching halt. Amtrak’s Acela Express goes whizzing by, along with some other random trains. We finally pick up our pace, hoping for an on-time Penn Station arrival, begging for a train not to be stuck in the 100 year-old Hudson River tunnels, no downed overhead wires, or some other irregularity that wreaks havoc on our commute.

Right off the bat from reading the first line “I celebrate myself, and sing myself,” the author gave a sense of proudness of himself. I think this is an important thing that people forget. Everyone should be proud of themselves or happy about the decisions they make that molded them to who they are today. Many times people just need to take some time out of their day and remind themselves of all the good things they have done, big or small. I too have moments where I doubt myself if I am making the right decisions. Going to Baruch was not my first choice for college, but I was encouraged to enroll here by my parents since I received an academic scholarship. I still think about hypothetical situations like if I did ended up going to my first choice of college FIT, would my life be better than what it is right now? But there is no point of reminding myself of the past, I should just make the most of my present and future. I made some amazing friends here at Baruch that I could see will be in my life for a long time, I joined Women in Business and have learned so much from the wonderful empowering females there, and when I graduate I will not have to worry about loans so if i wanted to continue my education, I can. Like what Whitman says, “myself moving forward then and now and forever.” Thinking negatively or worrying about your past is a waste of time, it will not change anything. Instead, be satisfied of what you chose and if not, take action now that will make you want to celebrate yourself.

In his poem “A Song To Myself”, Walt Whitman teaches us a valuable lesson. In life we take many things for granted. Sometimes we need to pause for a moment and open our eyes to the many amazing things around us and to the miracles that are taking place on a constant basis. Whitman writes “I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey work of the stars… And the narrowest hinge in my hand puts to scorn all machinery.” Here he is displaying his appreciation for the things that we usually take for granted in the world and is saying that even such a simple thing like a blade of grass is just as complex and deserves as much appreciation as the stars do. He also tells us that if we think that machinery is complex and deserves appreciation, if we would just stop and look at our own bodies that even a small hinge in our hands is much more complicated and fascinating machinery than any man made machinery out there.

To me it is an important lesson that we can learn from Walt Whitman’s poem. We take so many things for granted and we get so used to things that we stop appreciating them, and this happens with many different things and areas in our life, including people. For example, a child doesn’t realize how much his or her parents do for them, the child just takes them for granted. A person should wake up every morning and think for a minute about all of the privileges that they have in life, and their are endless. A good start would be being thankful for your bodily abilities. Every morning when I wake up I thank God for my ability to do different things such as see, breathe and even to be able to use the restroom. It reminds me that these are gifts that we have and we should not take them for granted, and this way we will appreciate everything in life a lot more.

Raised in sunny Florida, I now find myself waking to the dreary winter days of New York. My alarm buzzes once, I say to myself its time to go but as I look out the window I can’t help but close my eyes. Before I know it, it’s buzzing again, that thing that is trying to get me going and start my day. This time, with more conviction, I hop out of bed and start my daily routine. I get dressed, grab a bite, and head to the trains. Its cold outside, but manageable; before I know it, I am on the train. I squeeze in, next to all sorts of people trying to make their way downtown. People are screaming, yawning, reading, and sneezing, but we are all huddled in together, rich and poor, everyone has their own daily routine that starts here. Finally after three transfers I am almost there, just a few more blocks and I will have finally arrived. I look around as I walk this final stretch. It’s a sea of people rushing on with their lives. No one, including myself, takes a minute to appreciate the park we all pass, the buildings hanging over our heads, or the beautiful faces we have just passed. It is all about moving forward towards the goal.

As I read Whitman’s Song of Myself, I see a struggle for his clear identity. In section 16 he discusses how he sees himself, and how he is “Maternal as well as paternal, a child as well as a man, Stuff’d with the stuff that is coarse and stuff’d with the stuff that is fine…” (Section 16). He is both everything and nothing all at the same time. He continues to say “I resist any thing better than my own diversity, Breathe the air but leave plenty after me, And am not stuck up, and am in my place” (Section 16). His lack of clarity gives him solace, because with it he finds himself in his “place”. As I enter the doors of Baruch, I am both a student and a teacher, a child and a man, a Floridian and a New Yorker, and most of all, in my “place” that gives me solace, and allows me to be me.

Walt Whitman’s song of myself teaches us that we should have hopeful and optimistic attitude towards the world and ourselves. Walt Whitman celebrates himself in the poem and hangs out with his soul. He explains how much he loves the world, especially nature. By considering a child’s question “What is the grass?” at the beginning of the poem, he realizes the ties the grass has to the people, nature, and the universe as a whole. He states his idea that every form of life on earth is equally wonderful in section 31 with the lines “I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars, and the pismire is equally perfect, and a grain of sand, and the egg of the wren…” Then he compares humans to other animals to point out how animals have a healthy attitude toward life with lines in section 32 “They do not sweat and whine about their condition, They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins, They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God, Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things, Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago, Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth.”

I’ve graduated from a famous university in China, and work several years there. Four years ago, I moved to the U.S.A.. I made a very important decision right after I got here, which was to study for another degree at Baruch College. As an ESL student in this great college, I often have moments of self-doubt. Voice in my head tells me that I am not smart enough to get good grades, also not experienced and outstanding enough to get a good job. Gradually, I lack of confidence, fear and anxiety comes up. Walt Whitman’s poem encourages me a lot. He tells me that different types of people in life show their individual significance, and each contributes to comprise humanity as a whole. I should learn to celebrate myself as he does, love myself as he does, and find how wonderful I am as he does.

The ideas an individual holds greatly effects how they interact with the world. A persons religion, creed, political leaning, philosophy, morality, or to put it another way the concepts one values most greatly changes the way they see the world. Do to this Walt Whitman’s poem attempts to have you see the world as he sees it. From the very beginning he wrote “[….] what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you” which shows he want the ideas he talks about and how he describes himself to be the way the reader things and views them self. among the numerous, alarmingly frequent, almost like he was the type of person that keeps a signed picture of himself at his desk, self-aggrandizing statements he also stated “I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars, And the pismire is equally perfect, and a grain of sand, and the egg of the wren, And the tree-toad is a chef-d’œuvre for the highest, And the running blackberry would adorn the parlors of heaven, And the narrowest hinge in my hand puts to scorn all machinery, And the cow crunching with depress’d head surpasses any statue, And a mouse is miracle enough to stagger sextillions of infidels”. This shows that he sees everything in the world from the grandness of space and time to the small mouse as important awe-inspiring.

I became a college student in 2012 in the welcoming arms of the City College of New York and due unforeseen changes transferred to Dutchess Community College and after graduating with an associates in Liberal Arts I was accepted and am attending this school since last semester. There was many situations and event that shaped my decisions to what college to chose from but what I would say was the biggest influence was a concept I learned in CCNY and had it cemented in DCC. This concept of being in awe with the world around me. Every new subject, person I met, location, ideas, concepts, thought processes i respected and happily tried to learn as much as i could. With varying degrees of success admitting but that excitement of learning something new and understanding a persons point of view kept me going and i would definitely agree with Whitman on that idea.

Every morning, for almost two years, I woke up in a room without sunlight. It was expected though. When you choose to have your room in the basement, you must accept things like that. But now, every morning I wake up with enough time to see the sunrise from a room well above the trees. A room from the fifteenth floor of the dormitory.

I was the first born, and then I was the first to go. “Long I was hugg’d close- long and long. Immense have been the preparations for me, faithful and friendly the arms that have helped me” (44). I know it is for the best. There is something that keeps telling me that I am on the right track. “I do not know what it is- but I know it is in me” (50). It tells me that all has a purpose, that this isn’t all for naught.

I ready myself each morning, collecting my self, my things, then heading out on the street. I have a short walk to the nearest subway, which is all part of the experience. Luckily for me, the trees are plenty and there is a garden along the way. Every morning I pass by planted trees, with birds who wait patiently for crumbs to be left behind. “I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self contain’d. I stand and look at them long and long” (32).

I take the train from 96^th to 23^rd Monday through Friday. At every stop the subway sighs. Exhaling passengers to their destination and inhaling more for their journey. At every stop, there is a hesitation of the subway doors. It is the moment, where the platform persons prepare to board, and the subway riders prepare to leave. In that brief moment I know their impatient thoughts; “Unscrew the locks from the doors, Unscrew the doors themselves from their jams” (24), Release the tension kept stuck by closed doors!

And then the subway breathes and continues on its way.

To observe this is to realize that “there was never anymore inception than there is now, nor any more youth or age than there is now, and there will never be any more perfection than there is now, nor any more heaven or hell than there is now” (3).

It is not long before I reach 23^rd street station, and make my way to the college. That walk is my favorite. I take my earbuds out and, “now I will do nothing but listen” (26). The “sounds of the city, sounds out of the city, sounds of day and night….I hear the chorus, it is a grand opera. Ah this indeed is music- this suits me” (26).  Before I know it, I have arrived. As I head up the stairs to the Baruch building, “the past and present wilt- I have fill’d them, emptied them, and [now] proceed to fill my next fold of the future” (51). A building full of infinite opportunity.

I’ll make the same journey back to my apartment in the evening. When I arrive I am always tired, yet inspired. If I wait patiently enough, and watch night fall on all the city’s buildings, I’ll see the lights begin to turn on from every window, illuminating the city which never sleeps. It’s a wonderful transformation. A real life nightlight, all for me.

Then “I sleep- I sleep long” (50), and dream.

The choice we make is it ever clear? We run daily into the rhythm of life making significant and seemingly insignificant choices every minute. Every one building on the last, with no beginning an no end. What should I do, where should I work, who should I spend time with, never ending. The world goes round, I embrace it. In Walt Whitman’s poem “song of Myself” this acceptance is clear. “There was never any more inception than there is now, Nor any more youth or age than there is now, And will never be any more perfection than there is now.” These choices happen now for all of us and Walt Whitman realizes that and chooses to be in each one at that moment. “I have heard what the talkers were talking, the talk of the beginning and the end, But I do not talk of the beginning or the end.” Walt lives in a world of now taking it slowly and embracing life as it comes.

Now I am in Baruch college looking to make the choices that will lead me to make better choices when they come. So many options but I am here now where I am. 3 years finding my way, making choices and mistakes to finally find my passion inside it all. A deep rooted love to learn endless and new information both in school and out of school. My focus in finance, a never ending subject that challenges the mind. Where will it take me? I can’t say, but when that choice comes along I’ll be prepared.

The theme of individualism plays an important role Walt Whitman’s poem “Song of Myself,” but Whitman also discusses the importance of harmonizing your own identity with the identity of others. He illustrates this point in the very first verse with the line, “For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.” Deciding which college to attend was not only a deeply personal time but also encompassed my family and friends. I knew I wanted to stay close to home and close to the city since I viewed both as extensions of one another. I figured commuting would not be the highlight of my day, but the environment of a subway car seemed to represent a microcosm of the city, which Whitman describes in section 26 with the lines, “I hear all sounds running together, combined, fused or following / Sounds of the city and sounds out of the city, sounds of the day and night.” Therefore, step one was complete.

When it came to choosing my area of study, however, I found myself overwhelmed with options. I was unsure of what I wanted to major in, which made it difficult to narrow down my college search. I knew Baruch was a revered college and I was exploring the idea of studying business. So I took the plunge and entered Baruch with Whitman’s philosophy that “there was never any more inception than there is now.” Discovering my passion for marketing later on made me realize I first needed to go down the path of being unsure in order to find my calling. Just as Whitman says in section 30, “All truths wait in all things / They neither hasten their delivery nor resists it.” My decision to go to Baruch and to major in marketing came from internal as well as external forces, showing that it took meeting and interacting with others to help me figure out what I wanted. However, my journey both at Baruch and in life has just begun and, as Whitman puts it in section 51, I am “proceed[ing] to fill my next fold of the future.”