Growing up in New York City, I have been privileged with many advantages in life. Advantages like living in the greatest city in the world, in one of the most diverse cities in the country, a place where opportunities are endless if you know how and where to look, and of course the city that is constantly moving faster than the speed of light.

Every person that I personally know that moved into New York City from elsewhere all say the same thing, everyone in the city is on coke.

People walking the streets have a purpose and a goal and nothing will get in their way, their speed makes sure of that. They match a car’s speed and carry an attitude that can break a group of tourists in half.

It is both a curse and a blessing in gaining this NYC type pace. No one else in the country understands it and no one else can match it. It doesn’t matter where you go, if you are a native New Yorker your city pace follows you everywhere.

I did not realize how bad the pace was until I went college. Going to college was the first time that I lived outside the city and was the first time that I ever spent more than a week in upstate New York.

I thought that going to a college that was based in the capital of the state, there wouldn’t be that much of a change from the sweet city that I call home. I was sourly mistaken.

During my first week of class, the stress and frustration began to set in. Not only was I adjusting to the college life, but now I also had to deal with people and their ridiculously slow pace.

Getting to a class that should have taken me five minutes would become a ten minute journey as I tried to weave in and out of foot traffic. Groups of students that would leisurely stroll down the academic podium would also make my days unbearable.

But there is something that I can only thank the slow walkers of SUNY Albany for and that is making me a more punctual and time aware individual.

Knowing that I had to deal with huge masses of students and slow walkers, I began planning my trips to classes more intelligently by giving myself an extra five to ten minutes in my travel time.

By doing this two things happened, I was stressing less about my commute and I began to appreciate the beauty of the campus more.

Since I now had more than enough time to get to my classes, I slowed down my walking speed and went along the same as everyone else, this gave me the opportunity to become something that I had always hated in the city; I became a tourist.

I looked up and all around and absorbed the architecture of the school and its unique beauty. I realized how the weather could affect the campus so much that one day it could look and feel a prison but the next day it could be the complete opposite.

Like I said before, this city-life speed-walking trait is both a blessing and curse, it all just depends on how you choose to look at it.