It was around 9 in the morning on a Tuesday in New York City. It was my first time having to navigate the subway system all alone. The comfort of my dad being there to direct me with unwavering confidence is gone. It’s just me and a Metrocard.

I’m going to be honest; I was nervous about facing it all alone. I had looked up multiple routes, and went over my plan in my head countless times on the train into the city. I only had to take two different trains to get to my destination. As much as I was afraid I would mess up, miss a stop, and end up in an area of the city I was completely not used to, I was ready to make this venture on my own. I am less than a month away from moving into the greatest city in the world, so this was something I knew I had to do eventually.

I made it through Penn Station and onto my first subway. I was only on that one for a short time. I only had to stay on that track for one stop before I switched to a different one so I stayed standing for those few minutes. Then I had to venture through the larger subway station of Times Square 42nd Street/Broadway. It wasn’t as difficult to find the next subway I had to take as I thought it would be. As long as you know if you are going uptown or downtown, it’s all just a matter of following signs. That and finding the routes to take online will tell you which subways to take.

After waiting a few minutes for my subway, the R going downtown pulled up and I boarded. Thankfully, a seat was open and I quickly grabbed it so I wouldn’t have to stand for 7 stops. I had to keep my eyes peeled for which stop I had to get off on. The conductor was difficult to hear (mostly because I had my headphones in to calm my nerves), so I had to continually peer out the window to check what station we were pulling up to with each stop.

But while the subway was moving, I was able to relax for a minute or so and actually look around at what was going on around me. While I’ve been in the city multiple times, sitting alone put a lot of things into perspective for me.

All of these people that sat in the seats around me had a destination. A life to live. I saw a man dressed up for work, constantly checking his watch for the time and tapping his foot impatiently. I saw a girl similar in age to me applying her makeup while the subway was swerving and shaking. The fact that she was able to apply it flawlessly and with a steady hand was amazing to me. I can barely do that on steady ground, while she was a master at this art. There was a women who was nervously bitting her nails as she read a book with headphones in.

All of these people were experiencing the same day as me, but in completely different ways. This ride was just a small blip in their day. Humans are selfish creatures. We all only notice what is going on in our lives or what is interesting to us, not very often taking the time to notice the world around us. As of 2016, the estimated population in New York City is 8,550,971 people. All those people in one places, experiencing one day in over 8 billion different ways.

We are all just people trying to make it through the day; everyone living a different life. Many times it is difficult to notice that the world doesn’t just revolve around us. That the homeless man taking a nap on the subway might have been up all night trying to find a warm place to shut his eyes for a few minutes before he goes back to pounding the pavement to find work as soon as the sun rises. That the girl sitting alone with headphones in and a small smile on her face might have gotten to wake up to the person of their dreams in the very same bed as them. That the small girl who has never been on the subway alone before was having this big realization of how unique everyones life is during the 15 minutes before the subway pulled in at her stop and she had to rush off to her very first day of a brand new job.

We all are off living our own version of one 24-hour day. Everyone around us is just playing a guest role in the movie of your life. While focusing on yourself and all the amazing things life has in store for you is wonderful, sometimes taking a moment to realize that everyone else around you is the star in their own life is just as magnificent.