By Katarina Sesic

YES &lsquo;13 participant from Bosnia and Herzegovina<br />
Placed in Houston, Texas</p>

On February 6th, together with my photography class, I departed for a cross-country trip and my first ever visit to the Big Apple. After a three-hour flight, our plane reached New York City. Through the airplane window, I caught my first glimpse of famous New York City landmarks such as the magnificent Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. Considering that it has been my lifelong dream to visit New York, I was absolutely ecstatic about this trip.

After landing at the airport, we were picked up by a private bus which took us to Midtown Manhattan. There we had an opportunity to visit the world-famous Grand Central Station. Following a short tour of the Grand Central, we had lunch and since the Big Apple is a melting pot, I actually stumbled upon and chatted with a family from my very own country - Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Afterwards, we visited a couple of independent art galleries and finally checked into our hotel, which was located right next to the Times Square. Upon settling in, we had dinner and went to the Broadway where we had an opportunity to see a musical called “Newsies,” which was in my opinion, amazing. There I also met a Hollywood actor, Michael Welch, who was in the famous Twilight movie, he too was there to see this musical and my classmates and I took pictures and got his autograph. Three nights in a row we went to Broadway seeing “Cinderella” and “Once,” which were absolutely great. Each night after we saw these amazing plays, we had free time to walk around Times Square and explore a bit on our own.  

On the following day we walked through the city and visited a number of museums including The Museum of Modern Art and the International Center of Photography. We ate lunch at the Rockefeller Center located near Fifth Avenue.  Later on we took the Subway and went to the Metropolitan Museum, which I really appreciated due to the fact that it offers a truly impressive art collection. At the Metropolitan Museum, as in the other museums we toured, we had guides who helped us get as much information as possible about these pieces of art we saw. After the Whitney Museum of American Art, we went to Central Park. Because it started snowing rather heavily all of a sudden, we walked only through a small part of the park, which was enjoyable in itself. I was able to see the famous Bethesda Fountain and the Strawberry Fields Memorial. That same day we also visited the St. Patrick’s Cathedral and ate New York-style pizza or "pie" as New Yorkers call it.

On the final day of our trip, we toured more of the city and saw the Statue of Liberty. The plan was to also walk down the High Line, but due to the inclement weather it was unfortunately closed to visitors. Instead we went to the Brooklyn Museum, toured it a bit and then had three hours to explore SoHo on our own. In SoHo I bought a number of souvenirs and gifts for friends and family. In the evening we went to the Empire State Building, which was also exciting and where I enjoyed a beautiful view of the city. That same evening we again had free time and further explored the Times Square. Together with a friend, I went to the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, which was simply awesome.

On the following morning it was time for us to go back to Texas. With a heavy heart I parted from New York City, as I enjoyed our short trip there very much. New York City is an amazing city, full of life and people.