Mira is a junior, lives in Stanford Connecticut and went to the Spence School on the upper eastside of Manhattan. For her, there were no buses available.
" I woke up at 6:15, got on the train then got off at Harlem 125th stop because my school is closer to the Harlem stop than it is to Grand central station. I would take a cab from there but in 9th grade I actually took the subway a lot". It seems simple but for a fifteen-year-old girl starting high school it was in act very difficult for her.
"I do sports which is five days a week. I love swimming but it does not end until 5:30pm every day. I would then have to take the train home late at night and the train station was pretty frightening sometimes". Mira even shared an experienced once when she was traveling back home and a man came up to her and demanded her to give him her money. She was in 9th grade and petrified.
The difference though, between Mira and I, is that she commutes alone. She is the only girl in her entire grade that goes back and forth between Connecticut and New York City.
"The commute was hard but the strain it put on my social life was getting to be unbearable. That’s why we had to ask a family friend if I could stay with them during the week and go home on the weekend. I don't get to go home and see my parents or my brothers anymore after school it was such an adjustment. I would have no time to see friends because by the time I was done with sports I had to go home finish my work until late hours in the night and then wake up early again for the train".
There were some benefits though that we can both relate to:
" The train helped me focus. I had time to organize my homework and I actually did a lot of it on the train when I was still living home during the week."
Harlem 125th station, where Mira took the train to every day.
"so far, looking back on my experience it was worth it, but there have been countless times I say to myself that it wasn't. I love being in the city and it has taught me a lot but It was for sure a struggle for me".