Finding the motivation to do schoolwork, attend virtual college visits, and work on my Common App had been getting more and more difficult. I was tired of staring at my computer screen for the majority of my day. 

This wasn’t how my senior year was supposed to go. I was supposed to be cheering at football games, sitting with my friends in the senior section at assemblies, and visiting colleges in person so I could get the full experience. 

I have always wanted to move out of Oregon. My heart has been set on the East Coast since I can remember, always joking with my mom that I was going to run away and move across the country. For me, it’s the thought of a new adventure, starting fresh, and meeting all kinds of new people that drive me to move away from what I have always known. 

About a month into my freshman year, my counselor asked me if I had any dreams for life after high school. I told her I wanted to attend Columbia University in New York City. 

Over the years, I have developed more realistic ideas for my future, but I still have a desire to get away and discover new adventures. 

My family trip to the East Coast was scheduled for this past July, but it was canceled due to the pandemic. Ever since, I haven’t stopped talking about wanting to see what life is like more than 3,000 miles away. 

At the start of September, I contacted my cousins who live in Boston, Massachusetts, trying to figure out if I could visit to get away and explore the experiences offered outside of Oregon. 

With help from my parents, my dad and I booked flights to Boston for Oct. 16. We were to spend seven days exploring the East Coast, looking at potential college options, and visiting family we rarely see. 

First on our agenda was to test negative for COVID-19 72 hours before our flight. If we had not done so, we would have had to quarantine for 14 days after arriving.

On Wednesday, Oct. 14, we got rapid tests and were ready for our flight two days later. 

Friday morning, we arrived at the airport. Over the intercom, it repeated that PDX requires all people within the airport to wear a face covering at all times besides when eating and drinking. There was limited seating at each gate, and I felt that it was essential to maintain six feet of distance from others. 

I was nervous about going to the airport because of the amount of people. I had not been around so many people for over seven months, so I was anxious. While the gates required distancing, when people were walking through the airport, it was not a requirement. It was a new experience for me, but I tried to stay socially distanced from others as best as possible.

Flights seemed pretty safe from my perspective, except when someone a few rows back would cough and everyone would turn and stare. I was seated between two strangers on my first flight, which was nerve-wracking, but we kept our masks on and stayed in our own bubbles of personal space. On the plane ride back home, it was just my dad and I in a row that normally seats three. Everyone that I could see kept their masks on for the duration of the flight and tried their best to keep to themselves.

Once we touched down in Boston, we were shown a barcode that we scanned on our phones. It directed us to a form asking if we had been tested and where we were traveling from. Once we filled it out, we were ready to discover the city. 

Boston was one of the safest cities I have been to recently. Everywhere I went, almost everyone was wearing masks and distancing. There were never many people in buildings and almost all restaurants offered outside seating for a safe meal. 

The city was such a beautiful place for me to walk around and admire the architecture. The old-style buildings that make up the city showed me a different sense of beauty, and the fall trees with vibrant colors covered the edge of the Charles River, which made me fall in love with the city and the season. 

The weather in the Northeast was warmer than I was expecting. I packed huge coats and hats but never wore them. Jeans and a sweater were sufficient for the windy but sunny weather. The only thing I would change about the trip was that I wish we had gone further into winter, so I could have seen snow. 

I enjoyed seeing big-name colleges such as Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston College, and Boston University. After biking around the city with my dad and taking in the new location and interesting views, I felt that Boston was one of the most beautiful cities I had ever visited. 

Our next stop was Rhode Island where, after a two-hour drive from Boston, I visited the University of Rhode Island. The campus was beautiful and a short distance from many large cities. I didn’t see several students on campus, but it was also a Monday afternoon, so they could have been in class. Their campus required masks, social distancing, and had a maximum capacity in their buildings. 

Roughly 20 minutes down the road, Narragansett Beach appeared. With miles of sand to walk down, the beach reminded me of a warmer version of the Oregon Coast. The trees that lined the beach and coastal houses made me think of home. Narragansett was definitely one of the best places I visited on the trip.

Also, since my grandmother was born and raised in Rhode Island before moving to Oregon for college, I got to see where she grew up. We weren’t able to find the home she lived in, but we got to see a different part of her life that we never knew much about.

Tuesday morning, we woke up early and caught an Amtrak train to Penn Station in New York City. New York has and always will be my dream location.

Trying to experience the large city in 24 hours was hard, and I had a lot to accomplish on my itinerary. We walked through Central Park, visited the 9/11 memorial, and walked through Times Square at night. We went to the top of the Empire State Building and walked the High Line. I even had a “Gossip Girl” moment on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and went shopping in SOHO.

There was still so much I wanted to see but not enough time. While I don’t see myself attending college in New York, I want to have a small apartment to call my own in the city one day. 

As far as coronavirus precautions go, things were a little different in New York City than in Boston and Portland. I would say about nine out of 10 people were wearing masks, which seems like a good amount, but considering how many people I encountered, this was a lot of people not following the guidelines. Additionally, distancing seemed to be another issue. New York has always been a bustling city, but even with the virus, crowds still formed and personal space didn’t seem to be a big concern for others. 

Throughout the seven days I was on the East Coast, I got to see the life I have always wanted. I was given the opportunity to live my dream and I can’t wait to continue it later on. 

Traveling during a global pandemic wasn’t easy, caused a bit of anxiety, and was not how I imagined my experience touring colleges. However, I am grateful that I could get away from school for a week and experience new things in a different setting. I got to see what my future could look like, and it gave me that extra motivation to keep working hard.