What can one really obtain from using the same quick path every day to and from City Tech? First, the person has to know that there is something you can get out of walking a different route to the subway or to City Tech. Downtown Brooklyn and the Brooklyn Heights area are neighborhoods one can simply learn more about just by taking a short detour and exploring their surroundings. Walking with someone can make the experience even better because everyone has different perspectives and you both can point out different things in sight. This route maximizes nature and will add about 10 minutes to one’s regular path.

After a long day at City Tech, a student may be exhausted and have to get ready for the commute home. Instead of walking to the train and going straight into the train station where the loud noise and crowd can add on to this student’s exhaustion, the student can simply take a walk. Specifically this student can walk to embrace quietness, nature and happiness on the route I chose. Taking this walk will make a person’s mind more at ease with getting on the train home from City Tech. Starting down Jay Street into the walkway/passageway- it has trees and benches where you can sit down and even charge your phone or whatever wireless device you have. Nature is around when settling down there but it may not be so quiet. If you wanted more quietness, Cadman Plaza Park would be the next stop.

Walking to Cadman Plaza is an extra five minutes, but it’s worth it. Upon entering the park you’ll come upon a neatly paved stone path that outlines the big green field of grass. The field has a statue of William Jay Gaynor, a Mayor of NYC from the 20^th century. Before I did research on him, I didn’t know much about him and thought he was just another boring historic figurine. But to find out he was shot and didn’t die until three months later was what stuck out to me. Now the scenery in the park is great no matter what time of day. When the sun is out you can see all the colors in the park- the red, yellow and brown leaves on the almost-bare trees, the crunchy leaves on the ground, the dulling green of the grass on the sides of the path, and the bright green of the open field of grass. The comfort of the colors and quietness of nature during the day can be a much better experience than taking the straight, simple, direct route to the train station. When the sun has set and the sky is a dark blue color, the park lights are on and everything looks illuminated- the trees, the ground and the walkway with the benches on either side. Also, near one corner in the park you can see the Empire State Building brightly lit up past other buildings and trees in the distance. This is another pleasant sight to see on your walk in the evening. It’s also quieter in the park in the evening since that’s the time everyone settles down and/or goes home. The cool fall-wintry air is just as refreshing as the summer evening air since it is all natural “park” air.

Leaving Cadman Plaza Park to get to the Borough Hall train station you’ll have to walk through another park- Columbus Park. Columbus Park isn’t as big or as attractive as Cadman Plaza, but it still is a park with trees and a few benches. Its plants are less prismatic, however this is the only form of nature that is nearest to the train station. It is wide and open spaced so there won’t be people in your way to distract you from taking a stroll through there. You can also sit down in this park even though there will be more people passing through because it is somewhat of a walkway, but not too many people for there to be a crowd.

Walking through the park or even sitting down in the park can be mind refreshing compared to leaving school and sitting down on a bench in the train station. It reduces stress and can help develop a sense of relaxation. There are a lot of benefits of walking in general. Studies say that brain fatigue can be eased with a walk in the park. Brain fatigue is basically caused from living the rushed, hectic city life and not taking your time. Walking can “actually shift your brain into a calmer state…” according to an article on the Huffington Post. Changing a path is a small step that can be a big deal to how a person starts or ends their day. It can be that one small step that can lead to a feeling of happiness in that person’s day.

The trip to the Brooklyn Historical Society was a great learning experience for me because I learned a lot about Brooklyn that I didn’t know before. There were a lot of primary resources including the maps which were what we focused on. The lady explained that the room was chilly because the primary resources had to be kept cool for preservation (therefore I was cold the whole trip). The map my group focused on was called “Brooklyn on Tour.” Its a colorful map with more information on the back about different landmarks. For this reason I want to use this map for my walk for project #4 ENG1101.

At the bottom of the map are smaller maps of Brooklyn that display different things. One map was about the Battle of Brooklyn 1776 the first major invasion of the Revolutionary war. Another small map called “How Brooklyn Grew” showed small towns in the mid 1600s – five were Dutch and one (Graven Sande or Gravesend) was settled by English colonists. The other small maps showed the populations of each neighborhood in Brooklyn and Brooklyn in Native American times. The other group had a map about the Brooklyn and Queens transit sytem. It showed trolley lines, bus lines, B.M.T rapid transit lines and I.R.T rapid transit lines. I can also use this for a historical connection when I take my walk for Project #4.