Interview

New York City is home to 19,378,102 citizens. Teenagers count for less than 3 percent of that population. Growing up in a city makes you in the minority among the teenage population of the U.S, but growing up in the city put you in the less than 1% demographic. I caught up with my friend, Taylor Panagakis to get her opinion on growing up in the big apple.

New York City has been Taylors home  since the day she was born and she's definitely a city girl. I started off our Interview by asking Taylor what she loves about New York. “My favorite thing is the people. I feel like most people talk about the fact that there's always something going on in the city but when you live here full time you're not always looking for something to do. It doesn't matter what I’m doing, people are always headed somewhere doing something. People watching is definitely my favorite thing.” Compared to the suburbs, she's certainly right. Taking a step outside taylors building, you see people hopping on city bikes walking there dogs, running or maybe yelling on their cellphones.

Unlike the street that I grew up on, Taylor barely recognizes anyone as we walk up toward the subway. “Do you feel like you missed out anything?” I asked. “Oh definitely,” she began her response quickly. “I mean my school had no football team, there's no local Ice cream shop my friends work at and I was exposed to a lot of things at an early age.”

“I definitely gained a lot though from growing up in the city. I feel like I have a very open mind and I would credit a lot of that to the diversity of my home. Not to say people from the suburbs are racists and no not even saying this involves race, I just feel like I have meet such a variety of people growing up and that has definitely been beneficial.”

It was clear that Taylor loved the city alot so I asked her about college was she excited to move out of the city, did she think she would ever move back. “I can't wait for college!” was her immediate response. She continued and said “ I mean i'm going to miss my friends just like every other teenager but living in the city is pretty fast paced and I think i'll enjoy living somewhere a little more relaxed.” Taylor plans on attending Holy Cross college. “After college, I think someday I will move back to New York but i’d like to travel a lot before I come back.”

Taylor (right) and Me Last Christmas

Whether you live in a small suburban town or a giant city, it seems like almost all teenagrers are looking forward to change in college. Listening to Taylor it's clear she is grateful for having such a unique childhood but did note at the end of our interview she would not raise a family in the city.