hello my name is Natalie Contreras and I attend Landmark High School. I’ve been in Landmark High School for 3 years i failed the 10th grade so that puts me in the 10th grade again. I enjoy being a student at Landmark because during my 3 years in this school i have met very interesting people and have been to lots of interesting places. During my freshman year i was very excited because i felt more mature because i was in high school. I became friends with everybody very quickly because of my fun personality and kind heart. In Landmark we have great teachers because they actually help you get to places in life. the experience in landmark is over all good because I’ve had fun learning new things each and everyday, Every Friday we go on trips you learn more about New York and you get to see lots of Museums and parks and this makes me proud of being a new yorker because of all the beautiful sites for example i didn’t know about Rockefeller center until i went and saw it and everything was beautiful.
The trips I am focusing are on Lizards and snakes alive ,The Feast Of Saint Gennaro, Rockefeller Center and the Film “Raising Victor Vargas”. When I went to the Lizards and snakes alive exhibit I saw lots of interesting creatures and unique lizards that knew nothing of before. During the Feast Of Saint Gennaro they had lots of delicious looking Italian food, good music, and entertainment. Its just a big celebration of Italian culture. Rockefeller Center was cool because of the large tree and the people around me, but it was a bit chaotic because of all the people with their cameras taking pictures of the moment. There’s an Ice-Skating Rink and lots of beautiful lights celebrating the holidays . When I saw Raising Victor Vargas it started off boring it got intresting because victor’s grandmother is very funny in the film and victor finds a girlfriend which pulls me in even more becuase puppy love is so cute to me, the movie reminded me of me and my boyfriend and how we have cute moments.
I think Landmark is a very cool and fun school for any teenager and they would be very lucky to attend this school because it opens your horizons about New York and it helps you learn how to travel around New York City.
April 30, 2009 – 12:36 pm
Landmark High School220 West 58th StreetNew York, NY 10019PORTFOLIO ABSTRACTSTUDENT: Natalie Contreras ADVISOR:Erik SholdDATE OF APPROVAL:PORTFOLIO: New York experience TITLE:ABSTRACT: hello my name is Natalie Contreras I’m presenting my new york experience portfolio and i want you the advisor and reader to enjoy my work in the portfolio you will visualize 4 trip write ups, my neighborhood life and i researched on New york fashion week and how new york plays such a important part in it, hope you love and enjoy and portfolio i worked really hard.
When you first come to my neighborhood, the first thing you would notice is a huge baseball field right across the street from my house. Of course, you notice other things like the corner grocery store filled with people yelling and having a good time. I love my neighborhood; I live in Kingsbridge on 233rd street in Bronx, New York. I’ve always enjoyed my neighborhood ever since the first day I moved there.
There are so many things to do in my neighborhood; there are at least 10 different diners and restaurants from iHop to Applebee’s. The towns favorite restaurant would have to be iHop, it’s always filled with people eating and talking with family or friends. There are also a lot of clean, safe parks. Baseball fields, basketball courts, handball courts and the biggest park of them all, Van Courtland park. People that don’t even live in my neighborhood love going to Van Courtland Park because it has so many things to do there. There are swimming pools, tennis courts, bike paths and so much more. And Last but not least, shopping stores. There are endless amounts of shopping stores like target, Marshalls, mandee and, the children’s place. But of course there are also other types of stores like FYE where they sell DVD’s and books and then there’s my favorite store, Walgreens.
Walgreens what can I say, im obsessed! I absolutely love Walgreens because it has almost everything from food to greeting cards. What I like the most about Walgreens is that for every season, there’s an isle that’s decorated according to the specific holiday. For example, Easter is coming up so the isle is full of Easter eggs and rabbits. I enjoy going to Walgreens and seeing how they decorate the isle for the next holiday. Of course, they sell more things like hair products and toilet paper. There’s even a pharmacy.
My Neighborhood
When you first come to my neighborhood, the first thing you would notice is a huge baseball field right across the street from my house. Of course, you notice other things like the corner grocery store filled with people yelling and having a good time. I love my neighborhood; I live in Kingsbridge on 233rd street in Bronx, New York. I’ve always enjoyed my neighborhood ever since the first day I moved there.
There are so many things to do in my neighborhood, there are at least 10 different diners and restaurants from iHop to applebees. The towns favorite restaurant would have to be iHop, its always filled with people eating and talking with family or friends. There are also a lot of clean, safe parks. Baseball fields, basketball courts, handball courts and the biggest park of them all, Van Courtlant park. People that don’t even live in my neighborhood love going to van courtland park because it has so many things to do there. There are swimming pools, tennis courts, bike paths and so much more. And Last but not least, shopping stores. There are endless amounts of shopping stores like target, marshalls, mandee and, the children’s place. But of course there are also other types of stores like FYE where they sell DVD’s and books and then there’s my favorite store, walgreens.
Walgreens.. what can I say, im obsessed! I absolutely love walgreens because it has almost everything from food to greeting cards. What I like the most about walgreens is that for every season, there’s an isle that’s decorated according to the specific holiday. For example, easter is coming up so the isle is full of easter eggs and rabbits. I enjoy going to walgreens and seeing how they decorate the isle for the next holiday. Of course, they sell more things like hair products and toilet paper. There’s even a pharmacy.
Before I went the to Police Museum, I was thinking it was a place where they keep guns and where they kept inmates back in the day. When we got there we saw police cars, guns and things that tell you how to get the job. I think police officers have a dangerous job.
A New York City police officer needs a lot of training and special school for training; it’s called the Academy. The bomb squad is the oldest such squad in the country. The NYC Police Department started in 1845. The Police department has different ranks. All departments have a captain.
When women first started becoming police officers they had to wear big ugly dresses. The first female Hispanic police officer was Angela Kobetitch. The first African American police officer was C.O. Joyce A. Stepren. There is a Hall of Heroes of police officers that were killed in the line of duty since 1845. In 2003 the NYPD uncovered a plot to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge.
I think the Police Museum was a good trip to go to. There was a lot of thinks I didn’t know. A lot of things changed from back then. The Police Museum had a lot of guns. I think being a Police officer is not a job I would like to do.
Tour of my neighborhood:
When you walk into my neighborhood the first thing you will notice is a lot of open space and trees. In the summer it’s actually a very pretty sight because all the flowers bloom and the grass is really green. You will also notice all the squirrels running around gathering nuts for the winter while in the summer they are busy running around and I’m assuming they are playing. Next thing you will notice is that all the buildings look alike and you’ll take in the fact that you are in the projects in Sheepshead bay Brooklyn. In every corner of the buildings there are little parks in which many kids are running around in and almost half of the time theirs a kid complaining about being pushed or not being able to climb something. Across the street from my building there are two schools one junior high school named Shell bank and a high school many people are familiar with called Sheepshead Bay high school. Around the time school empties you see all the kids scattering around and going into the stores to buy junk food. You also see many cops standing by while school is out and they are in and out of the projects. After living here for eight years I’m already used to it. Nights filled with the noise of the rustling trees and people passing by, teenage children out after curfew, and fights emerging. Welcome to my neighborhood.
Important person in my neighborhood:
There are two very important people in my neighborhood and they are my friends Annie and Rosa. They both lived in the projects (my building) since they were about 12 years old. Now they are 24 and 26. Rosa the eldest attended college and had a well paying job she even has a 6 year old son but for personal reasons she had to quit. She then started looking for another job and houses to live in because she decided she didn’t want to raise her son there and it was about time she moved on. Now she has a new job lives in a house with queens with her finance and her son and she even has a car. Annie also went to college and she had a 3-year-old daughter. Annie is now training to becoming a correctional officer and is also looking to move out once she gets the job. But the thing I love most about Rosa is that she still comes back to visit and hasn’t forgotten where she grew up. And the thing I love most about Annie is that she doesn’t let anything stop her from pursuing her dreams.
Story from my neighborhood:
The best day I had in my neighborhood was one summer day when me and my friend kiana and Anthony were bored and decided to go for a walk, then we went to get our friends Kevin and CJ. We took Anthony’s dog max and my dog Bella and took our bikes. We went on playing bike tag and we would play hide and seek throughout the neighborhood while on our bikes. Then we ran with the dogs and we would just go for some pizza. I would always remember that day because it was one of the very few fun memories I have about my neighborhood and I don’t remember when I had so much fun just playing tag with some friends.
No matter what happens in my neighborhood I guess you can say I’m used to it. These people aside from my own family are the ones that are seeing me grow everyday and are giving me advice on daily problems. I definitely have plans to leave the projects once I’m done with college and find a better place for me to move on and start my life. Of course ill be coming back to see my mother and sisters and friends and hopefully getting them to do the same as I and strive in school to get to my destination; a good paying job and a good house to be proud of.
The film “Raising Victor Vargas” is a comedy filled film that is very interesting. I couldn’t keep my eyes off the screen when I saw it. The main characters are Victor a teen who falls in love, his grandma( guardian) and Judy Victors little sister. She is very spontaneous and rude as in she snitches on Victor and speaks very rudely to her brothers. Another character is Minno, he is Victors little brother he is very weird with his sexuality and his crazy grandmother always catches him in the bathroom doing stuff he is not supposed to.
This is a great teen movie because Victor falls in love with a girl and I could connect to it, but the opposite. I fell in love with a guy and he was also my great opposite until I got tired. I could relate to a lot in this movie. Victors little sister is very rude and so are my brothers and step sister, My step sister is very rude shes always telling my dad what I do and don’t do; we always argue but at the end of the day just like Victor I love my sister. My brothers are always pushing away people from me, as in they are very strict. Victor is kind of strict with his little brother. My grandmother is also very rude, she’s always screaming at my friends for no reason and everybody from my neighborhood is scared of her they never wanna come to my house.
My favorite scene in the movie was when the phone fell out the window and the grandmother asked what happen to the phone. The little sister blamed Victor as soon as the grandmother asked. It was funny because the grandmother went bazzurk. Also another scene is when the little sister was in the house with her “boyfriend” because Victor was cracking jokes on her.
Most of my peers think that it is impossible for me to be in “love” because I’m to young, but I think it could happen. My parents have been together since my mom was 17 and they are still together and now shes 38 years old. I don’t believe in young love not being true, I think it is very true people of all ages could fall in love.
January 16, 2009 – 12:33 pm
me: “Reptiles?! no im not going on this trip!!!!”
erik: your gonna FAIL
me: OKAY IM GOING! URGH!
When i think reptiles i think nasty disgusting creatures, absolutely not part of gods creation. When Erik announced that we were going to see reptiles i didnt wanna go i hate insects & creatures. they are just nasty.
During the trip i saw a veiled chameleon, veiled chameleons are creatures found in the bushes, trees, and gardens or scrub areas they wiegh about 3-4 ounces. we also saw the frilled lizard, the lizard is about 33 inches long and its very ugly(self opinion) but overall it wasnt that bad i learned something new on lizards and snakes. I dont find it to be that bad.
January 16, 2009 – 12:33 pm
The Feast of San Gennaro is a annual celebration of the patron of Naples. The very first feast took place in New York City on September 19,1926 when the newly arrived immigrants from Naples stood in Mulberry street in little Italy section of NYC and agreed to carry in the tradition they had followed in Italy to also honor the day in 305 a.d when San Gennaro was martyred for faith.
When Erik Shold announced we were going to the Feast of San Gennaro I thought “OMG a boring trip Im going to sleep threw this trip”. But when I saw that most of the class was excited I was thought, “it can’t be that bad”. Erik started explaining that the feast is a celebration of the Italian heritage and that the feast lasts 11 days He added that its a very fun trip so it got me a bit interested.
When we got to the trip I thought it was weird. There was people that looked very weird like the little short lady and a guy who made jokes about every thing it was super funny. There was food everywhere that was my favorite part. There were italian ices everywhere. I bought 2 cherry ones(yummy). Everything was so pretty and there was a lot of Italian flags all over. It was a very fun trip.
After going on the trip I thought that it was a great place to go, Its not a boring place; I even told my mom we should go one day. She said she’ll think about it. My cousins from the Dominican Republic came and they wanted to go somewhere fun I as gonna take them there but my parents didn’t allow us to leave the house. I cant wait to go back one day so i could buy all the food. It was very fun
Thanks for the great experience Landmark.
Before I went on this trip I knew nothing about Ulysses S. Grant. This really wasn’t good considering he was one the presidents of the United States. Ulysses s. grant must have done good things for this country considering he and his wife have a museum as their final resting place. When Erik first told me we were going to a real tomb, I couldn’t believe that until I saw it with my own eyes. I kind of pictured this place to look like the pentagon from in side out and in side plus high ceilings.When we got to the museum, the outside of it looked like a miniature White House. It was nothing like I imagined it to be. When we got inside we had to answerer some questions and learned a few things about Ulysses S Grant. Two important facts that I learned were that he was born in 1822 and he lived at 10 West 66th which today would be right across the street from the zoo. I’d recommend this trip to anyone who enjoys visiting historical landmarks.