Aidah Gross
Hi! My name is Aidah Gross, I am 19, and I have lived in the Far Rockaway area of Queens my entire life. My parents were both born and bred in New York and have also lived in New York their entire lives. My Grandparents each came from different parts of Europe and Russia and they immigrated to the United States close to the turn of the twentieth century. I am a Jewish girl and I live in a small suburban Jewish neighborhood called Bayswater that is located on the outskirts of the Rockaways in Queens. My house is a couple of blocks from the Bay of Bayswater, a beautiful landmark that has drawn me to this neighborhood and made it such a wonderful place to live. I also appreciate that I live in a mostly Jewish area, surrounded by people who love my culture as I do.
My mother teaches in the local Jewish school, Torah Academy for Girls (T.A.G.), and I went to T.A.G. for both elementary and high school. School was actually a lot of fun. Though I had to juggle an intense schedule of both Hebrew/Jewish and Secular studies, I enjoyed the extracurricular activities, such as heading the G.O. in Senior year and the community service projects that my school offered. My father is a Physician’s Assistant and works in a nearby hospital. I’ve always been strongest in math and science subjects, and that, along with influence from my father, inspired me to want to become a doctor. I am currently on the Pre-med track in Brooklyn College.
Because I have always lived in New York, I found it hard to pinpoint what it is that makes me a “New Yorker”. For me I guess it’s the fact that I’ve never lived anywhere else and this is the only place I can truly identify with. But even so, I live in a suburban area and I’ve never considered myself much of a city girl. Even during my elementary and high school years I noticeably different from the girls who lived in the City-like area of Far Rockaway or the girls from Nassau County.
Last year, before starting Brooklyn College, I studied abroad for a year at a college in Israel. The college was located in Jerusalem and had both a French and an American program for girls (besides for its Israeli program.) It wasn’t until I was there that I understood what it meant to be “a New Yorker”. The girls from New York were pushier and more outspoken while the girls from “out of town” were more quiet and less competitive. Even I, who was always considered the “out of town-er” found that I had a bit of that famous New York aggressiveness that my friends from other states were afraid of. I found that girls from “out of state” were more “chilled out” and more slow, precise and careful, while my friends and I were loud and boisterous and unafraid. I am painfully reminded of this difference every time I drive behind an out of state driver! Thus, once I was out of my element, I was able to grasp the true definition of the New York personality. So although I fit in well with people from the more “relaxed” southern and western states, I wouldn’t trade in my speeding car for a cowboy hat if you paid me!
Excellent.