There were so many times in my life that I wondered what would make me the happiest I’ve ever been. I thought it would be true love, I thought it would be becoming a millionaire, I thought it’d be having my dream car, but no - none of that. The happiest moment for me would be stepping foot into my very own home, specifically - Manhattan. Taking that first small step even into the smallest of studio’s will bring the biggest smile to my face and tears to my eyes. I guess it sounds pretty corny and cheesy, my dream is to live where so many want to live and claim it’s their dream as well, but I don’t care. Manhattan is just me and I embrace it so much. I want to wake up in the morning and hear taxi drivers honking, bike bells ringing, the wide variety of smells engulfing me. I want to have drunk nights where I stumble back to my apartment with Halal food covering my shirt and no money in my wallet. I want to have days where I can spontaneously go out and do something that I’ve never done before. I want to complain about the MTA and ride bikes in Central Park. It’s all these little things to me that make life worth living. I love all the little struggles and minor inconveniences in life, as well as the beneficial things that go with it. Every damn time I think about all of this I can’t stop smiling, I’ll never stop working towards this dream. P.S. To my future significant other, I hope you love the city as much as I do because you best believe we’ll be stuck here.

Thank you.