Slice of Life #24- What I Learned Driving from NJ to the Bronx

I love and adore my grad school program.  I’m working towards my master’s in biology through Miami Ohio University/Project Dragonfly’s Advanced Inquiry Program. It’s a hybrid program and classes are split between an online component and in-person class meetings at my master institution.  My master institution is the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York City so most of my classes are at the Bronx Zoo.

I had class tonight and while sitting in traffic I started thinking of all of the non-academic things I’ve learned while driving back and forth from NJ to the Bronx.  Enjoy my slightly facetious and sarcastic list!

• The Hamilton cast recording is the perfect length to get me through the whole trip.
• Related, I can play all of the parts in when performing it in my car.  Still working on Daveed Digg’s ridiculous rap in”Guns and Ships”, though.
• I hate traffic.  There’s a reason my work commute is 25 minutes through rural-suburban towns.
• The commute to the zoo can take anywhere from 1 hour and 20 minutes to 3 hours.  Tonight it took almost 2 and a half hours.
• The George Washington Bridge is ridiculously long.
• I can drive in the Bronx.
• I can drive in Fort Lee.
• I can hold my own with crazy New York drivers.
• There is a distinct lack of public transportation options between NJ and anywhere that is not Manhattan.
• None of the March Madness games are broadcast on the radio.
• Hamilton by Ron Chernow is a great audiobook to listen to while commuting.
• I’d rather take the long way up the Henry Hudson Parkway than suffer through the hell that is the Cross Bronx Expressway.
• I can identify most of the gorillas in Congo (exhibit) by sight.
• It’s pretty cool walking through the dark, empty zoo.  Lots of animals make noise at night when there are no visitors!

These are just a few of the things I came up with while driving home tonight.  Thankfully, the ride home only took an hour and thirty minutes!

I love this program and I learn so much every time we have class.  But man do I dread the commute!