As New Yorkers we must always emphasize the "city" when specifying where we are from. Quite paradoxical since one is located in the other, but there is a great distinction between the state and the city. The distinction translates into colleges: CUNY vs. SUNY (private institutions are a whole other story.)

I attend City College in Hamilton Heights, way up in NYC but still at the epicenter of everything. As I climbed the hill of Mountainview College at State University of New York at Binghamton, I had deja vu of the hike from the 1 train to the NAC, but all the similarities between the two end there. Attending a CUNY versus SUNY entails completely different environments, responsibilities, and even personalities.

Community

The concept of a well knit community appears foreign to New Yorkers. Hidden behind walls of our high rises, we disconnect from everyone in our surroundings. Community is not necessary because NYC has everything that one could ever need. In suburbia, there are not any fences between houses or between people because there really is not as much to occupy oneself with as in the city. People must commingle amongst themselves to create a community. At Binghamton, I immediately met everyone in the radius of my friends' dorm and they remembered my name because they genuinely wanted to be acquaintances. CUNY's fail in a sense of community; even in Macaulay Honors there is not a convivial vibe between the students.

Homogeneity

SUNYs are located in smaller towns with a population consisting of those few thousand that are probably the initial settlers and college students. Everyone is in the same bubble--college, studying, partying and repeat. A certain sense of being displaced out of the seemingly "real" world exists. CCNY is the most diverse college in the country. Students come in different ages and from different situations, commuting hours at a time via our most loved subways. We are all unique snowflakes in the system of city colleges, and thus we have a harder time to create relationships. A great number of students must work, others take classes in different colleges, and others simply seek an "in and out" experience. We are not all the same. We largely do not join sororities and fraternities to be even more monotone, because we own up to being ourselves. Perhaps we hinder our our abilities to make relationships.

Genuine Niceness

Known for our rudeness and bitchiness, New Yorkers have a hard time understanding that others can be genuinely nice. Even in college, I can honestly say that I have a very slim group of good friends and even those that I do have it took a while for each of us to warm up to each other. In Binghamton everyone clicks in an instant mostly since everyone is in the same situation. Somehow NYC has a special talent of turning everyone that comes to live here into a nonchalant, selfish human being. I am guilty myself, but we can definitely learn a thing a two from the mocked by us suburbia.

Personal Space

In NYC, I often find myself looking for space: space in my schedule, physical space, and mental space. Studying at a CUNY doesn't help since our tiny campuses are overcrowded. SUNY campuses tend to be much larger, extending over great terrain where a walk from one point to another might take more than half an hour. The student body disperses in their vast setting. One can always find a place there to roost alone: be it studying, thinking, or even sleeping. CUNY cannot promise such because sometimes I cannot even find a place in the library to sit down. One will immediately know which environment favors them. Some flee small towns to cities while I know plenty doing the opposite--and it's completely OK to hunger for space. I find myself envying my friends in Binhamton most for this particular reason.

Life Pace and Tiredness

Early rise. Commute. Classes. Classes. Classes. Eat. Work. Yoga or Gym. Commute. Study. Sleep. And maybe a fun event on top of those. Sometimes we need a New York minute to catch up with ourselves. In the suburbs, students are overwhelmed with work as well, but the pace of their life is completely different. Their classes are minutes away, and anything they want is within a walk or the shuttle at most. This way they seem to have a better hold of their lives because they do not have to rush to live.

Nature

NYC is in no way a nature preserve and definitely not quiet nor clean. Unless you are partying it up at a state college, the peace and quietness remotely sharpen senses. I could hear myself think; I could trace every breath and heartbeat. I actually watched autumn paint itself in color. While NYC is one of the best places for finding individuality, it is also a greatly congested place. It may actually be easier to listen to your essential self in suburbia, and I have to be honest that I really appreciated this time with myself. Depending on one's personality and preferences, one might be better suited than the other. If one needs trees, crisp fresh air and chipmunks playing below the windows, NYC is not the best place because even Central Park cannot substitute such.

NYC

Only after I leave NYC every time do I begin to appreciate my city. Shopping. 24/7 food. And something always going on. In SUNYs, food is Sodexo served at dining halls, other options being the few bland food spots downtown. Around CCNY there are several decent places to eat, but most importantly we live in the city where any kind of food from any place in the world and any price range is within a subway ride. There is access to absolutely everything in NYC. At SUNYs, the closest comparison is ordering via Amazon PRIME.

Traditional American education has its perks, but so does a city education in NYC. CUNY prepares you for a fruitful life in a city. Our campus is NYC rather than a gated community. SUNY education seems to me a more "comfortable" one. Every time that I visit my friends in Binghamton, I consider transferring, but however daunting life in an endlessly bustling city may be, I would be fooling myself if l was anywhere else.

Be it an education at a CUNY or SUNY, while essentially distinct, both offer us some of the most memorable moments of our lives.