New York City is known for its fast-paced and sleepless atmosphere. Add that onto a heavy college workload, attending weekly extracurricular meetings, and keeping up with the exciting social aspect, and it’s easy to try to overlook the stressful side effects that come with it all. A great way to take a break from your responsibilities can simply be to leave campus and explore the community around your school.

Fortunately, Fordham University has many different clubs and organizations that provide amazing opportunities to do just that. Fordham Flipside is a club that hosts raffles and giveaways for alcohol alternative events that usually take place in the city. Events include tickets to Yankee games, Knicks games, Broadway shows, and many other events!

This Friday I got tickets through Flipside to go to the top of the Empire State Building. Not only was it an unique experience in itself, but it also gave me the opportunity to do something off campus, which is a change from my usual Friday night. And the ticket was completely FREE! Seeing all of New York City from above reminded me that I live in a very big world, and I have much to learn from the many people around me. Sometimes just stepping foot in Grand Central switches my outlook from small college campus to the big, buzzing world that surrounds me.

Another awesome club at Fordham is called Outdoors Club. They take students on various trips away from the city to go hiking or whitewater rafting. It is a super convenient way to explore the great outdoors around the New York City area. They coordinate the transportation and plan the trip so that it’s a easy, de-stressing adventure.

On Sunday I went on a day-hike to Kaaterskill Falls about two and a half hours outside of the city. The two-tiered falls are a staple of Catskill State Park with viewing platforms above and access points at the bottom of the falls as well. The leaves were changing, the air was crisp, and the stunning waterfalls made it so difficult to leave. Being surrounded by an entire wildlife reserve of nature also helped me remember all the life that is going on around me.

The problems that seem to be big while I am on campus and in the middle of a busy week with schoolwork, meetings and events didn’t enter my mind while I was looking down at New York City from the Empire State building or looking up at Kaaterskill Falls from the forest ground. I came back to campus with a couple of insta-worthy pictures and a better perspective on why all the hard work is not only expected but necessary to give back to the world that gives so much.