As I stepped out of Penn Station for the first time, the towering skyscrapers of Manhattan seemed to stretch endlessly into the sky. The bustling streets, the cacophony of car horns, and the diverse faces rushing past me were a stark contrast to the laid-back, palm-tree-lined streets of my childhood in South Florida. As an immigrant who had grown up in the suburban sprawl of Miami, New York City felt like stepping into another world entirely.
My journey from the swamps to the skyscrapers began...