“ASEP has been a family and a resource for me that helped me transition into the college life. It has been beneficial as it taught me the ropes of college.” -Sashani Rose, ASEP 2016
Casting the Net in Central Park The following are excerpts from a fishing trip at the Harlem Meer fishing pond in Central Park.
Harlem Meer in Central Park taken by David. A Melo
a lot of patience and quietness to sit in a courtroom and hear different stories and to hear their clients’ needs for a defense or a legal fight. Another experience that is similar to fishing is being a catcher for seafood. They would have to travel so far up the sea and they would also have to be patient when they are waiting for their catch of the day. I have to say it was a very enjoyable experience.
Greer Bizzel-Hatcher, STEP 9th grader When I woke up Friday morning, I felt We went to the Harlem Meer in Central optimistic. I was looking forward to Park to go fishing and see the home of bonding with my new friends as well as wildlife. For me, it was somewhat fun. sitting under the fresh and much needed We had to wait and wait just to come clouds that hung over the city. The walk close to catching a fish and sometimes we there was pretty draining—too many had to stay really quiet just to try and avenues, but we managed to get there hope that we could catch at least some without collapsing. While at the pond, it sort of wildlife. However, at the end of was relaxing. Sitting and not catching our fishing experience, we caught a dirty many fish but having many great old, shirt that has probably been there for conversations was very fun. One of the a few days or even weeks. One of us highlights of the trip was when Mr. Wolfe almost caught something alive but the and I were sitting and talking until Sarah fish overpowered the efforts of the felt a tug on her line. She pulled and student. My group had a conversation pulled as the two of us watched in awe as and everyone was involved. This Sarah pulls out a dirty, old, cloth. We all experience seemed as if there was some laughed hysterically as the other groups message behind it — that message was returned. We did not complain, at least that some jobs require patience and a bit not as much, and we made the most out of quietness. Many careers or different of catching no fish and being swarmed by experiences are also similar to fishing. An bugs. We made it our own experience, example of this would be the job of an and that is what made it special. artist. Artists have to be patient and wait for an idea of drawing to come to them and then they need to see and plan out Steven Navarro, STEP 9th grader how exactly are they going to execute I went fishing only once before the this painting or project that they want to trip, and I caught so many fish. That’s work on. Another example of such a job would be being a lawyer. It would require what made me excited to for this trip. We David A. Melo, STEP 9th grader
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went to a small lake to fish after walking from Barnard College to the lake. We
went to a spot to rest for five minutes until our rods came. These rods weren’t regular rods; all you had to do is carefully hang these rods over the water. Then we split off into groups. I went with Toba, one of the program’s instructors and we looked for different places to fish. We were accompanied by other STEP students, Alex, David, and Hensley. We went around the entire lake, but unfortunately we found nothing. Looking back, it was a fun trip, and I wouldn’t mind fishing again.
From left to right: Steven Navarro, Greer BizzelHatcher, and Paola Hernandez 5