Aadi Jambawalikar, 5th grade

As I thumped through the hard, old gray snow in Midtown in New York City, I was very scared because there were many people on the streets trying to go to one place and one place only: Rockefeller Center. Then I was a very scared child, not knowing where I was or where to go, but I had my parents with me, holding their comfortable, warm hands.

Then, after all the walking and being bumped into by random people, I had to stand for about thirty minutes in line to get our picture taken. Worst of all, I was so short I couldn’t see anything because of people blocking me from looking at the beauty of Rockefeller Center. But finally, after all this time waiting, my legs aching, I finally got to see the humongous, shimmering, all-lit-up—the famous Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center! That was what I’d been waiting for the whole day.

Now, when I look back at that moment, I feel the true reason for wintertime in New York City and why this is the most wonderful city in the world, and why wintertime is the most wonderful time of the year.