Environment

Option 1. From the beginning of this school year at Temple, I have felt uncomfortable with my surroundings. While reading Tom Wolfe's article "O, Rotten Gotham" in A Forest of Voices, I found words that I could relate to. In his article, Wolfe determines that living in a "sink" is bad for human health. A "sink" is any environment where many individuals are living in close-quarters together; New York city is the first example of a "sink" that Wolfe uses. He goes on explaining other "sink" environments: eighty or so lab rats that are placed in a relatively small cage together; deer that are living to close to each other in their natural environment due to human development of their habitat. Wolfe says that in a "sink" situation, the adrenal glands swell up and stress takes over the human mind, leading to serious psychiatric issues. When I read all this, I saw my dorm, my classroom and my cafeteria at Temple. I had been wondering why my spirits had sunk so low after the second week of school, and now I know the answer. Being so close to everyone else really stressed me out, I felt like there was someone or something (security cameras) that could always see me. Even in my dorm, I did not feel safe or at home, instead I felt crowded. All I wanted to do was get away and be by myself. It was impossible to find complete solitude on campus, so I moved my stuff out of my dorm and started commuting from home. I am no different from the people in New York, the lab rats, and the deer, I need space and solitude in order to live out my life happily. I realized that through reading Tom Wolfe's article "O, Rotten Gotham."