Events

Somewhere Off the Track: one student's journey by train into America

Milton, FL

Jessica D'Avanza

Dear Class of 2010,

When I was a freshman, I wanted to travel abroad. When I was a sophomore, I discovered the American Studies minor at UNH. When I was a junior, I heard about the National Student Exchange program, which would let me study at another school in the United States for one semester or a full year. Now that I'm a senior, I am studying abroad—as an exchange student in northern California, fulfilling both my need for travel and my love of American Studies.

It is here I found that UNH continues to support its students who pursue academics outside the Durham campus. And so I bought a one-way ticket from Boston to Emeryville, California (north of San Francisco) on Amtrak's California Zephyr. It wasn't that I was opposed to flying; instead I saw an opportunity to experience the Country in a way I'd never seen before. I proposed an idea that I had of writing and photographing the train trip to my former English professor, Lisa MacFarlane. She directed me towards this project with the University Dialogue.

These journals, interviews, and photographs are an on-going project throughout my senior year at UNH. They serve to represent an alternate mode of travel into the American landscape, as I experienced them during my cross-country train trip in August of 2006. I hope my project on social energy from an art-based perspective will give you further insight into what it is like to travel across Country by train; as well as inform, and inspire you on what needs to be done to preserve this mode of transportation in a time when high gas prices and terrorist airplane threats continue to plague mass systems of transit in America.

Thank You,
Jessica Faye D’Avanza

Travel Journal

Leaving Boston—"Stop The World, I Want To Get On"

Departing: 12:00 p.m. Thursday
August 10, 2006
Boston’s South Station

From my window on this train, I see three figures on the platform. We are in Boston's South Station. I am on Amtrak’s Lakeshore Limited bound for Albany, NY by dinnertime. A few tears slip out, and I wipe them away with my hands. Tomorrow morning I will be on my way to Chicago and from there… California. I try to imagine this long journey ahead of me. The train starts moving now, and I take one long look back at the three figures; my mother, my sister, and my best friend. I've never been completely on my own before, and now I'm leaving everything I know behind. I turn, look straight ahead, and smile thinking, "I'm going to California!" From this moment, it will be four solid days on the train and two days in San Francisco; followed by one day on a bus, until I reach my final destination of Arcata, California.

As a UNH student in my final year of college, I am participating in National Student Exchange, a program which allows students to study for one semester to a year at another school in the U.S. or Canada. I came to UNH with visions of studying abroad in London, until I came across this program which would allow me to study in California, a place I longed to be. Choosing Humboldt State University was not a hard decision. Paula DiNardo, the program coordinator highly recommended Humboldt out of all the schools in the California State University system. After meeting with a student at UNH on exchange from Humboldt, and hearing what she had to say about her school, I was convinced. Ahead of me now, is one semester at Humboldt State University (HSU) and the mantra: no expectations. Without expectations I can be free to look at Humboldt and California with an open mind of what I may find there.

Looking at my Amtrak tickets, I reread the message on the front of the envelope which holds them all together. It's a graphic of a train passing through orange groves with the message, "Stop the world, I want to get on." This was it. This was my ticket to get out, to explore the country. My mind feels sad at the thought of leaving behind everyone I know, yet at the same time is screaming, "I'm going to California! I'm going to California!"

The conductor greets me and I hand him my ticket to Albany, NY. There’s a woman a few seats up who is talking very loudly. The older lady next to her is politely listening. Across the aisle from me is an attractive guy about my age. He's already got his laptop open and is watching "The Simpsons" on the very Mac I've been eyeing up all summer, but don't have the money to buy. The only piece of the Macworld I own is my iPod and so I turn it on and begin my long voyage of staring out the window into America.

We pass a double decker train owned by the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority. I've never seen a double decker train before. We're slowly moving out of the station; Fenway is on the left. Spray painted on the inside of an overpass is the Red Sox symbol. We start passing through backyards, and the behind-the-scenes places you never see from a car. My eyes are closing; I didn't get very much sleep last night. I always stay awake with worry on the night before I leave for a trip, wondering if I remembered everything I need to pack. Since this train has lots of empty seats, I curl up into a ball and try to get comfortable.

I think back to this morning. I woke up and my mother was in a panic. "Come here," she said. "Listen to this." She turned up the volume on her alarm clock radio and feverishly listened as it announced that Heathrow Airport in London is closed due to a foiled terrorist plan. The United States is at threat code orange, a high level risk of terrorist attacks, and is not allowing passengers to bring any liquids onboard of airplanes.

"But I'm not going on an airplane," I told her.

"I know, but this just makes me worried."

Groggily, I went into the shower, while she sat and continued listening to the radio.

In those few moments before I knew what was going on in the morning headlines, I felt this slight panic, like I had when I heard about the subway bombings in London or the Anthrax scare after 9/11. I wasn't going to let that fear stop me from doing what I set out to do. I was going to California, and nothing was going to get in the way.

Photography

Departing Boston's South Station
Chicago, Union Station
Scenes From The Train – Rocky Mountains