Sienna Irizarry is a senior who takes the Staten Island Ferry daily to commute to school. She views her extraordinary route to school as very ordinary and enjoys the ride. Sienna is also a retired dancer who enjoys spending her time enhancing her make-up skills, shopping at her favorite store, Sephora, and spending quality time with her two cats.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Why did you apply to Pace High School? Why didn’t you attend a school in Staten Island?
It was because I didn’t know anyone and I didn’t have any friends in Staten Island just yet. Since I had recently moved my freshman year, I didn’t attend a school in Staten Island. I also was in a very dance-orientated school my entire life before high school so I wanted a change and chose to go to a typical high school, like Pace. Also, I met Jackie (Sienna’s friend since freshman year) at First Summer, where we became really good friends and she begged me to not go to a school in Staten Island, so I decided to stay.
Have you met anyone new or made any friends through riding the Ferry?
No, everybody on the ferry minds their own business. However, I do have a friend who lives in Staten Island and went to a school in Manhattan so we would ride the ferry together when our schedules aligned. He is a year older than me so when he graduated we stopped taking the Ferry together.
Do you believe the ferry ride is worth the commute?
No, I don’t think the ride to the city is worth it but I do think the ride to Staten Island is. The ride is so fun!
At any point of your time at Pace have you wanted to transfer to another school because of the commute?
No, I haven’t because the commute genuinely doesn’t feel long to me at all. I’ve also really gotten used to it.
Has the commute impacted your after-school activities? Or your attendance?
Last year, I was late a lot because I would catch a later ferry. After all, it isn’t constantly running. Also, if I wake up late I’ll end up having to catch a late ferry and miss my first period class. When I’m hanging out with my friends after school and an incident happens at the ferry or there’s traffic, it’ll slow down my commute home and sometimes I’ll even get home around 8 p.m.
