Wayne State Senior Randy Bryan spent his spring break in New York City enjoying time with his family and celebrating his birthday.

Bryan started his break in New York by seeing his family and having a slice of authentic New York style pizza.

Then the next day he enjoyed a home-cooked meal and birthday cake as he celebrated his birthday with his mom’s side of the family for the first time since he was 4 years old.

“Seeing my family was amazing because I haven’t been to visit my mom in three years,” said Bryan. “Being there to celebrate my birthday with them for the first time in so many years made it even better.”

During the week a nor’easter hit the area, but that didn’t stop Bryan from enjoying his vacation. He surprised his grandmother with a visit and explored Times Square with his cousins and friends. He even enjoyed shopping around some of the most famous stores in the city like Gucci, Versace and Fendi. His favorite stores were Versace and Nike. He said the Nike store was huge compared to what they have here in Nebraska.

To finish up his week, on Friday, Bryan and his sister took a trip to Atlantic City for the weekend. They started out by gambling, and Bryan won money playing the slot machines. At night they went to a restaurant that had a live jazz band and a comedian performed. Later they went to a club that had a pool inside, and where Rapper Ja-rule performed.

“It was fun being able to be in a bigger city with more diversity than Nebraska,” said Bryan. “It was really lit seeing all the celebrities that I did.”

On his last night of fun Bryan went to the boardwalk and pier. He played carnival games and went go-kart racing, then went back to the club, and saw DJ Pauly D from the TV show “Jersey Shore” and the rap group the Ying Yang Twins perform.

After he and his sister traveled back to New York he relaxed on his last day, packed and said his goodbyes to his family.