My summer in the city was hectic, exhausting, and incredible; I know I will never forget it. From the moment I stepped into my apartment in Manhattan, I knew it was going to be an amazing summer. Though this was not the first time I have moved to a new place, it was 100 times more daunting than moving to my small college town in the middle of New York State. I have dreamed of living in the city since the first time I visited it when I was 11 years old, so living here this summer was a literal dream come true. These past few months, I have started to feel like a real New Yorker: taking the subway every day, passing famous landmarks on the way to the grocery store, and having the pedestrian equivalent of road rage every time I walk behind a slow group of tourists.
While I felt like a New Yorker this summer, I was also a tourist. I’d seen the most famous tourist attractions—the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, and Time Square—but this summer I got to experience much more. During the last few months I have been to Governor’s Island during the Jazz Age Lawn party, the Pride Parade, the delicious food festival in Brooklyn, Smorgasburg, and the Chelsea Market. I have stood outside the Gershwin Theater three times in the past week trying my luck at the Wicked ticket lottery—to no avail. Last week, I was at Central Park watching hundreds of runners while I waited for Shakespeare in the Park tickets early in the morning, and this week my friends and I plan to spend the day soaking in the sun at Coney Island. In the city, I feel like my options are limitless. There is a new adventure waiting for me every day.
I have felt more independent during my two and a half months in the city than I have during my whole two years at college. Though I have some independence in college—living away from home and deciding when I eat, sleep, and study—I still live in what Colgate students like to call “The Colgate Bubble.” Most students at my school say that we are so cut off from the rest of the world in our small town that we would have a hard time reintegrating back into the “real world.” I never really understood this until I moved to the city, which is a textbook definition of what the “real world” is. NYC has given me so much life experience, and even if I end up not living here ever again, I know that I will use what I’ve learned wherever I end up. I’m so happy that I could live and work in the city this summer. I got to do things and meet people that I will never forget. Though I came here for an internship, I will be leaving here with much more than just work experience.
Stacy, Intern for Beaufort Books and Spencer Hill Press. This is a shared blog post for Beaufort Books and Spencer Hill Press.