Mar 8, 20206 min read

Summer of Firsts in the City

Read more to learn about how I spent 10 weeks in NYC!

I don’t know about you, but ever since I was a little girl I have dreamt of going to New York City. I grew up watching movies and TV shows with the Big Apple as the backdrop, as I’m sure many other people have. Before I came to NYC, people warned me about the rats in the subway, how dirty the streets were, how to not make eye contact with anyone, how expensive living in New York is, etc.

Despite all of these warnings, I found my experience in NYC to be quite pleasant and enjoyable. Reflecting back on my summer in the city (let’s count the number of times I’ll say “city” in this blog post, comment down below your guess now!), I can definitely say that my NYC experience was influenced by a multitude of factors. I relied on Pinterest, Instagram, and recommendations from friends and family.

I had an amazing summer and I owe it all to my family, friends, the people at my internship, and everyone that I met along the way.

An Inevitable Purchase

One thing that I immediately noticed when I arrived in NYC was that everyone has AirPods. Being a college student, I was accustomed to seeing my peers wear them around campus. But quite literally, everyone in New York has them. They wear them on their commute to work whether it's on the subway or walking in the streets, in coffee shops, in grocery stores, etc. AirPods were definitely a NYC staple. You can probably guess that it didn’t take long for me to cave and buy a pair myself. Now I was always curious about how AirPods fit. I personally do not like the way that regular Apple earbuds feel in my ears, so I just figured that AirPods would feel the same. But I was wrong.

My AirPods purchase at the Chelsea Apple Store was most definitely an impulse purchase influenced by a multitude of situational factors. First, I was in a good mood because of the weather as it was such a beautiful sunny day. The Apple Store in Chelsea Market is gorgeous and has a big glass staircase at the front of the store. Let me give some context in how I found myself at the Apple Store. I was at Chelsea Market beforehand and was on the phone with my friend, killing time before my dinner plans. I figured I would walk into the Apple Store to check out the really cool glass staircase that I saw a picture of on Instagram.

As I was walking around the fancy Apple Store, an employee asked me if I needed any help. Earlier, I was joking with my friend on the phone that maybe I would get a pair of AirPods. I asked the employee if I could try on a pair of AirPods (for fun, of course). I listened to music with them on and I even called a (different) friend to see what it would be like talking on the phone.

I mean I have always kind of wanted a pair of AirPods, so after chatting with the nice employee (who happened to also have been from Michigan) I caved and bought them. At this point in time, I would like to say that I am very much satisfied with my post-purchase, as I have found that my AirPods provide me with functional and social value. I love being hands free when I’m talking on the phone and being wireless has made life so much easier. Not gonna lie, I also felt very “cool” and like a New Yorker walking around the city with my AirPods on.

My First Broadway Show

One of the highlights of my summer was attending my first Broadway show! My best friend and I bought tickets the day of the show because we used a lottery system and were actually able to get front row seats! We conducted a lot of information search to decide on the show we wanted to see. We ended up choosing Waitress by reading online reviews and looking at the social media of the different shows that we were deciding between. Waitress was amazing! Being able to sit in the front row and see the actors up close was an amazing experience. During intermission, my best friend and I caved by buying the $12 mini pies that they were selling. The pies came in cute little mason jars that we figured we could keep as souvenirs. After the show, we got selfies with some of the actors and their autographs!

First Time to Wall Street

Another thing that I noticed about NYC was the vast amounts of Dunkin Donuts that there are! There seem to be at least two on every block, much more than Starbucks! I’ve had Dunkin Donuts before but I definitely drink more Starbucks, as I am a loyal rewards member and have had my Gold Card since 2015. I’m obsessed with iced coffee. In July, the company I was interning for organized a private tour of the NYSE. I was taking a different route to the NYSE from my normal commute to work and I decided to get an iced coffee from Dunkin Donuts. I needed caffeine because we were meeting at 7:30 am! The mere exposure effect of Dunkin Donuts captured my curiosity which is why I chose to get Dunkin over Starbucks. The iced coffee was not as good as my usual Starbucks order. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be given a tour of the NYSE and see two companies go public! I was also able to see the opening bell rung and walk on the trading floor.

First Time Truly Away From Home

Something that I feel like people don’t tell you about NYC is that despite the fact that it is a city with millions of people, it can actually get quite lonely. It’s the “City That Never Sleeps” with a million of things to do at any time of the day! But there were times in the 10 weeks that I was there where I felt lonely. I am so grateful that I had close friends that were also interning in the city. But I understand that everyone has their own life to live and we are all operating on our own schedules. I never wanted to impose or continuously ask people to hang out. I journaled and did a lot of self-reflection. I also FaceTimed and talked on the phone with a lot of friends and my mom.

Living in NYC taught me the value of learning how to be comfortable with spending time with yourself.

Living in NYC was a completely new experience for me because I was finally living in a place that was completely new to me. Being from Ann Arbor and going to school in Ann Arbor hasn’t really allowed me the chance to experience anything new. I am comfortable with Ann Arbor and have never really been out of my comfort zone. I really learned a lot about myself in New York.I learned that I need to take action and do what makes me happy because ultimately it’s my life that I’m living. I also learned and am still learning how to be content with being alone. There is such a big difference between feeling lonely and being alone. It’s all about intention. There were times where I felt lonely because I didn’t have people to hang out with or people to talk to. But then there were times where I wanted to be alone and chill out by myself after a long day of work or after a day of socializing with friends.

Experiencing NYC For Everything It Has To Offer

Now despite the challenges that I faced, I got to experience a lot of what NYC had to offer! I am not gonna lie, I did a lot of the touristy things but it was my first time in New York! A lot of the things that I did and places that I visited were places that I saw on Pinterest, Instagram, or had just heard about from friends and family. I went to all of these places to gain some kind of experiential value. For example: a group of friends and I went to Smorasburg, which is a seasonal food market in Brooklyn that’s only open on Saturdays. When I got there I was overwhelmed by all the vendors. Everyone had something unique to offer! There was Korean fried chicken, kombucha popsicles, ramen burgers, fruit smoothies in pineapples and watermelons, etc. I had to walk around 3 times before deciding what I wanted to order! I ended up getting a Korean fried chicken sandwich. My friends and I all also got dessert because we figured we were already there and didn’t have plans to come back to Brooklyn another weekend. We definitely wanted the experiential value that Smorasburg had to offer.