About six months ago, I sat cross-legged on my black comforter inside my tiny, on-campus apartment staring hopelessly at my computer. My fingers ached from scrolling through endless lists of "summer 2016 editorial internship" opportunities that didn't fit my interests. So far, my only option was Cosmopolitan Magazine, from which I hadn't even received a rejection letter, let alone a congratulatory "you got the job" email.
I watched the snow bury the cars in the parking lot, one by one, wondering how bad it would really look to just go back to my part-time job at Express instead of interning.
Then I got an email from my roommate. She'd forwarded me an email from Odyssey with an application link for their summer 2016 internship in New York City. The deadline to apply was in less than 24 hours.
I'd been writing for Odyssey for about five months prior and I loved having the opportunity to write about any topic I want. Plus, getting to work in New York City was enough of a selling point. I cleaned up my resume, submitted links to my best Odyssey articles and blog posts and crossed my fingers as I hit send.
About six months later, I sat at Yankee stadium laughing and talking with 11 other people that had been strangers before May 18. I had 14 new friends to communicate with on GroupMe, to get lunch with, to go to the bar with, to spend the night in the city with.
Not to mention all of the connections and relationships I made with the people that worked for the company full time. I learned how to talk to strangers, how to fit into a different environment, how to ask for what I want, how to manage both time and people effectively and the kind of career I want when I graduate.
Experiences like these leave me feeling both grateful and dejected. Why did it take me 20 years to meet these incredible people? Why do I only get to spend three months with them? Why did I finally figure out what I want in life right before I leave the country for four months?
Both the type A personality and the writer inside of me cringe at the cliche, but everything happens for a reason. There's a reason I got to experience working at Odyssey, and why I found the application right before the deadline. There's a reason I have to leave all of these people behind. There's a reason they were put in my life with an expiration date.
The experiences I've had this summer and the people that I've had the opportunity to meet will only make my life better because of the lessons they taught me. Even though I only had three months in the greatest city in the world with some of the greatest people, the knowledge I gained and the memories made will last much longer.
