After I took my only final, which was conveniently scheduled on the morning of the first day of finals week, I moved out of my room and hopped on a train back to my house in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Two and a half weeks sat between the end of the school year and my internship.
These days were supposed to be relaxing, a winding down from the urgent deadlines that populated the weeks of my semester, but it was stressful in a different way to fill my days at home. I can't drive, and I live in a place where you need to drive to get anywhere, so when I was in my hometown, I mostly stayed put, except for a few occasions when I was out with my friends.
You feel like you're supposed to be enjoying the downtime, but school — and maybe it's just the school I attend — has taught me to worry a little whenever I'm not improving in some way, whether I'm studying from a textbook or hitting the gym or reading something interesting or getting to know someone a little better. Productivity feels good. I wonder how I survived high school in this cozy little town, and though I'm always grateful to have time to spend with my family, I'm also grateful to have gone away for college.
I just moved out of there and into my summer housing, which is right next to Chinatown in New York City. The contrast is stark. I now live down the street from fish markets and banks and all manner of restaurants and shops, and it feels fantastic to be able to step outside and buy myself food. It's a simple luxury I didn't appreciate until last week.
At the moment, my thoughts are traveling in a few directions:
1. Pre-internship anxiety.
What if I wear the wrong shoes? (I mean, no one cares that much, but then again, what if someone does?!) What if I get lost and show up late? (Google Maps has your back, it'll be fine.) What if a car splashes me with mud on my way to work? (I can be careful, but what if it slips my mind?) What if I take the wrong things to orientation? What am I even supposed to take to orientation? (Probably just the documents they listed, but what if I missed something in the mountain of emails?!) What if __ has changed since I was last here? (The mistake would be understandable, but it'd still be embarrassing.) What if the project is too difficult? (Well, I can ask for help, but what if it turns out to be a stupid question?) What if the hours are different and actually insane? (Pretty sure I would be out of luck on this one.)
2. Pre-internship excitement.
I'm excited to do interesting work, learn a lot and meet other interns — it'll certainly be valuable work experience, and I hope to get as much out of it as possible. Until I find out what I'm doing, I can't speak too much on this, but I'm curious about what project I'll be tackling.
3. New York City??!?!! *squeals*
The last time I was here, it was January and freezing. The sun set early, and every night, I dragged my cold ass home to Jersey City. It was not an exciting period of my life. I can't wait to experience the city in the summer, and I can't wait to share more about my adventures!
