Week five of my summer in NYC is drawing to a close and I'm getting ready to say goodbye to my first group of students. While individual days have felt long and having the safety of a group of high schoolers as my responsibility is exhausting, these three weeks really did fly by!

I'm the type of person who attaches to students right away. I think that's probably part of the reason people say I was meant to be a teacher and I'd definitely have to agree. But, I already know I'm going to have a hard time seeing my students go. I've gotten to know not only my residents, but also the students in the class that I worked with. Sure, there were ups and downs with each group, but all in all they were really great groups. To think that so soon they'll be packing up and heading back to their homes across the world is hard!

The highlight of this week was definitely the trip that I led to Sleep No More on Tuesday. Of course, it wasn't without its bumps in the road, but that's to be completely expected when taking 14 kids on this kind of a trip. But, the experience was incredible. I attended Sleep No More once before after being talked into going by my best friend, Anya, but to be honest I was totally terrified the first time and was not nearly as adventurous as I should have been.

For those of you who don't know, Sleep No More is an interactive theater experience that takes place in a converted warehouse in Chelsea, renamed the McKittrick Hotel. It is a retelling of Shakespeare's "Macbeth," but done without words and with various scenes that occur throughout the venue. Essentially you can move around at your own pace and follow different actors, exploring rooms and leafing through props as you go. It's super intense and definitely creepy at times, but I was way more prepared this time around and really enjoyed myself. Plus, having Columbia pay for my ticket made it that much better, if I'm being completely honest.

I've also been writing a lot more, which I'm really excited about. It has mostly been journaling, so it's sloppy writing that I wouldn't share with anyone, but nevertheless it is definitely therapeutic. The internship stresses self-care a lot, both physically and mentally, and I think setting aside some time to write and reflect each day has really helped me stay on track. I recently bought a poetry notebook, too, though I haven't had any inspiration strike. Who knows, though, maybe you'll see some of my poetry in an Odyssey article sometime in the future!

I'm really looking forward to this weekend, which includes two much-needed nights off between high school program sessions. Lindsay and I are taking a tap class tomorrow, which I'm beyond excited about. My mom was nice enough to send my tap shoes in the mail when I forgot to bring them, but I couldn't be happier to dance again tomorrow since I haven't taken a class in a really long time!

Lindsay and I also have tickets to see "The Crucible" on Broadway this weekend, and tickets for "Trip of Love" next Thursday (which Nia from "Dance Moms" is in). While I know I should be making rather than spending money, being in NYC as a theater nerd means wanting to see every show imaginable! I had a trip approved to the off-Broadway production of "Avenue Q," so I'm hoping I'll be able to generate enough interest with next session's students to be able to have the trip run.

I think I'll end here before I get too off track, but overall it was a good week! I'll be back next week with my sixth update, by which time session two will be in full swing!