Every college student knows the stressful feeling of searching for a summer internship. From revamping your resume to perfecting your cover letter, to finding a listing for a potential employer that you like, the entire process requires hard work, determination, and a ton of faith in yourself.
PHOTO: Jordyn Wissert
Then, you finally get an interview which leads to the wonderful moment when you open the email that has a job offer in it. However, now you have to figure out housing and roommates if your internship is somewhere other than your hometown.
Working in the journalism industry, especially in the fashion or beauty side, it is more likely than not that your internship won’t be right next door to your university or hometown.
This exact process is what happened to me this summer and, fortunately, I was able to spend my summer interning about 500 miles away in New York City. However, I moved there and started working at my internship, despite only knowing two other people in the entire city.
Besides moving to college two years ago, I had never really left home without a family member or friend by my side, so starting over in the biggest city in America for a summer was something that terrified and excited me since I confirmed my trip February of last year.
I can’t say it wasn’t hard or that I didn’t get lonely at times, but I can say the creativity, the fast paced work life, the scenery, and the incredible amount of opportunity in New York overshadowed a lot of the little bad moments with a ton of experiences that have shaped who I am today.
PHOTO: Kelly Rogowski
One of my favorite aspects was seeing the incredible fashion, obviously. The trendy summer slides, statement earrings, off-the-shoulder tops, and everything in between made it hard for me to think about returning to normal suburban life.
Going into this internship, I wanted to reassure myself that living in New York City was the path I wanted to go down post-graduation. So I made a conscious effort to push my own social boundaries and talk to other interns and experience the city itself, whether it was with one of the two people I knew or alone.
This mindset allowed me to really dive into my internship and focus on being the best public relations intern I could be. It was really interesting how much work excited me and how little distractions I had when all that was required of me was going to work and experiencing New York.
Overall, I left New York knowing that the work culture there was exactly what I wanted, that the city was what made me feel so inspired, and that public relations fascinated me. Having the opportunity to experience New York in this way made me understand how important it is for a young professional to push themselves outside of their comfort zone, and take the opportunities that force them to grow and gain confidence.
Have you had a life-changing experience like this? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
Additional photo by Jordyn Wissert.
