My Summer: An Eye Opener to the Real World

I spent this past summer in New York City interning in the Public Relations department of Marc Jacobs, a major fashion designer worldwide. I could not have asked for a better summer and am now fully convinced that NYC is the place to be for the summer. My roommate, also a William and Mary student, interned in the production department at MTV. Needless to say, we both met more celebrities this summer than we’ll probably meet in the rest of our life time. Just to give you an idea, my boss at Marc Jacobs went on vacation in the south of France with Keanu Reeves and friends, spent this past Christmas with Kate Moss and family, and received a picture text message of a Tuscany beach from Winona Ryder while on vacation saying “Wish you were here!”.

For the first half of the summer I lived in the financial district–an area I was not familiar with in the slightest. I passed Ground Zero each day on my walk to the subway for work, as well as two or three corner pizza joints and about a million Starbucks. I was also able to enjoy running through Battery Park everyday, looking across the river at Brooklyn, the Statue of Liberty, and the passing boats and ferries. The second half of the summer I spent in the Grammercy, which is the east-side version of Chelsea. While Grammercy is fairly quiet and family friendly, there was an always-crowded, 24 hour diner a block away from my apartment where I spent many a late-night with my roommate and friends. Within a two block radius there were 2 grocery stores, 3 drug stores, at least 7 delis, and 3 bagel shops (very key). The best thing about New York is that it’s convenient and accessible. No matter what time of day, you will always be able to find a place to buy a sweatshirt, an entertainment event, a park to walk through, a hot dog/pretzel stand, an aspiring performer hoping to collect some pocket change, or anything else your heart desires.

I definitely learned a lot from my experiences as an intern this summer and made some noteworthy connections in the fashion and business industries, but I think I learned the most simply from living on my own in New York City. It was the first time I really had to budget my money, find my way around a new territory, cook, grocery shop, find housing, move in and out of apartments, make an entirely new social network, work 40-hour work weeks, and make both small, day to day decisions along with life changing decisions completely on my own without any assistance from family or close friends. This summer was the first time I felt truly on my own.  I wont bluff, it was quite intimidating, especially at first, but as I grew more comfortable with the concept of being alone, the rewards of the experience began to surface. Independence comes along with being a college undergraduate, but this summer provided me with the opportunity to explore a new kind of independence and offered insight about what my life will be like as a post-grad in the big, scary real world.

Cassandra Albert
Class of 2011