Thursday, October 30, 2008
I left for my internship in New York last May with high hopes. I boarded the airplane headed east never looking back. New York was going to be what I needed. I would discover what I wanted to do with my life. Maybe Sinatra would be right, maybe I was going to make it there.
And, indeed, New York is an amazing place. I partied in Union Square, delighted in three Broadway shows, drank martinis in SoHo, fought the crowds in Times Square and worked out at a gym next door to the Apollo Theater in Harlem—experiences I’ll remember forever. But, I should have known I’ll always be a Kansas girl at heart.
By July the city had zapped my energy and tested my patience. I was sick of the rat race—the perpetually angry taxi drivers, the $7 bottle of water, the shoving through crowds. When the subway doors would slide open a blast of hot, smelly air hit my face as I stepped in to take my commute to work. I’d sit watching the underground blur outside the window, praying for my own pair of ruby slippers to take me back to Kansas.
I wanted to drive my Mustang. I wanted to eat a Sonic cheeseburger. I wanted to look at the night sky and know that stars still existed.
It was then I realized as amazing as New York was, it wasn’t my home. I completely related to Kid Rock when he sang, “Lost in the Apple and I’m all alone, Cause New York’s not my home.”
That’s what’s important when you move out into the real world—finding the place where you feel comfortable. If you’re not meant to live somewhere, you’ll know it. Nina’s story on page 12 may inspire you to check out the Big Apple or another place after college. But, where ever you end up, make sure it feels like home.
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