When most people think of the summer they think of the beach, the pool, and in general just being outside relaxing with no responsibilities. When I think back to my summer, that’s not exactly how things went down. As a typical college student I wanted to make use of my summer. I knew that I didn’t want to work at camp for the hundredth year in a row, so I decided to explore other options and landed the internship of my dreams! I interned at Paper Magazine in New York City. Paper is what you would call an urban pop culture magazine. I had never heard of the magazine prior to working there, however it opened up my eyes to a world that I never thought I could be a part of and a place I’d never want to leave. When most college students get a summer internship all they do is work in a boring office and do “typical” intern tasks, like filing and getting coffee. That was hardly my experience.
I remember going to the office on the first day, unsure of what my responsibilities would be and just all around nervous. I stepped into the most energetic and friendly office I feel I could’ve ever walked into. People who were doing something they loved as a career surrounded me. From the editorial department to the event-planning department and everything in between, (literally because those two departments were on opposite sides of the office) I was thrown head first into different tasks. One of my first big projects was cataloguing all the issues of the magazine since 1993! Most people would find that super tedious, but I was so fascinated by the history of the magazine and looking back at different fashion trends and fads from years ago. I learned so much from just entering information such as the name of the photographer, writer, and stylist of the shoot.
As the weeks picked up I began doing more things out of my comfort zone, which included making fashion runs. Those were the days when I felt like Lauren Conrad on the Hills. The only difference was she would make a fashion return from LA to NYC, and the furthest I went to return was down on the lower east side. Although I am from New York, I didn’t know the city very well, let alone public transportation! Crosstown buses and subways became my domain and I practically knew the routes by heart at the end of the summer. I would go from 5th Avenue, to Canal Street and then jump on a bus to go to the West Side; my boss gave us total freedom. To some people this may not seem like a big deal, but for me I really pushed out of my comfort zone, and really experienced being independent. Not to say there weren’t nerve-racking times while navigating the city, I did have to return $30,000 worth of jewelry back to Cartier on 5th Avenue. Taking a subway with a full year of college tuition in my bag was a little unsettling at first, but it just built up my confidence. I even got to help out and witness a fashion shoot!
Besides from doing office work like cataloguing and transcribing interviews with celebrities and making fashion returns, I had the opportunity to help set up and work at different events for the event planning company, ExtraExtra. My second week at the job, I helped out at an event for Amex+ Uber. Among the people that work at these companies were some pretty cool people, like Danielle Bernstein from weworewhat.com and Emmy Rossum from Shameless. It’s crazy to think that I was at an event with an A-list Hollywood star! Then if you jump forward two months, I worked at the Live in Levi’s Event in Brooklyn. I got to see Haim and Sleigh Bells perform and hang out in the VIP section, like what more could you want at an event? Although all of this seems glamorous, I did do some dirty work, especially when I was working at those events. However, none of that took away from the experiences and opportunities that I had.
Among all the crazy, tiring and amazing things I did this summer, none of those trump what I am about to tell you. Not many people get to meet their childhood role model, let alone in the most natural setting ever! Hilary Duff casually walked into my office one day this summer, and my world was forever changed just from that one encounter. I still look back at that day and how I was being a hardcore fangirl, but she just talked to me like a peer, not like she was talking to a fan. I think that was one instance where I really felt like I could be a part of this industry; be a part of the entertainment, pop culture, fashion world. I obviously have wondered about what it would be like, hence why I write for Hercampus and other fashion websites, but I never thought that this dream could become my reality. I would never trade the experiences I had this summer for anything. This summer was truly like no other, and I am excited to see what else is in store for my future!