Winternship: 101 and How I Conquered the Subway

Luckily, I had my own personal tour-guide as my older sister Merris had moved to the city only a few months before. If it wasn’t for her, I probably would have had a mental break down trying to navigate my way around town. On a sidenote: the subway was probably my biggest fear about moving to the Big Apple, but more on that later. I only had a day to settle into my sister’s apartment (picture massive amounts of clothes and not nearly enough closet space), and I was off to the first day of my internship! Aside from the fact I had so many butterflies in my stomach that I thought I was going to be sick, and that it only took me three hours to pick out my “perfect” first day outfit, things were going smoothly. 
 

Along with one of my fellow interns, I met my perfectly fashionable boss, and she handed us a seven page packet about all of the things we needed to know during our internship. I took a deep breath and read through it unsure of how I was ever going to be able to remember all of the rules!  “Alright, do you guys have everything memorized?” my boss asked… (insert nervous laughter). I thought I was going to pass out. I had only been in the office for about thirty minutes when she asked me to go on a pickup. She handed me the address to none other than Jimmy Choo, and I was out the door. I immediately called my sister and she calmly and patiently told me how to get across town, so instead I hopped in a cab (I wasn’t about to get lost all alone down in the deep dark scary subway). “I can do this,” I kept thinking to myself, and before I knew it, I was riding the elevator up to one of the most iconic shoe designers ever (eek!). I couldn’t believe it- I had successfully gone on my first pickup, and was walking out of Jimmy Choo, bags in tow, feeling like the coolest girl in the world when- BAM!  I ran right into the super chic glass doors leaving an oh so attractive lipgloss smudge. A humbling experience to say the least. 
 

Nine pickups, two bruised feet, and one broken ego later I was on my way home. Of course, I didn’t exactly know just how to get home, so once again I called my sister. I also didn’t realize that as I was making my way into the dark abyss that is the subway, I would lose cellphone service. Que:  minor panic attack.  “MERRIS, ARE YOU THERE? CAN YOU HEA-” click. Right as I felt that first hot tear of defeat begin to roll down my cheek, I heard someone call my name. Of course I assumed I was in a exhausted delusional state, because the only other logical explanation was that there was a psychic homeless man close by who knew my name and was going to to try read my fortune for money.  “You must be Ellery,” I heard a deep voice say (the hysteria must have given it away). When I turned around, all too sure that I was about to be abducted thanks to watching the movie “Taken” one too many times, I was so shocked to see my sister’s friend Skip standing as a beacon of light right there in the depths of the subway. Out of the eight million strangers in the city, there he was. I dramatically threw my arms around him, and all of the emotions of the day started pouring out of me.  Looking more wild-eyed and crazy than ever, I asked him how he recognized me. Why, Facebook of course. Thankfully, he pointed me in the right direction, and I returned home somewhat unscathed. To this day, Skip will forever be my subway savior.

Now I know I may have painted a slightly horrifying picture, BUT I promise things got better. I didn’t have any “The Devil Wears Prada” encounters, and no, not everyone wore Yves Saint Laurent. In fact, everyone I met and every single person I worked with was so incredibly kind and helpful. Our office was just like any other office environment (except with a slightly more fashionable twist). We celebrated birthdays and holidays, and the head Accessories Director even threw us a pizza party one day just for fun!
 

I can honestly say that I have never worked so hard in my life than I did that first day of my internship, and yet the longer I was there, the more confident I became in my intern abilities. When I made mistakes (and trust me you will), I learned not to take it personally but instead figured out how to fix the problem at hand. I learned how to communicate professionally with clients, and got to know exactly what it was like to work in a super fast-paced environment (efficiency and effectiveness are key). I took away more from this internship than I could have ever imagined. New York City wasn’t exactly “Sex in the City, dinner with the girls” all the time, but it was fabulous. The subway ended up not being as creepy or as difficult to figure out, and each day I discovered something exciting and new. 
 

The editorial world can be intimidating, but with a little bit of backbone, lots of hard work, and a ton of passion, you will be just fine. Future interns remember:  always bring an umbrella as the weather can be very unforgiving, NEVER wear heels unless you bring a pair of flats to walk in (after working a ten hour day you will thank me for this), Google Maps will be your new best friend, and always, always, always be prepared. Most importantly, smile and have fun! Talk to everyone, learn as much as you can, and take it all in. After all, it can be the experience of a lifetime!

Captions:
First Photo: Ellery in front of her office building!
Second Photo: Ellery worked right in the heart of Times Square!

The famous NBC Studios, and home to “30 Rock” (one of my favorite shows!).

Central Park was one of my favorite places in the city.

My sister and I used to walk down to the pier to catch the sunset and have dinner.

The New York Stock Exchange was only a few blocks away from where I lived!