This past summer, I got to live in Chicago for an internship. It was my first time living in a different state, with hardly anyone that I knew near me. Now it’s been almost a month since I’ve come back, and I’ve had enough time to fully reflect on the experience and what all I’ve learned.
I was living in west Chicago, close to the medical district. My neighborhood was almost entirely filled with medical students. My internship was downtown, so I had to use public transportation to get to work every day.
The blue line is an interesting experience. Because it goes all the way to the O’Hare airport, it’s mostly full of people coming from or going to the airport. There are also quite a few homeless people who use the blue line as a place of shelter, especially during thunderstorms. I’ve had the misfortune of seeing some very interesting things on public transportation, like people smoking even though it’s not allowed, brushing their teeth, talking to themselves while intoxicated, and even engaging in sexual acts. The most important thing you can do is keep to yourself on public transportation. I was instructed by my managers at work: don’t fall asleep, don’t make eye contact with anyone, and don’t let them talk to you.
Commuting to work was something new for me. I’m not a morning person, and having to leave at 7:30 a.m. every morning to get to the office by 8:30 a.m. was difficult. My commute was an intense hour involving a 15 minute walk to the nearest blue line station, eight stops on the train, and another 10-15 minute walk downtown to the office and then back to my apartment at the end of the day. I would always be sweating and out of breath by the time I got to the office in the morning, but thankfully I only had to be there 3 days a week.
My internship itself was an incredible experience. Having previously worked in public accounting, getting to work in the private side was a different type of work than what I was used to. In recapping the work that I did for my final presentation, I had gained a lot of valuable experience in Microsoft Office and a lot of the software that is commonly used in the industry.
The weekends I spent in Chicago were dedicated to exploration and getting to see different parts of the city. Navy Pier was just as fun as when I was a kid – and the drop tower is more intense than its small size implies. The live music and amazing views of Lake Michigan almost made up for the heat wave which had temperatures in the 90s for an uncomfortably long time. I also got to see Chinatown – which smelled incredible because of all the restaurants in the area. They had a ton of shops for everything from skincare to stuffed animals. I dropped a lot of money in Chinatown but the experience was so worth it.
I got to go kayaking on the Chicago river which was a super intense workout but probably the most fun I had doing anything while I was there. While I am not a beach person, the vibes at North Avenue Beach on Lake Michigan were exactly what I needed during the brutal summer heat. The water was still cold and felt amazing in contrast to the hot sand of the beach.
The presence of Indian fusion in Chicago was honestly a cultural shock for me. Chicago has a very high Indian population – especially second-generation Indians like myself. Growing up as I did, they have created all sorts of Indian fusion experiences that I would have loved to go to if I had enough time. On Instagram, I got ads for Bollywood raves and different restaurants like Masala Pizza and Bar Goa. While I didn’t get to rave, I got to try out the two restaurants that had been advertised to me. They were both so worth it and the food was delicious.
I feel like local dive bars get a reputation for being sketchy. There was one in the neighborhood I was staying at called The Slide Bar. It had been a part of the neighborhood for 70 years, and I even attended their 70th anniversary celebration with my roommate, where we all got complimentary green tea shots. To my honest surprise, the people I met at The Slide Bar were some of the nicest I had ever met. They asked me about my internship experience and career goals. They offered to buy me drinks – I hardly paid for anything when I went. And they introduced me to Malört – a liquor that originated in Chicago with an infamously bitter aftertaste. It’s unpleasant, but drinking it was considered a “rite of passage” for all Chicagoans. I guess that makes me a local?
Chicago is definitely a city I would want to move to once I’m done with school. A lot of the city is catered towards young adults like myself. The kinds of experiences one can get in a metropolitan city aren’t exactly doable in a college town like East Lansing. There are a lot of job opportunities in accounting and finance – as Chicago is a big financial center in the U.S. Most accounting firms will have an office in Chicago and there are plenty of opportunities in the private sector as well.
I think I would probably want to live in a more lively neighborhood, where the selection of local restaurants, bars, and other places is more varied. Luckily, there are a lot of neighborhoods in Chicago, each with their own special gems that I have yet to explore.