First Week in NYC: There's Beauty in the Struggle

What a week, what a week it has been!

Thanks to my wonderful family (shout out to my mom, sisters, aunt, grandma, and little cousin for bringing me here ALL THE WAY FROM DETROIT and helping me move in) and friends (shout out to Jesse and my team at CRWN), I have successfully completed my very first week in the Big Apple.

So, how's it been, you ask? Well...


My First Week in the NYSi! by Slidely Photo Gallery

Where do I even begin?

  • I'll be honest: I came expecting a LOT from NYC. Everyone is always hyping it up, and a D-town girl was ready for the Big Apple to show me just what it had in store for me
  • After moving in to my Brooklyn apartment and bidding my family goodbye, it was official: I was a resident of New York for the first time ever ready to take it on. New York; the city where I feel so many great things will happen to me. The city where I will turn 21. The city where I spend the farthest summer away from home, school and everything I know. The city where my friends and I learn just how much we're ready for the real world. This city. 
  • I had my job orientation on Monday and started officially working with CRWN on Tuesday, and baby, I feel so legit! I am the editor of the family, nutrition and thought sections, three pieces of life I am very excited about. There's no denying that a lof of my writer notability comes from my Black hair essay for For Harriet. As a woman forever trying to live longer and healthier, nutrition is a wonderful way for me to experience growth. And as you can read from the intro paragraph, my family is very important to me!
  • Anywho, I think I got the hang of the Metro/subway system here, even if I was left in a doozy a couple of times. My NYSi mantra is definitely fake it 'till you make it. Every day I'm walking around Manhattan, I walk with the confidence of a resident who's been in the city for years. Even if my shoes are killing me, you would never know it. 
  • Even though I've only been here but a week, I have already done so much! Chewed on a doughnut from a food truck, had a $1 slice of pizza, got caught in treacherous rain, walked on the campus of NYU, and more! What's probably more exciting is that even though I've done so much, it's only a fraction of what is to happen during my time here. 
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of, there's nothing you can't do. Oh, in New York.

As my weeks in this city continue, I hope to "Go, See and Do" more than I ever could have imagined. This summer is for me. For the hours of work I've put in during the schoolyear. For the last summer that I never got to experience here. For my worrisome mom and dad. For my sisters, full of dreams and potential. For my granny, who calls me when I need it. For me.

I hope you all will follow along this journey with me.

These streets will make you feel brand new. Big lights will inspire you. Hear it for New York.

---

My fave photos of the week? Scroll below!

This is a sight I get to see everyday, and I love it. I pass this area of picturesque vintage-esque buildings on my way to the train and back home, and it's always one of the little things I look forward to. Brooklyn, baby.
This photo is more-so symbolic for me. Throughout the week, I've gotten lost on the train, went to the wrong train stop, had to sit on the train for over an hour, walked off the train in the wrong direction, and more. But this train is symbolic of no matter how many times I may fall, I always get back up. Better, faster, stronger. Bring it on, Metro.
These two pieces of affirmation sit on the wall in my living room. When I need that extra push to make it through, these are always here.
My team. My CRWN team. My CRWN sisters. Conquering assignments, slaying the streets of New York, killing the meme game in GroupMe, ever evolving. We are the future. We are the now. I'm so excited to build this summer with these folks.
UBUNTU: Out of many, one. This summer is for me. For the hours of work I've put in during the schoolyear. For the last summer that I never got to experience here. For my worrisome mom and dad. For my sisters, full of dreams and potential. For my granny, who calls me when I need it. For me.
I hope you all will follow along this journey with me.

Until next time...

XoXo
-Si

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Letter for Kay: Advice to New College Students

Image
Here's a wild fact: I graduate in less than a week. And even though I've known that fact for a while now (except, maybe, right before my econ final), it's still not real enough. I still cannot fathom how these last four years flew by but at the same time went excruciatingly slow. It's been a hell of a ride, let me tell you. Northwestern was my dream school for as long as I can remember. I applied early decision because there was never another option for me, honestly. I wanted to go to the best journalism school, despite snarky remarks from classmates insinuating that I wasn't good enough. And when I got in , honey, excited was an understatement. I started my first day of college in 2013. And now I'll be walking across a stage to get this expensinve diploma in a week. I can't say it's all been pleasant - because it hasn't. It's been a tough ride many days, some I wondered if this day would ever come. Some I felt so isolated and alone that I f...
Read more

Remember Why You Started

Image
Monday started another week of shuffling through LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Jopwell and other various job boards. Another week of sending my resumé out into a black hole and crossing my fingers that this would be the "one." Monday started another week of asking for grace so that I would no longer have to dread hearing that "so, what are your plans for after graduation?" question. Luckily, Monday didn't end the way it started. Pictured: Me, without a single worry about deadlines or cover letters Usually when I take a Facebook break, the result is a couple of laughs and more than a couple of eye rolls. So when I clicked 'enter' on the domain and the familiar blue hue illuminated my face, I expected nothing different. "You have memories from this day," a notification informed me. I clicked the notification and was led to a video that I had posted back in 2011. Play. It began with text "Sierra Lanae on...Accessories!" and background m...
Read more

Bienvenidos a Argentina: Be Kind to Yourself

Image
Today marks the end of 2017's first full week! I hope the year is off to a rejuvinating start for everyone. Oh, and today also marks the end of my first week in Buenos Aires, Argentina! For those of you who don't know, I'll be interning here until the end of March. As any journalist would, I definitely did my homework on Argentina before getting here. The food, the music, the culture at large - and how I would fit in with it. As with any place, there's a variety of experiences people had. Here are some of mine, as well as thoughts and some photos I took along the way. Being in Argentina has already showed me the beauty in slowing down. In the U.S., and ESPECIALLY at universities like Northwestern, it is extremely normalized to stay busy and moving at 300000 mph. If we're idle, we're being inefficient. If there's too much time to relax, we're being lazy. That can grow to be exhausting and toxic as all get out.  But here? On the contrary. Here it...
Read more