Currently I’m sitting at my gate in JFK waiting to fly back across the country to Portland and this end to the week is not bittersweet like I anticipated, but just plain bitter. I expected to enjoy being in New York, but I didn’t think I’d love it as much as I do. There is something about this city that connects with me and I can’t wait to return as soon as possible.

But along with being sad to leave, I also feel so grateful to have experienced this past week. I’m flipping through my notebook looking at the pages and pages of inspiring quotes and insightful bites of information from all of my agency visits; the frantic underlining, stars, arrows, and exclamation points in my notes show how enthusiastically I was writing everything down, trying to absorb as much knowledge as possible. I know I’ll be going back to these pages frequently, when I need something to inspire me or remind me why I love this major and this industry.

My favorite part of this trip was how open everyone was to getting to know each other. I constantly found myself in groups of people I didn’t think I’d be in and thoroughly enjoying the process of learning about new people. I think Allen will have an entirely new feel to it once we’re all back in our routines, camping out on the third floor for hours on end.

I’ve been keeping running lists on my phone of lessons from New York, as well as my favorite and least favorite things about the city. So as I wrap up this week and finish up this last blog post, I’ll leave you with some final thoughts/lists:

Lessons I Learned This Week:

—Take the transit time that you’re given by Google Maps and add 30 minutes as a safety cushion.

—Walk confidently in the direction you think is the right way and when you realize it’s not, walk just as confidently in the opposite direction (this might be my biggest takeaway from the trip. It applies to a lot of pieces in life).

—New Yorkers are consistently really helpful, but also very efficient. Ask them for help, but don’t slow them down or get in their way.

—Walk signs on streets literally do not matter. Just cross the street whenever there’s an opening and keep it moving.

—Traveling around New York solo is the best part of the city.

—Get recommendations from locals, not Yelp. Or just walk around until you find something. Reviews be damned.

—Bathrooms really are few and far between. Finding a private bathroom is an absolute luxury (try Pret-A-Manger).

—Don’t ask a question for the sake of hearing your own voice.

—You expose yourself as a non-local every time you apologize after running into someone. I’m pretty positive I’ll never lose this trait though.

Random Favorite Things About New York:

—pigeons (I’m serious about this)

—revolving doors

—taking the subway

—being surrounded by strangers who don’t try to make polite small talk with you because they aren’t going to pretend to care

—everyone walks fast and if someone isn’t it’s okay to pass them in frustration

—NO DRIVING REQUIRED!

Random Least Favorite Things About New York:

—sometimes you stumble across a weird, bad smell that you’ve never experienced before and it’s very jarring while your brain scrambles to try and categorize it

—THERE ARE NO TRASH CANS IN THIS CITY. WHERE DO YOU PUT YOUR TRASH, NEW YORKERS?

—I have an irrational fear that a street grate will break while I’m walking over it and suddenly I’ll be stuck under ground. I don’t have any explanation for this one.

Adriane Hershey / 5.12.18