One year ago, I packed up a U-Haul and drove to my new apartment in the Big Apple. Twelve months later, and I’m still just as mystified by this iconic, wonderful, frustrating, expensive, glorious city that I now call home.
When I first moved here last February, I was coming for a job at the brand new mass vaccination site that opened at Citi Field. That in itself was so huge for me, partly because it was the highest-paying job I’d ever had, but also because I was so excited to be actually doing something to help end the pandemic. My job at the vaccine site started out being absolute chaos, not just for me, but for all of us working there. The demand for vaccines last February was crazy and we were slammed every single day from the start of our shift until the end of our shift for the first few months. For me, it honestly felt so rewarding to me to be helping to keep communities safe with the distribution of the vaccine.
After a few months, once vaccines became more readily-available, our site started to slow down and we had a lot more down time at work. By July I was ready to change jobs when they terminated my assignment. I had expected to be working at the site right up until graduate school started back up in the fall, but instead I left right at the end of July and almost immediately started a new job as a waitress.
Working as a server, waitress, bartender, or anything similar really shows you the nitty-gritty side of New York, and exposes all of the different types of people that live and visit here. If you haven’t been verbally abused by tourists and then tried to catch a cab home from Times Square right as all the Broadway shows are letting out then you haven’t seen anything.
I’m not calling myself a New Yorker by any means, because that’s a very sacred term for those who use it, but I do think I’ve gotten my fair share of true New York experiences this past year. Serving on the weekends while being in graduate school and working an internship during the week burnt me out pretty quickly (no surprise here), but something about working as a waitress at an Irish pub in Times Square felt so quintessentially New York. Like, there are possibly people who have never been here that would dream of taking a restaurant job just to be able to take their bite of the Big Apple. It is a city that people romanticize and fantasize about, and I do feel pretty damn lucky to be here, even if I’ve had to work as hard as I have.
I left the restaurant I worked at in December because I was at the end of my rope, but I am so glad I had that job when I did so that I could pay my rent while being in school. Just in the last few weeks, I landed a new job at a pretty prestigious and kind-of-famous tennis club working in the pro shop on the weekends. It’s only been a few weeks, but it’s so much more low-key than my last two jobs and I’m grateful I don’t have to feel constantly stressed while working.
During the past year, I’ve done my best to really explore as much of the city as I can. With so many museums and iconic sites to be seen, it’s kept me pretty busy during my free time. From the Central Park Zoo to the Bronx Zoo, the Museum of Natural History, the Met, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the many, many neighborhoods each with their own personalities, it's always been an adventure.
My favorite place is definitely Central Park because it’s so diverse. Every corner of the park offers something different, and I’m lucky enough to get to appreciate it every morning on my walks with Millie. In the warmer months, there’s nothing like a nice picnic in the grass while people-watching and enjoying the fresh air. In the winter, there’s nothing quite as magical as a snow day in Central Park, which I’ve experienced quite a few of and am still just as mystified by.
I also feel really lucky to have scored such a perfect apartment. As with all New York apartments, it’s way too expensive, and I don’t have in-building laundry or updated appliances, but to me it’s perfect. I’ve spent the entire last year piecing it together with furniture and decor, and while it’s almost done, I still have a little ways to go before it’s finished. Even so, it’s the perfect size for me and it has exposed brick on one entire side, which was a total selling point for me. I’m planning to stay here for at least another whole year, but who knows where the next 365 days will take me.
As someone who loves food, New York is definitely one of the best places to be. Earlier this year I set out to try a new restaurant every single week, which became a little hard to continue with, but it really helped me discover some awesome places to eat (you can read about all those places here, here, here and here). Of course iconic spots like Katz's Deli and Joe's Pizza are a must, but I've also fallen in love with my local restaurants and coffee shops, which are the true hidden gems of New York. You could literally eat at a new restaurant every single day and it would still take you forever to try them all. I will always be on the hunt for a new restaurant to try, and can't wait to find some new great favorites this year.
For now, I find myself pretty happy. I never thought I would’ve had three jobs in one year but I guess a big part of being a graduate student and living in NYC is doing anything you can to get by. Life is all about changes, right? I also never expected to end a three-year relationship and find my way into a new and great relationship all in this past year, but I do believe everything happens for a reason. It sounds cliche, but I really am grateful for all that I’ve been through, because I feel like it led me to a really great place. Who’s to say where I’ll be in the future, but for now I’m going to try to slow down and really appreciate where I am. With so much of the city still left to explore, I have nothing but excitement and hope for what lies ahead.
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