Prior to business school, I spent 5 years in New York City. When I applied to school, I was really anxious to go elsewhere since I had spent my entire life in the Northeast, mostly in the New York area. I wanted to trade in my concrete playground for grass, trees, a car, and more of a suburban lifestyle.
Thus far, my time at Fuqua has been fantastic. I’ve learned a lot in class, about what I’m looking for in a career, and I’ve learned a lot from my classmates. All in 4 months! With classes, social activities, corporate presentations, and distinguished speakers, I have not had much time to reflect upon my transition from NYC to Durham so I wanted to touch on a few points. My workday in NYC went through a cycle as follows: work, lunch break, work, Starbucks break (I am a recovering Starbucks addict), maybe dinner out, maybe a happy hour, sleep, and repeat. This process became routine and if I were in business school in NYC, I would not be able to balance the things that I really enjoyed about my old life with the demands of business school.
After almost 4 months in Durham, there are some things that I definitely miss about NYC:
From New York City ...
- The variety of food and nightlife
- Seamlessweb.com
- Walking and ending up in new neighborhoods
- The convenience of having 5 Starbucks in a 2-block radius
- A $25 manicure/pedicure combo
- The ability to get almost anything at any time or any place
- The allure of living in the city
- My family and friends
But there are also some things that I definitely do not miss:
... To Durham!
- Trying to find a cab when it is raining or it is 3 am
- The weather: it is currently 70 degrees here
- My tiny apartment that I paid too much for
- Grocery stores
- Walking to the subway in the blustery cold in the dead of winter
- The prices of everything except manicures/pedicures
- Movie theaters
I’ve found things that I enjoy in Durham, but I’m still adjusting and there are plenty of things that I still need to do:
- Try more restaurants
- Go to a Duke basketball game (Go Coach K and 904+ wins)
- Explore NC – Asheville, Charlotte, and Chapel Hill
- Explore the South
- Eat BBQ
- Visit the Duke Gardens
- See the Carolina Hurricanes
- Go hiking
- Go to the Eno River quarry
And lastly, here are some things that I am now asking myself as I am searching for a summer internship:
- Would I rather work in a suburb or city?
- Where do I want to be geographically?
- How much should weather matter?
I will figure these questions out in the upcoming months, so stay tuned!!!
Well if you’ve really been to the great NYC then I certainly can’t blame you for missing hell of a great deal of things as there are indeed plenty! That is why there are really a number of movies revolving around NYC as the main city, more so with TV Shows, if you know what I mean?
Eitherway, finding a new place opens up more opportunities so keep being optimistic Diana!