Lance Avery Morgan
When Our Houston Native Editorial Assistant Linley Norris Spent Her Summer In Manhattan, She Learned How Dynamic And Exhausting A Major Market Career (And Life) Can Be
New York City has a way of making everything look romantic.
The morning coffee runs, rooftop dinners, tiny East Village apartments, subway rides, networking events, and perfectly timed sunsets make the “New York summer” look almost too good to be true, besides being an editorial assistant for Curated Texan. I had seen that version of the city countless times on TikTok and Instagram, and it was a big part of why I wanted to experience it for myself.
Instead of spending my summer abroad in Florence or Barcelona, I decided to keep it stateside and move from Texas to New York City. At 21 years old, I wanted to take a chance on myself, experience a new city, and get a glimpse into what life might look like after college.
What I didn’t expect was just how much the summer would teach me about the reality behind the romanticized version of New York.
The idea started with a text from my best friend and now roommate, Maddison. She asked what my summer plans were and told me she was going to New York “no matter what.” At the time, neither of us had everything figured out. We had remote internships lined up, but somehow that conversation turned into a plan. We decided to pack up our lives, take a chance on ourselves, and make New York our home for the summer.
Getting there wasn’t exactly easy.
Finding an apartment in one of the most competitive cities in the country felt nearly impossible at times. Finding jobs was another challenge entirely. We sent countless applications, made connections, changed plans, and hoped everything would eventually fall into place. Somehow, it did. We both found opportunities we were excited about and ended up in a tiny East Village apartment that we could call home.
I’ll never forget moving in.
After hauling what felt like a hundred pounds of luggage up a narrow, non-air-conditioned walk-up staircase, Maddison and I finally reunited after a semester apart. We were exhausted, surrounded by suitcases, and standing in an apartment that was significantly smaller than anything we were used to.
But we looked at each other and realized: we actually did it.
Then, the real work began.
I think that is the part of the “intern summer in New York” that social media doesn’t always show.
There were absolutely moments that felt like the New York summer I had imagined. There were amazing restaurants, coffee shops, rooftop views, spontaneous nights out, long walks through the city, and experiences I know I’ll remember forever.
But there were also early mornings, long workdays, crowded subway rides, deadlines, exhaustion, and coming home completely drained while still feeling like there was an entire city waiting outside my door.
New York doesn’t stop because you’re tired.
Living and working in the city gave me one of my first real glimpses into the world of work beyond college. It wasn’t just trendy offices, networking events, and working from cute coffee shops. It was about learning how to show up when I was exhausted, balancing work with a social life, navigating a professional environment, and realizing that building a career takes much more work than a LinkedIn post or Instagram story makes it seem.
And, I needed that reality check.
Before this summer, it was easy to imagine post-grad life as the next exciting chapter. After all, social media makes it look like everyone graduates, moves to a big city, lands their dream job, and immediately has their life together.
New York showed me that it doesn’t quite work that way.
There is a hustle behind the lifestyle. There is uncertainty behind the opportunities. There are long days behind the exciting nights. And there is a lot of figuring things out as you go.
At the same time, that hustle is exactly what makes New York so special.
There is something about being surrounded by people who are constantly working toward something. Everyone seems to have somewhere to be, something they’re building, or a dream they’re chasing. The city can be exhausting, but it is also incredibly motivating.
This summer changed the way I think about my future.
It helped me understand what I want from my career, what kind of environment I want to work in, and what I’m willing to work for. It also made me realize that I don’t need my life after college to look perfectly curated. I just want it to feel like mine.
New York was not the effortless, glamorous summer I had seen on my phone.
It was messy. It was expensive. It was exhausting. It was exciting. It was overwhelming. It was fun. It was real.
And maybe that is what made it so memorable.
I came to New York expecting a “City Girl Summer.” Instead, I got a glimpse into adulthood, the working world, and the reality of building a life for myself.
The TikToks and Instagram posts might capture the rooftop dinners and cute coffee shops, but they don’t capture the tired mornings, packed subways, long workdays, career doubts, or the feeling of finally making it home after a twelve-hour day.
But they don’t have to.
Because somewhere between the hustle and the fun, I realized that the best part of my summer wasn’t living the perfect New York life.
It was learning that I could handle the real one.
