Learning the ropes of an internship is one thing, but becoming accustomed to a big city for the first time while starting an internship can make those first few days all the more nerve wracking.

After scoring two internships in New York City last summer, I couldn’t have been more excited – and then the realization of living alone in a city I didn’t know anything about terrified me. From the moment my plane landed at La Guardia, I was a nervous wreck until I made it through my first few days.

By the end of my time as a summer intern, though, I had the interning and city gag down pat. In fact, I couldn’t get enough, so I decided to come back to New York in January to intern again. With three different internships under my belt in one of the biggest cities in the world, here are some tips that helped me become a big city intern faster than I thought was possible.

Timing is everything: Since most big cities rely on public transportation, you will need to leave earlier than you normally would anywhere else. For example, if it takes you ten minutes to walk from your residence to your company’s building, you should leave twenty minutes early – at least for the first few days – to make sure you get there on time. Also, who knows what can happen on any given day. Traffic could hold you up one day, a morning rain shower could crowd the subways, or a longer than anticipated line at Starbucks might hold you back while waiting for your morning Venti Mocha. Always give yourself some leeway because this way, you won’t be late and you will save yourself the stress of worrying about getting to the job on time.

Transportation shortcuts exist: Most transportation systems, such as the subway and buses in major cities from New York to San Francisco, have websites that you can find all the information you will ever need at. However, most helpful is the popular HopStop, a website that will tell you what subway trains to take, what bus to transfer to, and how many blocks you need to walk to make it to your destination and how long all of that moving and shaking will take you. It not only informs you about maintenance hold-ups, but it will give you different routes for you to pick from. And to top it all off, you can use HopStop on your cell phone. You won’t get lost with this website in your life, I promise.

Make friends with the doormen: Whether your company’s office has a doorman or you are running errands for an author out of her apartment, get to know the people working the front desk or building doors. Not only will you have a smiling face to greet you in the morning, but you will have someone that knows the city well to direct you in a time of need. This past January, the doormen at the apartment building I constantly ran errands out of were some of the nicest people I met my entire internship. Constantly helpful, they always made me laugh no matter how cold it was in New York or how many boxes I had to carry blocks away. They will brighten your day, and by talking to them, you will brighten their day.

Band-Aids make good friends, too: I can’t begin to count the amount of band-aids I went through during all my internships. It didn’t matter how old and broken in my shoes were, they gave me big, ugly blisters. Why? Well, because the amount of walking I did while interning was far beyond the normal amount of any day around a college campus. I learned quickly to keep a box of Band-aids in my over-sized bag and everyone should do the same. Trust me, you don’t want to be the girl limping with a bloody shoe. Also, since interns usually deal with a lot of paper, nasty paper cuts are guaranteed and you won’t want to have bloody fingers when handing faxes into your boss.

Keep a detailed notebook: Purchase a small spiral notebook and keep it in your bag the entire internship experience. While you write tasks or errands you need to run throughout the day in it, you can also keep addresses of locations you visit, phone numbers and other contact information, and any thoughts you feel need to be recorded all in the same place. If the notebook has pockets, slide in all the business cards you get. Notebooks also come in handy because you can write directions down in it, which saves you time and embarrassment from opening a huge subway map in the middle of a metro station to see where you need to go. At the end of your internship, you will have pages filled of duties you completed (which will make you feel good about yourself) along with a lot of other information that could one day come in handy (for example, a lot of the locations I visited during my summer internships were places I wanted to go again – and I was able to reference them from my notes during my winter internship). This is a good way to keep all your stuff organized so you aren’t leaving things all over the place.

Keep up the pace: Internships in big cities tend to go at a very fast pace. Make sure you keep up. Some days it will honestly suck and you will probably hate it – but you are there to learn. Soak everything in – the good, the bad, the bloody socks from your new shoes, the compliments from your new boss – everything. You were picked to be an intern for a reason, and as long as you remember that, you shouldn’t stop working hard to show that you really do belong there.

Make the most of it: A major perk of interning in a big city is actually being in a big city! You will have a ton of culture and excitement at your finger tips, so live it up! Although working may wear you out, make sure you spend time seeing what the city has to offer. Not only will you gain immense amounts of work experience, but you will do so in a cultural environment – there really isn’t much more you can ask for during an internship!

This series is meant to provide advice for getting the most out of college, rather than just getting through it. So far we’ve already discussed having a professor as a BFF, and now we’re going to explore the college town…beyond the pub crawl!]

College is a learning experience that extends outside classroom walls. You’re not just amassing knowledge from textbooks, but learning how to manage your time and live on your own. It sounds corny, but it’s true. And one aspect of learning at college that many tend to overlook is learning about your surroundings: your college town.

You may know the basic landmarks (the freshman bar, the frat bar, the upperclassmen bar, the jock bar), but if your only contribution to the local economy is your weekend drinking cash, you could be missing out on much, much more. Whether you go to a small college tucked away in the hills, or a major university in an urban jungle, there is sure to be something exceptional about the land just off campus.

If you go to a rural or secluded school, see if there are any local harvest-your-own farms. Is there apple picking nearby? Or perhaps a place to pick up fresh corn or milk? You might never be able to boast about having such fresh food again! Maybe there’s a lake not too far away for swimming (or skating, in the winter). Take a few friends out for a pick-up hockey game to mix things up on a Saturday afternoon. The best thing about these activities is that they’re either dirt cheap, or free.

If you go to a suburban or small-town school, see if there are any pick-up or recreational sports leagues in the area. It’s a great way to get in touch with local culture, especially if you want to start establishing yourself outside of school. If you’re a runner or cyclist, see if there are any races being run in the area. Are there any museums or historical landmarks nearby? Stop by the town hall to find out. Perhaps there are local music or art festivals held annually where you might be able to pick up some original wall hangings or discover a new band or two.

If you go to an urban, big-city school, the possibilities are really endless. You probably have access to public transportation and major centers of culture and commerce. Take advantage! Not everyone gets the chance to say they’ve lived in New York/Boston/DC/LA/Chicago etc., so take the time to get the know the city like a native. Do they film television shows or movies in your city? See if you can sign up for a filming! Furthermore, see if your school has an internship program and try to get some work experience in the city. Chances are, you could be connected to your dream job with all the networking possibilities in your area.

If you take the time to get to know your area, you’ll become a more cultured and interesting person–traits that are extremely handy when it comes time for job interviews. When they ask, “when was the last time you tried something new?” you’ll be all ready to supply them with the story about the time you chartered a bike tour in the mountains near campus. But even more importantly, everyone reaches a point where going to the same bars every weekend just doesn’t cut it anymore. By discovering what’s up in your new neighborhood, you’ll learn how to entertain and sustain yourself. Isn’t that what college is all about?

[Come back to find out the next must-do on my list: Join a Club You Never Thought You Would.]

Otherwise, if you’re, oh, say, a college student with not a lot of moolah (and therefore many fewer options), summer dates tend to digress into long walks and the occasional movie night. Now, I love walking and I have been known to thoroughly enjoy a good movie night, but sometimes you want to do something a little more special–without draining the last few bucks in your bank account.

So, dear College Candies, here are a few ideas. Use your new powers for good and not for evil.

Eh, what the hell. Use ‘em for evil too.

A Day at the Beach

Frick, man, who doesn’t love the beach?! Pack up your bathing suit, a picnic lunch, sunscreen, towels, some balls, and your date (and your date’s balls…optional) and head off for a lovely day.

Plan to arrive at the beach around 1. This way, you avoid the peak sun of high noon (sweat = sexy; sandy sweat = gross; also, skin cancer = ultimate buzzkill), and it also makes the whole thing feel more leisurely. Spend the day munching, playing volleyball, swimming, and making out.

At night, pack up and head for the local cheap-drinks bar (there is always one by the beach) and end the night with tispy, sunburn kisses.

Your Local Flea Market

Okay, I know this sounds suspect, but hear me out.

You know how guys (mostly) hate shopping? Right. So this seems counter-intuitive.

But what you’re forgetting is that flea markets are full of a lot of crazy shoop. As you pick up odd (and possibly tetanus-inducing) objects, you’ll find yourselves laughing and talking and bonding in a way you couldn’t possibly just sitting facing each other on a couch. A flea market gives you props. You dig? Think “Whose Line Is It Anyway?“

Combine this day-long activity with a light dinner and you’re set.

Theme Night

Pick a theme (Mexico, Racoon, New Jersey, whatever) and challenge each other to think of more and more activities in your area that match it. Be creative. And be competitive–the person who comes up with the most ideas wins a prize (sexual favors optional…and totally encouraged).

And make sure you both show up to the date dressed in the theme. If one of you chickens out, the date is off (as are said sexual favors)!

Disposable Cameras

These days, most people have digital cameras. That means better pictures–but fewer weird, let’s-delete-that shots. And those horrible pictures were always so much fun in high school when you finally got around to getting them developed!

So the plan is: You each buy one (really cheap, captions optional) disposable camera. Head off to the park, or wildlife refuge, or wherever you feel like hanging out. Take tons of pictures. Make sure some of them are of each other and of the two of you together.

Drop them off for one-hour processing. Use your hour to eat and cuddle and talk. Pick ‘em up and laugh your butts off.

Travel

Spend $5 a piece and hop the local public transport to somewhere neither of you have ever been. (Caution: make sure you don’t end up in some really dangerous neighborhood. Defending each other’s honor is only sexy in the movies.) Check out this other, unknown neighborhood. Find new places to go.

Having new experiences together: always an aphrodisiac. Just wait until after you get off the public transportation to act on it.

Any other ideas?

[Image courtesy of http://www.amanresorts.com/]

Public transportation is probably one of the best and worst things about big cities. It can usually be pretty reliable, but when it isn’t, it really isn’t. And let’s not forget the dismal conditions that stations, buses, and trains can be in. But despite the downfalls, it’s one of the best methods of transportation in cities. That’s why millions of people a day use public transportation.

Out of those people, far too many of the women who depend on the train system feel like they have to be on their guard – and for entirely justifiable, horrible reasons. The NY Times tells a grizzly truth that not a lot of people are willing to admit happens, much less consider it a problem. But every day in countless trains in countless cities, a woman is sexually assaulted.

It’s not just American cities, either. It happens everywhere, from NYC to Mexico City to Tokyo, where they’ve even made women-only cars. It can be just a pinch or a brush, a blatant grope, and even a flash. It can happen to any woman of any race, though it’s generally females under 20. And I can’t think of a single female I know who frequently takes public transportation that it hasn’t happened to.

Not even me.

Halfway through my freshmen year of high school, I had my commute timed just perfectly. I left the house around 5:45, caught the Q111, transferred to the Q113, hopped onto the E at Jamaica, got off at Queens Plaza and walked up to the Queensboro Plaza stop, then waited around for the N or W and took it to the last stop. (Complex, I know.) Usually, I got to school around 8. One day, though, I screwed up my perfect timing when the E was running local. Utterly frustrated, I headed for the F instead, hoping it would get me to school in time.

I don’t remember what the station was that we were approaching when it happened, but I knew it was pretty far from Queens Plaza. It was well into rush hour, so the train was packed and I had to stand, which my usual schedule eliminated. You know how it is in crowded trains; you’re so accustomed to having complete strangers closer to you than you would ever allow in another situation that you’re pretty desensitized to it.

I didn’t register it at first; I thought it was just some random passenger who was sharing the pole with me. It took me a few seconds to realize that his hips were closer than they should have been, that the rocking of the train did not match the rocking of his body. I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, then tried to ignore him, then realized that his entirely purposeful grope had no explanation, no excuse.

As I am now, I would have turned around to give him one hell of a nasty smack. But then, I was horrified. I stood stone still, like a deer in the headlights, and didn’t even so much as lift my head until the train came to a stop. When I looked up, I saw him casually walk out of the door like nothing happened. I looked around for the first time in a few minutes and noticed that no one – no one – had even so much as seen him. If they did, they didn’t care. I don’t think anyone even looked up when I ran crying from the car on the next stop.

“Most of the time, the women said, they seethe inwardly but say nothing,” says the Times article, and it’s as true for women now as it was for me then. I’ve heard stories from friends, from family, and even from my mother. And out of all of the stories I’ve heard, only one woman actually stood up for herself, calling the guy out – and that was only, she confessed, because the presence of a police officer in the car encouraged her.

I still wonder what made him choose me, in a car packed full of other people. Then, I was purely convinced it was my fault; I figured I had to have done something wrong. Now I know better. Nothing even vaguely similar has happened to me since then – but the fact that I don’t take the MTA as much as I used to and the fact that I purposely avoid crowded cars most likely plays a factor. And yes, I’m still scared to take trains, sometimes.

But should I be? Is that really fair to me? And what do we do to fix this? Woman-only cars? Security cameras in all cars? Teaching women to be less afraid to defend themselves, or teaching men to respect and value – not victimize – women?

The ideas all sound wonderful, sure, but are they realistic? Women now are more confident and less likely to stand aside, and there are numerous cases that have been heard and men tried and convicted because of camera phones, which have aided in hundreds of cases. But out of the women who do stand up, hundreds of others don’t.

And that is one hell of an issue.

I was lucky, and more times than not, made it back to my apartment in one piece—though getting my key into my askew lock was mission impossible most of the time. There were a few occasions I woke up in an unknown location (“ok, I do know you… but how did I get here?”).

On one of my worst homeward bound adventures, I decided it would be a wise idea to take the bus. I would save money by not taking a cab. The bus stop was right outside my apartment. It was daylight—why wouldn’t I use public transportation? I’ll tell you why.

I woke up half way across the city, with a wing to the bus all to myself. The second I opened my eyes, all I could smell was vodka and smoke—which kept people away from me and the surrounding seats open due to the vile smell seeping out of my pores. Though I knew what city I was in, I had never seen this area before in the three years I had lived there. I felt like I was going to vomit if I moved. I felt like I would do the same if I stayed on the bus. Rough, rough situation.

I eventually got off the bus, and into a cab, but due to my already bad French accent and the fact that my slurred speech was unintelligible, I ended up, again, in a different part of the city.

I finally called a friend who came and picked me up from a park bench, a Coca-Cola that I had managed to order from McDonalds in hand. “We should tape your address to your shirt, Katy. Then you could just point to where you need to go.” Haha. Wouldn’t that be funny?

Now, you can sorta actually do that. These silly cocktail napkins from Spoonsisters have a spot for you—or your more sober friends—to write your destination, and check where your cab driver can locate your money—anywhere from “in my sock” to “in my bra.”

While I don’t know that I trust the friend that would stick me in a cab in such a poor state, I would find it amusing to find the information filled napkin wadded up in my hand the next morning.

Spoonsisters also offers a napkin for the shy girls who want to pick up that cute guy across the bar—these cocktail napkins have a place for name, sign, phone number, and possible first date ideas. Buy him a drink, and get the small talk out of the way before you even open your mouth!