It’s been so long since I’ve last written. Manchester seems both like just yesterday and like forever ago; I completed my spring semester, and it was definitely the best year yet overall. Now, I’ve just settled in to my apartment in Boston for the summer! I am so happy to finally be living here and working here. Given that I’ve spent my entire life frequently visiting Boston with my family, I’ve come to love the city, and it has become familiar to me on many levels. My sister goes to Boston University, I love the Italian atmosphere in the North End, and it makes me feel more alive to live by the ocean.

I am so blessed to have an internship in such an exciting city. I’ll be working on medical writing and editing at a very inspiring and successful pharmaceutical company, and this is the perfect time for me to learn about awesome career opportunities. It’ll be different than simply learning about career paths during my previous years at Colgate; this is so much more real because I will be graduating in 2019. Exactly a year from now, I’ll (hopefully) be settling in to begin my official first job, or perhaps graduate school.

The other interns are from all over the country and world. I am definitely looking forward to meeting new people and networking. Here are some of my goals for the summer:

1. Always be confident.
2. Work like Jason. (Jason is a guy from my dad’s work who is an incredible worker, always asking what else he can do, always contributing ideas for new ways to move forward).
3. Don’t worry about anything.
4. Fearless pursuit of excellence.
5. Live in the moment, enjoy the city!!
6. Write more.
7. Be kind to yourself.
8. Always go above and beyond, be mature, dependable, and responsible.
9. Be a self-sufficient and independent worker, but also work well in a team.
10. Learn new things each day in order to prepare for an exciting career.

I think ten is a good number, and this is a good variety of goals. Here are ideas of places to go this summer and things to do, which I’m sure will grow as time goes on:

1. The Lawn on D at night.
2. Eat lobster tails from Bova’s outside!
3. Read outside, or even in the Boston Public Library.
4. Walk around Boston Common (or have a picnic).
5. See a baseball game at Fenway.
6. Eat more lobster rolls.
7. Go to the Mapparium.
8. Eat a Boston Cream Pie.
9. Gym membership at the Fit Rec.
10. Watch a performance by the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company.
11. Go to the ICA.
12. Go to Museum of Science Planetarium.
13. Go to Museum of Fine Arts.

I can’t wait to go to at least a handful of those places, and I know that time will go by faster than I expect. I’ll sleep soon, but I have a good feeling about this summer and my first day! I’ll write more later.