Interning in the Summer With My Sister

by Aja Frost

On June 11, I’ll take my last two finals of sophomore year. Then I’ll throw all my boxes in my dad’s car, drive four hours to my hometown, and pack a suitcase. The next day, I’ll wave goodbye to my parents and board my flight to New York City.

“You know, I’m super, super excited for this internship…but part of me doesn’t want to go,” I said to my mom. We were having one of our regular hour-long phone calls.

“Why? You’re going to have a fabulous time!” she replied. “If you want, I’ll show up on the first day and pretend I’m you.”

This might sound lame, but I wanted to spend the summer with my family. I’ve interned on the East Coast for the past two summers, which means I haven’t spent more than three weeks with my family since 2012. My parents are my best friends, and my brother and sister come close after. Being at home with them is like sleeping in — comfy, soft, undemanding. In contrast, being in New York is like taking an ice bath.

But while I’m a homebody, I’m also pretty darn ambitious. Since I’d landed an internship in NYC, I was showing up with my business cards and high heels even if I had to fight back the tears from coast-to-coast.

And then something awesome and totally unexpected happened: My sister landed her own internship in New York.

This wouldn’t be so bizarre if not for the fact that she’s 18 and has never had a real job or taken a single college class. I wasn’t questioning the miracle, however. All I knew was that suddenly, I wasn’t going to be alone in the city: I was going to have a sidekick. We spent several minutes on the phone gushing about how happy we were and how great this was going to be, and then I asked my sister where she was planning on staying.

“I thought I’d stay with you!” she said cheerily.

I’d already booked a three-month rental on Airbnb. It’s a room in Morningside Heights that’s so tiny the bed touches each wall. I’m almost certain I’m overpaying for it at $1,300 a month. But now, between my sister and me, it would only be $750.

“I guess that’s okay,” I said warily. “We’re going to have to share the bed.”

The next day, my sister sent me a Google doc she’d started called, “Welcome to New York.” It was a bucket-list for the summer, and there were already forty items.

1. Go to the Spotted Pig
2. Get “Afternoon Tea” at the Plaza
3. Travel to every location featured in “Sex and the City”
4. See a Broadway show

I’d never heard of the Spotted Pig, so I did a quick Google search. Twenty-one dolalrs for a burger?!? It looked delicious, but it wasn’t your typical broke-college-kid fare. Brunch at the Plaza sounded super fun, but it would cost us $65 each. And I knew Broadway tickets were not budget-friendly. It was time for another phone call.

“Siena, unless we want to run out of money during the first week, the only thing we can do on your list is walk to TV spots.”

It didn’t take us long to discover all the great, and more importantly, cheap things the city has to offer. After I nixed most of her items for being too exorbitant, we started re-growing the list with activities like “Get $29 tickets to the New York City Ballet,” “Go to the Frick Collection during pay-what-you-wish time,” and, “Eat our hearts out at Smorgasburg.”

My sister scored us free passes to the late show with Seth Meyers, and we decided we’d wait on line at a TKTS booth to buy 50% off Broadway tickets.

We put down $45 each for tickets to the Jazz Age Lawn Party on Governors Island, agreeing that the chance to pretend we were Prohibition-era minxes for a couple hours was too good to pass up.

I thought we’d struck a good balance between cheap and chic, but every time I picked up the phone to plan with Siena, she surprised me.

“Mom kept asking how big the kitchen was,” she relayed during one conversation. “And I was like, ‘Mom, it doesn’t matter, because I don’t plan on cooking.’”

Thankfully, she couldn’t see my massive eye-roll. “Hate to break it to you, but you’re probably going to prepare at least two meals per day.”

There was the time I reminded her to allocate $100 a month for a metro pass.

“Why would I need that? I’m going to Uber everywhere.”

I can’t exactly blame my sister for her naiveté — I’m pretty sure I had just as many misconceptions about the way life worked when I was her age. Even though I only have two years on Siena, talking to her has really made it clear how much becoming financially independent has changed me.

I’m glad my sister is coming to the New York with me for a couple reasons. First, we’ll get to experience the city together — even if we’re doing it as poor students. Second, she’ll get to have her first summer away from home — under my watchful eye. Third, seeing the differences between us makes me feel more confident about tackling the city. The idea of going still makes me uncomfortable, but at least I’ve got a reminder of how far I’ve come.

It’s going to be an interesting and awesome three months in the city with Siena. I’m looking forward to sharing my experiences.

This column is part of a multi-part series.

Aja Frost is a student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo who loves writing… and dessert. Follow her on Twitter @ajavuu.

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