PLAYING HOUSE: NAVIGATING MY LIFE AS A SUMMER INTERN, YOUNG ADULT AND DAUGHTER

By Jayda Foote, Copywriting Intern, Razorfish Health

It’s summer 2022, I still wear my mask on the train, I work from home three out of five days of the week, and I don’t sit too close to strangers. Even though it’s been more than 2 years since the pandemic began, the effects of COVID-19 are still lingering to this day.

One thing that remained the same, however, is the liminality of the college intern experience. Whether you’re in-person or not, that feeling of floating in between independence and your parental safety net remains. It’s even more poignant for me, living at home and commuting an hour each way when I come into the office. I’m lucky enough to have friends living in Manhattan, so I can play “house” whenever I want to. It’s nice—but simultaneously stifling—to have people to fall back on.

I need to ride the subway every time I come in. The other day I explained to my father that I’d be going to dinner on the Upper West Side—it’s a solid 45 minute train ride from the New York office. Safe to say, he freaked out a bit. 

“Nobody else I know wants to ride the subway like you do!” he huffed.

I understand he’s just worried for my safety, but it’s an unavoidable truth. I must take public transportation. Alone. Sometimes at night. Now, I carry my protective devices, so I feel safe, because I’m in control. He is nervous because he is not in control. If I lived alone there would be no need to inform him of my every move, but I am still his responsibility and also my own.

So, I went to my dinner. I had a great time. I look at my phone for the first time in a few hours and I see …

Jayda,

What train are you taking?

Hello?

What time will you be home?

Jayda?

My Dad’s texts are accompanied by a few missed calls. I call my Dad back, let him know I’ll be on the next train out. He says he will be there to pick me up.

I can’t be upset with him for wanting to know, because he’s always there for me. He’s always ready to help. I really feel lucky to have him, and I need to remember that with independence comes accountability (i.e., dealing with problems on my own).

The other day I was making myself a bracelet (my new hobby) when my mother walked in with a bill from the doctor. She told me the visit was a whopping $750 dollars. And because I was now getting paid, I was going to deal with it.

I freaked out! $750 is a lot of money, and shouldn’t insurance cover my doctor’s visit? I voiced my concern, and my mother shrugged. So, I called the doctor’s office, and next thing I knew I had filed my first insurance claim. I felt more adult than any other time in my life. And then I got back to my beading. I think this example really summarizes the sense of middle ground we feel as interns.

This summer I have three projects to complete and present. It’s a lot, but I feel like I am getting it done in a timely fashion. There are a lot of things I don’t have to worry about—rent, groceries, transportation—that would take up the time I use on these three projects. However, I would feel a lot more liberated if I were making those decisions for myself. But one day I’ll have to do everything, all at once, on my own.

What I’ve come to realize time and time again this summer is that nothing will ever be the same. I’ve become grateful for this period, these years are my training wheels. The feeling of riding a bike for the first time is as terrifying as it is exhilarating, as I’m sure living and working on my own will be. This practice time that I’m experiencing right now, however, will no doubt make it easier. 

To me, life doesn’t get better or worse after college, per se. It just changes—all the time. And it’s good to be prepared for the tumult of adult life. This summer did just that for me, and I hope you have had or will soon have a similar experience yourself.

Jayda Foote is a Copywriting Intern at Razorfish Health. She is majoring in English and minoring in Public Relations at Dartmouth College (Class of 2023). A fun fact about Jayda is that she entered a child beauty pageant and won a trophy for her personality.