I cannot believe my eight weeks in New York have come to an end. As I sit on the tarmac (for two hours…), an overwhelming sense of excitement competes with an overwhelming sense of sadness. I cannot wait to be home (if you haven’t noticed, “home” is a big theme for me – if you have questions, see the blog posts from Day 5 and Day 35). I also know I will miss New York and the friends I made here, the way I missed my family in Atlanta all summer. It’s crazy for me to think about New York now. When I arrived back in June, I was sure I would never call New York “home,” but now, because the friends I made here became my family, I will forever think of it as a city where I can not only survive, but thrive.

“It is so amazing to surround yourself with others who understand you so completely and value you for everything you stand for. I feel not only completely accepted by my MSBA family, but also completely and totally loved.”

When I was accepted into MSBA, Lorne, Bailey, and the other alumni started calling us their “fam”. I am so close to my actual family that I thought I would never call the MSBA group my family, but now I have done just that. My MSBA classmates even came to remind me of my sorority sisters (who I swore I would never call my “sisters” until I discovered that they really are in every sense of the word – for more on Carson getting sappy over her sorority, see Instagram). Living in the dorms was just like living in the sorority house – there was always someone up to do anything I was in the mood for. There was always someone excited to make me smile when I was frustrated with riding the subway. When I got home at the end of the day, I could not wait to see my MSBA family. As amazing as my internship at The Garden was, my classmates were truly the highlight of my summer. Just as with my sorority, where I get to surround myself with women who value the same things I do, my MSBA family has the same goals I have, and we all know what we have to do to achieve them. It is so amazing to surround yourself with others who understand you so completely and value you for everything you stand for. I feel not only completely accepted by my MSBA family, but also completely and totally loved.

I am so excited to return to Atlanta and put everything I learned this summer to good use. I have grown in my ability to network, my confidence in my work, and my determination to succeed in the industry. I’m even more excited to see where my MSBA family moves on to after this life-changing experience. In sorority world, we often say, “it’s not four years, it’s for life”. I feel the same way about the bonds made with my MSBA family – it’s not eight weeks, it’s eternity. I am so excited to see all that they accomplish, and I will be so overjoyed when I can validate my accomplishments by sharing with the group.

As the flight attendant says we’re (finally) preparing to take off, all I have left to say is: MSBA 2017, we don’t know who you are yet, but you’re the luckiest people in the world. And, to my MSBA 2016 family: we made it, go dawgs!