Departure

I started this entry at JFK waiting to get on the plane to London. I’m now sitting in the lobby of the Central London hotel that the Fulbright Commission is putting us up in over the course of our three-day orientation, waiting to check into my room. I can’t believe I’m really here.

A lot has happened over the last two weeks. Life is moving so fast, and it’s hard to catch up with it. I already miss New York. The few months I spent there were equal parts challenging and inspiring. It seems so surreal that I won’t be going into the office tomorrow morning. The all-too-brief chapter of my life that was Pentagram is now closed, and a new one will start tomorrow.

I’m too exhausted to write a long reflective entry, so I think I’ll just list the highlights of my last two weeks in New York with photos after the jump.

A view from the Brooklyn Bridge

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Gone Soon

“How happy is the blameless vestal’s lot! The world forgetting, by the world forgot. Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind! Each pray’r accepted, and each wish resign’d.” — Alexander Pope, Eloisa to Abelard

I can’t believe it’s already September, and that I’ve been out of college for three months. I don’t think I’ve completely internalized that I won’t be going back to school this time around. But the papers have been signed, and the upcoming year in London is becoming more of a reality than it ever has been.

Honestly, I’m not sure I’m ready for it all.

I have a little over two weeks left of my internship at Pentagram. I’m proud to say that over the last weeks I’ve grown in ability and confidence. While it will be a while before the designs I’m helping create will be released, the banners outside the office have changed to reflect Madison Square Park’s new season. Though all I was asked to do was modify an existing design by a former intern, I think the colors look quite lovely against the Manhattan backdrop.

Mad. Sq. Pk. banner outside the Pentagram office

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Make It Rain

There is a paradox inherent in big cities: the more people there are, the less likely they are to notice or care about each other. Social psychologists have described this phenomenon as deindividuation — immersion in a group to the point where individuals lose their identities and become part of the crowd.

This is particularly true of New York, where people fight for a sense of personal space. New Yorkers generally resist any kind of contact. Even on crowded subways when squishing is inevitable, touching is prohibited and reproachable. Individuals tend to insulate themselves in the world of their magazines and iPods, seemingly unaware of the people around them.

In such a city, kindness is a rare and undervalued virtue. People are too often in a hurry to get where they need to go. If you’re not moving at their pace, you’re in their way. Though I usually enjoy New York’s vibrancy and energy, I feel lonely here on difficult days.

A street musician playing near Penn Station

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