As one of the most congested cities ever, the citizens of New York often shy away from its hot summers in favor of the breezy beaches of the eastern seaboard. As long as I have access to air conditioning, I embrace a good summer day in the city that never sleeps. For me, summers in New York bring out some of my fondest Manhattan memories of the time when I first decided to move here. So when the city begins to get warmer, my mind reverts back to the summer of 2009 when I had just graduated from Syracuse University. It was the height of the recession and everyone was broke and obsessed with vampires. Due to the recent death of Michael Jackson, his music was blasting at every bar. I spent the summer going back and forth from Delaware to New York sleeping on friends’ couches and sometimes floors.

As I went through this incredibly turbulent time in my life, I fell in love with New York and all of the glamour it held for me. During that fateful summer, I would find myself walking the streets alone on many steamy afternoons attempting to take in some of the city’s splendor. One day after a job interview, I passed a Bank of America that had a screen in front of it that showed all of the stocks of the day. The whole thing was red and my future was looking incredibly sad. It was then that I decided once and for all that in spite of all odds, I was going to take the future into my own hands and become a socialite. So here I am, living in Manhattan still striving for socialite fame and fortune and loving every moment of it.