My NY Intern Experience

Back in August, I got the opportunity to intern at Sony Music in New York City. I had been living just outside of Nashville with my girlfriend while finishing up my undergrad and trying to find my footing for the next step in my life.

When I found out I had been invited to come work for Sony, I had a few weeks to get my living arrangements lined up. I heard about this site that finds students, and other travelers from all over the globe, temporary housing called airbnb and decided to give it a try. I found accommodations from a guy in Queens, who after speaking with him on the phone seemed like a nice guy. His listing fit the budget I was working with, the subway station was about 30-40 mins from work, and anything else I needed was not a long walk to.

Shortly after arriving there, my host’s story began to unravel giving way to the true Arthur. It turns out that my host was not a full time teacher, but in fact a Per Diem Substitute Teacher. Later into my first day, I find out that there is no silverware in the apartment. A couple red flags were raised, but I figured I would give it a chance.

My second day, I found out that he was having people from Welfare Services come over and that he wanted to give the people the impression that no one else was living in apartment. So, I left and did the tourist thing in NYC.

On my third day, I started work at Sony and it was going great. I was learning a lot and meeting some really cool people. Everything else about my time in NY wasn’t that pleasant.

The end of my first week, I met Arthur’s friend, Julio. He steals bikes for Arthur, so that he can sell them on the internet. That was the last straw. I decided to look for a new place because I didn’t want to be around that.

I was having no luck finding something I could afford and by the end of my third week, I started to panic when he approached me about paying next month’s rent early, because he had just gotten a 5 Day Notice from his landlord. Apparently, Arthur had been 2 months behind on his rent. I told him I could pay him the next day. When he left to go do whatever it is he does during the day, I grabbed all my stuff and left.

In my panic, I thought of looking into a transfer to Sony in Nashville. I can’t that the HR people at Sony enough for making this happen. By the end of the day, I was on bus to my parents house in MD. By the end of the weekend, I was on my way back to a fresh start in TN.