Whether you’re a native New Yorker or a one-time visitor of the Big Apple, New York City may just be your favorite urban playground. Where else in the world can you enjoy a musical number on Broadway, buy it all for less in Chinatown, tantalize your taste buds in Little Italy and get crunked at a trendy East Village bar — in one day? From the Met to the Park to the Piers, the opportunities offered by Manhattan and its neighboring boroughs are unlike that of any other place in the world. Perhaps this is why hordes of Cornell students settle into NYC each summer, pursuing internships, visiting family and friends or living it up on Daddy’s summer bonus.

Like many of my peers, I spent the majority of my summer interning in Manhattan. My job consisted of writing articles for a classroom magazine published by a renowned children’s education company. My debut as a hardcore journalist was momentous, as you might expect.

In fact, I was responsible for solving the many great mysteries that pester the minds of high school students everywhere. I investigated and explained a variety of phenomena, such as “why our feet fall asleep” or “why we hiccup.” Clearly, my work has altered the lives of many classroom readers, and, if I may say so myself, even positively impacted the state of our nation’s education system. All jokes aside though, I had an enjoyable internship experience and met a lot of wonderful people.

Not only did I have the opportunity to work in Manhattan, but I also was able to live there for the second half of my internship. Now, those of you who were fortunate enough to spend your entire summer in the city probably obtained your housing through a legitimate source (ie: NYU, The School of Visual Arts, Columbia and/or any arrangement involving a friend, family member or broker). I, on the other hand, decided to take a different route. To make a long story short, I ended up subletting a one-bedroom apartment in a trendy location for a very inexpensive fee. Sounds great, right?

Well, I will not deny that my experience was an interesting one. You see, the apartment belonged to a 50 year-old Canadian rock musician whose first and last name rhyme and also happen to signify a state of drug-related delirium. (I am still not sure whether this is his real name or just the stage variety.) The Rock Star was away on tour for the entire month and decided to hand over his keys (which I managed to lock inside the apartment on several occasions) to yours truly. Although it appeared that The Rock Star did not believe in cleaning his apartment, loose dirt and dust did not stop him from becoming an accomplished carpenter, painter and antiques collector. His banana-yellow, lime-green and grey-colored rooms were tastefully adorned with scrap wood and hardware that, put together, served as shelving for some very old Christmas cookie tins. Needless to say, I was living the good life.

Fortunately, I was able to share my New York housing experience with another Cornell-bred senior intern. She, too, participated in an extensive search in order to find affordable summer housing. Through the wonders of on-line networking, I rescued her from the possibility of a curbside existence by luring her in with this sweet deal. I think that she enjoyed our living situation as much as I did.

Actually, my roommate was not the only other Cornell student that I happened to meet up with this summer. In fact, I ran into many Cornellians in Manhattan, some of whom I recognized, and others who I had the great pleasure of meeting. You see, it is not what I did or where I lived or even who I lived with that struck me about New York City. What left a stronger impression was the vast number of familiar faces that I saw during my brief stay.

Now, I understand that the number of students who venture into NYC each summer is extraordinarily large. Still, in a city of 8 million people, the chances of bumping into a fellow Cornellian — let alone, one that you know — seem pretty low. However, if I have learned anything this summer, it’s that Cornell students, past and present, are everywhere … especially in the Big Apple.

For example, during my internship orientation, I discovered that three other interns at my publishing company were also Cornell undergraduates. I did not work in the same department as these other interns, but still it was nice to know that I was not the lone Cornellian. Additionally, I met some former Cornell students. After my first week on the job, two alumni visited my cubicle on separate occasions to reminisce about their own college experiences. Outside of work, I ran into even more Cornellians. In fact, I was just visiting a nearby store on a lunch break when I literally bumped into one of my sorority sisters. And, during a commute home from work, I ran into a recent Cornell graduate on the train.

Many other such encounters took place in bars. Just like there is a Johnny O’s or a Dino’s in Ithaca, the Big Apple also has its share of undergraduate bars which are almost exclusively populated by students from Cornell and NYU. I didn’t “miss out” on bumping into two other Sun Opinionators at Proof, and I’d “agree to disagree” about the events of that night. And, while I arranged to meet some high school friends at Union Bar to celebrate a birthday, I ended up spending the majority of my night chatting up 78 college friends and/or their summer flings. It seemed the same bars that were recommended to me were also recommended to the entire Cornell community.

So, no matter how diverse and far-reaching New York City may be, you are never more than a hop, skip and avenue away from a fellow Cornellian. Undoubtedly, Cornell students love New York.

Naomi Goldin is a senior in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She can be contacted at ngg6@cornell.edu. Kit and Kaboodle appears alternate Wednesdays.