As I prepare to head home to New York for the summer and start my internship in June, I am often reminded of how lucky I am to be able to commute from my home to Manhattan via a 40-minute train ride. Many students who decide to do cool internships in NYC over the summer are not quite as lucky and will be traveling perhaps hundreds of miles from home to stay in New York all summer.

With that in mind, I thought I'd share a few tips for those wide-eyed, New York-bound college students hoping to find their roots in the Big Apple this summer.

1. Try to get used to the subway system, because it will save you a lot of time

I know it may seem like all New Yorkers talk about is pizza, bagels, and the subway, but despite the extremely confusing subway system it really is the best way to quickly get around the city. I usually end up sticking with the "number" train lines, like the 1, 2, or 3 trains, because they seem to run more often than the "letter" trains like L, F, Q, and seemingly every letter in between.

It can be cumbersome to quickly get through the subway turnstiles when you're in a rush, but even if you miss a train, there's always another one less than 10 minutes behind it.

2. If you want entertainment on your days off, consider getting rush tickets for Broadway shows

This advice may cater to people like me who avidly keep up with what shows are on Broadway when, but even if you don't consider yourself a true thespian, NYC is pretty much the theater capital of the world and it's hard not to get sucked into the excitement of seeing Broadway shows if you're in the city all summer.

If you have some time on a weekend morning, waiting outside the box office for rush tickets in the morning is a great way to snag some cheap, fantastic seats for your favorite shows. You can also use one of my personal favorite apps, TodayTix, to get last-minute, discounted show tickets as soon as hours before that day's performance.

3. Invest in bags and purses that zip shut, because, ya know, people do get mugged

This may seem like common sense, but something my mom always reminds me is to keep one hand on my purse at all times when I'm walking around the city and make sure that my bag is zipped all the way shut at all times. Unfortunately, the UVA honor system doesn't actually apply everywhere you go, and in a city with millions of people walking around, it's easy to be accidentally jostled by a suspicious person and end up without your wallet a moment later.

4. Be prepared to walk very fast everywhere, because New Yorkers are notoriously fast walkers

Maybe it's the New Yorker in me, or maybe it's the fact that I only had four minutes between classes in middle school and had to learn how to expertly weave my way through the crowded hallways as a tiny 11-year old. Either way, I've grown up appreciating people who speed-walk to every destination.

I'm all for stopping a minute and taking in your surroundings, but New York City streets are not always the best spots to take an extended gaze upwards at the heavens. Not only that, but people don't obey street signs at all in NYC and will walk across the street whenever they darn well feel like it, so just be ready.

5. For more cost-effective entertainment, spend as much time as you can in Central Park

Instead, to get a more leisurely view of Manhattan at virtually no cost, there's plenty to explore in Central Park. It's absolutely enormous, measuring about 30 city blocks long and containing such sights as its multiple lakes, the Shakespeare garden, the Belvedere Castle, Shakespeare in the Park, the "Imagine" mosaic, the Central Park Zoo, and a lot more.

If I ever need to kill time in the city, I love just strolling around Central Park and people-watching. Oddly, amidst the skyscrapers and general hustle and bustle of the rest of the city, Central Park is where I feel most like a true New Yorker whenever I visit.

6. Reach out to alums who live and work in the city, in order to do this mysterious task called "networking"

Though you might be completely wrapped up in your current internship, it's important to remember that your summer in NYC is a fantastic opportunity to connect with alums who work in your intended industries. There are literally hundreds of coffee shops and cafes scattered around the city to have informal "coffee chats" and pick people's brains about their work and how they got to their current position. It's even nicer when they can use their company card and pay for your NY-priced $8 iced coffee themselves.

7. Indulge in your inner hipster New York foodie and take a trip to Smorgasburg in Brooklyn one day

For anyone who's never heard of it, Smorgasburg is this wonderful, ginormous food fest that happens every year in Brooklyn, on Saturdays from April through October. It takes place in Williamsburg, aka the hipster capital of New York, and has food stands containing everything from salmon burgers, to lemonade that's somehow gourmet, to mini lobster rolls, and so much more. Don't forget to wander around a bookstore aimlessly and sip a fancy coffee on your way back, in order to complete what I consider the "hipster trifecta."

8. So you don't spend your WHOLE paycheck on clothes, find some cute, cheap thrift stores to shop in on the weekends

Thrifting in NYC can be a great way to indulge in the fun of city shopping without breaking the bank. I personally have found several cute things in a store called Buffalo Exchange over the years, for hardly any money. Just make sure that you don't buy so much "affordable yet trendy" clothing that you'll need to expand into your roommate's closet when you get back to school in August.

9. Avoid walking through Times Square between 7 and 8 p.m. if you can, especially on weekends

Not only is Times Square literally "tourist central" in New York, but between 7 and 8 p.m. is when everyone and their mother is rushing through Times Square to get to their Broadway show that night. It can get extremely crowded walking along 7th Avenue fighting through hoards of excited families seeing The Lion King or too-cool-for-school high schoolers rebelliously seeing The Book of Mormon. Unless you happen to be seeing a show at this time, I'd recommend rerouting to a less-crowded street at this time of night.

10. Spend some time taking in your surroundings and thinking about if NYC is where you might want to live after graduation

Amidst the excitement of your internship, the occasional stress of traveling around the city, and the fantastic entertainment opportunities all around you, interning in NYC is a wonderful opportunity to essentially test-drive the rest of your life and see if you can picture yourself starting a career there.

It's certainly not the place for everyone, but New York does have an incredible array of employment opportunities across many industries and is a great place for new grads to jumpstart their careers.

Above all else, the best advice I'd have for making the most of your summer in the city is to keep an open mind about what it might bring and take full advantage of everything that the city has to offer. Whether that's having impromptu adventures or opening professional doors, you can truly have a fantastic summer and return to school next year with just enough insight about thin crust pizza to impress your college friends.