Listen, I love New York. There is always something to do, it’s beautiful, and it’s exhilarating. But there are a lot of things I wish I’d known before moving here.

First of all, it is difficult. They don’t really tell you that. Living in New York is like being in a relationship. A relationship that consumes you (no wonder the creators of Sex and the City call NYC one of the main characters in the show – it is its very own beast). I have to push through seas of people every time I go to Duane Reade, on my walk to class every day I consistently get cat-called or, if nothing else, stared at (no matter how awful I look), and it is exhausting getting from one place to another.

Second, while all of those things are very true, there are new, exciting things I realize every day about New York. For example, there’s a brand new power dynamic that comes from being at the top of a tall building and looking down from God’s perspective at all the little people and cabs. It feels like New York is yours to own. And that is one of the best feelings I have ever experienced.

Third, it makes you mean. I’m from Nashville, and the first time I came to New York just over a year ago, I was all wide-eyed and Southern hearted and never in a million years could I have imagined that I would be the person shoving my way through the crowds and yelling at tourists, but here I am, doing just that. New York has stripped me of my patience. I get anxious waiting in lines now. (But seriously, if you’re a tourist and I’m walking to class, for God’s sake, get out of the way.)

Fourth, it gives you an enormous sense of pride. Not a day goes by that I don’t look at the Freedom Tower (or One World Trade to those of you who don’t live in New York) and feel overwhelmed with love for this city. Yes, it’s exhausting, it’s frustrating, and it’s anxiety-inducing, but at the end of the day, you have to look around and realize that you’re doing the damn thing. I am proud to live in New York and I am proud of myself for surviving in this hurricane of a city.