Good news!

Yesterday I attended my last college class ever. To keep this short, it was bittersweet.

 

I also have cool news about one of my professors. I took Arts Writing with Holly George-Warren during Spring ’12. She is a fantastic writer with a lot of prolific pieces under her belt. And now, she’s been nominated for a GRAMMY!

From the Grammy nomination website:

The Pearl Sessions

Holly George-Warren, album notes writer (Janis Joplin)
[Columbia/Legacy]
It’s under the Best Album Notes Writing.
Very excited for her and proud to have learned so much from her.
Here’s a piece I wrote during her class about a certain guest-speaker: British Rocker Graham Parker Visits New Paltz.
Fingers crossed she wins!

Crazy!

I just got back from my school late last night. I left Tuesday afternoon to go up, went out a bit with friends to celebrate my birthday, ran some errands on Wednesday morning, got lunch with my cousin, went to my internship seminar class, hung out with some friends, and then left for the two-hour trip back home.

I cried 5 times yesterday because of how much I miss my professors and classes, as well as my friends.  Luckily, my choice to complete school early and graduate in December, and stay home to do my internship feels right. I feel more concentrated at home.

Still, the first time I walked into the building of where I had most of my classes, I began to cry. I’ve spent so many hours there, learning, creating, and envisioning what my life can be like in the future. I had to spend a couple of minutes in the bathroom to compose myself. I then went and saw my adviser. She is a great lady and told me how proud she was to see me succeed. She convinced me that i should walk at the graduation ceremony in the spring. I began to cry again.

On top of seeing her, I also saw one of the professors I’ve worked a lot with. The adviser for the club I was president of last year. I could only chat with him for a few minutes, but it was nice to see him. I mentioned to him how I kept tearing up and said that I had loved all my classes here. He made a comment that I said that in the past tense. It was an emotional day.

Seeing all my friends was hard too. They’re the people I saw everyday for the 3 years I was up at school. They even said it feels different without me there. At least my school isn’t so far away that I cannot visit from time to time. And I have to go up once a month for a class, anyway, so that excuse is a nice one.

Ahem.

Today is the last day in the first week of my new internship. I need to talk to the internship coordinator, but he wasn’t in yesterday and I haven’t seen him yet today.

I so need to talk about another thing. It occurred to me as I was driving to the internship, that the U.S doesn’t really have plazas. Yes we have strip malls and in NYC usually in front of some buildings people sit and stall in front. But I was reminded of my trip to Italy from seeing a picture Venice how we really don’t have those kinds of public squares. It’s a societal element that I think urban and suburban planners should start incorporating.

Oh, and how about the RNC? I refuse to watch it on television to save myself from getting riled up on politics, but I’ve been reading some articles to keep informed. I’ve been reading op-eds on both sides, and general articles that have slim leanings. What I’m learning is how divided this country is now. Eleven years ago we couldn’t be more close in the dust clearings of 9/11, and now the repercussions of the early 2000’s have left us in a politician division comparable to that of a two best friends feuding over a love triangle. And it’s been morphed into some kind of snowball effect. Now it’s not just politicians hating the other party, but actual people unable to have a conversation with someone who supports in another political party.

I’ll be frank, I’m liberal, but have some very conservative family members. I no longer post political things on my FB or comment on their political postings because I know it’ll incite an argument. But this is how I see it; we may have different political ideologies, but on the very basic level all we want is for ourselves and our families to be happy. Why can’t everyone agree to disagree and live a bit more civilized?

 

In the beginning…

Started my first day of my new internship on Monday. It’s been going well. The paper I’m an intern is not in publication this week, and everyone is pretty much on vacation, as well as they are moving around things in the office, so they haven’t had work for me to do. But I have been helping out with the women’s magazine that has branched off from the paper. I’m really enjoying this work, and the ladies I’m working with are super nice and easy to talk to.

It’s tough being far from my college, especially with my graduation application due in a few days and I need to get it signed by my adviser, but, I can’t make the trip up to school until next week, and the deadline is Sept. 1. On my break today I’m going to call the registration office to beg for a 5 day extension. I need to graduate. Please, please, please, this needs to work!

More about my internship later!

Zombie…zombie… zombie…

Zombie – The Cranberries

 

We’ll start off today with a mid-90’s song called Zombie by The Cranberries.

This is undoubtedly because of how late I stayed up last night to interview and watch the performance of a local musician. I drank coffee late last night to stay alert for his performance and I’m paying for it right now, had to drag my feet out of bed at 7:30, and I left for work early so I can get started on finishing one article and starting the next one.

My money situation is scaring me. I haven’t had a paying job since last summer. Jobs up at my school are scarce and 9 times out of 10 you need a car for it, which I did not have while I was away. It’s been so hard to find a part-time job while home. Especially because my hours aren’t very flexible.

I hit a low point last night when I could only put $10 in my empty gas tank. I have no idea when I’m going to be able to put gas in it next, but I hope it lasts me until my last day at my internship tomorrow.

While I think it’s nice of my friends saying they’ll pay for me because they want me to hang out, I just can’t accept it. I’ve got too much pride and I think being flat broke is helping me realize a financial plan for when I do start making money. Almost all of it is going to be put into a savings account that I do not touch. I’ll have to sacrifice a lot, but it’s worth it.

Help out!

 

If you’d like to help me raise money for my club the Bring Suicide Out of the Darkness club, click the above.  Our walk is on May 5th! Hope to see you there!

Lions, and Bears, and …Internships? Oh my!

So I am at the threshold!  I am more than halfway through my last semester at SUNY New Paltz taking classes.  My next semester, Fall 2012, will be comping my internship for credit.  I need 15 credits to graduate!  And that’s where the internship comes in.

So the past week I’ve been applying to places, and the outlook is great so far!  I feel like all my hard work is paying off.  The amount of stress I’ve been through will be well worth it in the end.

So excited to be moving forward in the next chapter of my life.

German Newspaper Layout

I love this new layout, and I think it will be something I can handle.

Especially with how full my semester will be.  I’m taking six classes, 17 credits worth.  I’m also on the e-board in two clubs.  Not to mention I go to the gym and try to have a bit of a social life.

I just got done with my first week of classes for the new semester.  One my classes starts next week so I haven’t been to all of them.

My classes are:

Text Me! – This class is about computer mediated communication.  I’ve found this topic really interesting especially with my fascinaition (and addiction) to social media.  But now I get to learn the history of all of it, like how the Justice Department and ARPANET are two major factors in me being able to write this on my laptop.

Literature of Journalism – My professor speaks the truth in this class.  Literary journalism is something I’ve never had the chance to do, and it will be fun to add a flair of creativity to personal narratives while social commentating the way I see things.  Love it already.

Arts Writing – Writing about music, film, art, dance, theater… and the whole rest of the gambit.  My professor was a editor of the Rolling Stones magazine.  Cannot wait for her anecdotal stories and report on some of my biggest interests with integrity and the tools I need.

Investigative Journalism – Probably my favorite so far.  Taught by a New York Times reporter, I learned more in the first class than I ever did before.  This was the perfect class to take, I can’t wait to take the knowledge I gain and translate it into real impactful stories.

Advanced Editing – This class runs an online newspaper.  We are in charge of everything, assigning the stories, editing, fact-checking… we’re pretty self-efficient.  Getting a taste of ‘the real thing’ should brace me with a little more backbone for actual (and virtual) newsrooms.

Intercultural Interaction – This is the class I start next week and have once a week for seven consecutive weeks.  It’s my one credit modular course and all I know is that I will be working on some sort of project that involves a student from a foreign university.  Sounds pretty exciting, pretty stoked!

So, with all that said, most of these classes are upper division.  Which means the workload is…is… scary.  I’m looking at my homework list from this first week and don’t know how I will pull it altogether