Memorial Day Memories

I never realized how many memories I had in this city until I came here and visited places I had explored in the past. Then, the memories came. 

Friday morning I took the 4 train from the Wall Street and Broadway stop near my apartment to Grand Central Station for a meeting with one of my internships, Power and Motoryacht Magazine. My meeting was fabulous and I'm so excited to start working at this publication. The staff is fantastic and I can't wait to start completing the tasks I've been assigned. I've started brainstorming ideas for the feature story I will write for the magazine that will be published in the August issue. Stay tuned :) 

I've taken the subway many times in my life, but I've only had one previous experience on the 4, one which I had forgotten until I rode the train several days ago. I was 10 years old and I had fallen asleep in my dads lap. We were going back to Brooklyn after the second game of the 2000 World Series, one of my favorite memories with my father. Being on that train Friday morning reminded me of our trip home after a New York Yankees game 2 victory. It was bittersweet for me to remember that moment with my dad. 

Growing up in Brooklyn, I have several family friends who still live there. One in particular, Monica, is someone I've known my entire life and who I've explored New York City with before. She and I look forward to seeing the city as tourists this summer. That's a thing I've noticed about New Yorkers, they never go to the tourist hotspots throughout the city.

 In honor of Fleet Week, we went to the USS Intrepid Museum on west side of Manhattan. The Intrepid is an aircraft carrier that was commissioned during the World War II and was used during the Korean War. It has been docked in New York City for almost 30 years. We explored the ship and several submarines at the museum as well. 

The rest of my first weekend in the city brought me to Brooklyn. I went to a local bar Friday night with a childhood friend, Sheila. I spent the rest of the weekend with her as well. 

This picture was taken during a football game at Mizzou that Sheila attended with me and our mothers. 

Being in Brooklyn brings back memories, too. Memories with both of my parents and even my grandmother, who lived in Brooklyn nearly her entire life. I'm so thankful to have jogged these memories this weekend. They serve as a reminder to me that although they might not be here, there are so many people who are with me during this journey I've embarked on this summer. 

 I also learned several lessons during a few long days in Brooklyn. Being with family friends has reminded me just how important it is to have people you love near you, no matter what the situation may be. I've also been reminded that sometimes the hardest thing is still the right thing to do and is the best decision in the end. Although I definitely didn't imagine I'd spend my first weekend in the city in Brooklyn, I'm very glad I did. 

Tomorrow is the first day of my internship(s). I'll spend the day at the magazine getting my feet wet and I cannot wait. Also, very excited to head over the Random House on Wednesday. I'll write about those once I get into a routine tomorrow! 

Also, can't wait to continue my sightseeing!

More to Come,

Jamie 

First observations

I've only been here for 7 hours and there's already SO much to take in, so here's a list...for now (I'll post pictures later): 

When I was alone in my four person suite after just arriving and checking in, I realized it was probably the last time I was going to be truly alone for a very long time. There are nearly 1.6 million people on this island. Privacy is a thing of the past for me. 

I can see 40 Wall Street from my window. It's the Trump Building (not to be confused with Trump Tower on the other side of town.) The financial district where my dorm is located is swarming with men and women in business attire at lunch time and 5 p.m. By 6, the neighborhood is dead. Never would have imagined there would be such stillness in such a large city. 

My best discovery of the day: It's Fleet week in New York City. This means Manhattan is crawling with Navy sailors coming off ships docked in New York Harbor. Not only are they great eye candy, they're gentlemen as well. I know this because a uniformed Navy man is the only person who held the door for me today in all my travels around lower Manhattan. 

Tomorrow morning is my first experimentation (in several years) with the Subway system. Stay tuned.

Always a bittersweet ride

I wasn't sure what emotions I would be feeling as I sat in the airport waiting to depart, but I was sure it wouldn't be fear. Needless to say I was unpleasantly surprised to find myself nervous to the point of nausea in the car on the way to the airport. That's when this entire journey became real. I realized that this isn't a dream anymore, it's actually happening. 

With this realization came the bittersweet emotion I seem to experience every time I leave home. The struggle between longing for a few more days of mindless relaxation on beautiful white sand beaches and the reality of getting on with the next chapter of my life, no matter where it may take me. 

And so, the reality of New York City is upon me. Despite the nerves and tinge of fear, I'm ecstatic that this day has finally arrived. 

Might I also mention my wardrobe is definitely 5th Avenue prepared! 

More to Come,
Jamie 

I'm what you call a 'bona fide city girl'

So, here it is, my first post on a blog I am determined to maintain religiously. It's devoted to New York City and all the adventures in store during my summer as a twenty-something soaking up Manhattan. 

I distinctly remember my decision to spend my life writing. Not just writing, being a journalist. I remember sitting in a seminar room at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies listening intently to a specific lecturer, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Jacqui Banaszynski, who told the most captivating story I had ever heard in my entire life... a story about her pursuit of an unbelievable series of stories she wrote about one of the only openly gay couples in Minneapolis, Minn. at the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic. She followed them from diagnosis to both of their deaths. Her lecture told a remarkable story about her experiences as a journalist, and more importantly, she captured the attention of a sixteen-year-old girl with big dreams. 

It was around this same time that I realized that I had to live in New York City at some point in my adult life. I was born in New York but was too young when I left to truly embrace my youth in the city. My burning desire to live in New York City wasn't cultivated by a number of factors as it is for many others. Everyone loves the big city:  bright lights, millions of people and endless possibilities. My priorities, however, included none of the above. I had to live in New York City for one reason: baseball. 

My love for the New York Yankees began at a very young age. I vividly remember Saturdays on my living room couch with my dad watching baseball before I really understood the fundamentals of the game. This weekend tradition continued through the last baseball season my father was alive to watch, 2008. So, I set off for the Missouri School of Journalism with sights on a spot in the press box at Yankee Stadium.

Studying journalism at Mizzou accelerated my motivation tremendously. I knew as soon as I got into my journalism courses that this was the place that would get me to one press seat in a bad neighborhood in the Bronx. After two years of mastering the fundamentals of journalism, I began my sports writing career. I  worked as a full time sports reporter for the Columbia Missourian covering high school and college sports. My experiences reinforced things I assumed about sportswriting: captivating stories alongside curious encounters. It also opened my eyes to the difficulties of sportswriting, those I had never really given thought to. Late nights and deadlines so tight I felt my stories were occasionally underdeveloped, to name a few. My sportswriting semester brought me to a new discovery: I loved to tell stories, but I wanted to do so as completely and comprehensively as possible. I needed longer deadlines. I needed to switch my emphasis of study to magazine journalism.

And so, with a switch to magazine journalism, I knew I would end up in New York City. Not only because I still wanted it so badly, but because New York is the magazine capital of the world. With these new ambitions came a new idea of my future. One that involved the lifestyle of a fictional yet fabulous New York City writer, Carrie Bradshaw of Sex and the City.

The study 'abroad' program I begin tomorrow is run through the Missouri School of Journalism. It includes journalism elective courses and an internship. Two internships, in my case.

Starting next week, I will spend 10 weeks completing two part-time internships. One with Random House publishing in the eBooks department and another with Power and Motoryacht Magazine as an editorial intern. Excited doesn't even begin to describe my emotions regarding these internship opportunities. As I've told many of my sisters and friends, I'm finally getting the chance to live my version of the Carrie Bradshaw dream. 

More than professional experience, I intend to make my New York City summer one of amazing adventures, exploration and personal success (as well as the occasional shopping rendezvous)!