New York City Day 52: Good Morning America

Today was greeeeeat! We got up early and headed to Good Morning America studios. We walked past a loaded crowd of people and security and wounded up walking through a big black door. Once we got in the door, we signed in and were escorted into the studio. The studio was...medium sized guess, lol. I'm mostly going off of my perception of what I expected the show to look like. I expected to be fairly big. But that typically happens when I'm on someone's set; I imagine it bigger than it need's to be, lol. No but really, the set was pretty packed to my surprise. Robin Robert's looked amazingly beautiful! We kept shifting standing positions because they were shooting from all different locations.

I saw "The Couch" and thought to myself, "I want to sit up there." Lo and behold, I would get my opportunity. After Robin finished one of her segments, a production person said, "Ladies with Jacque Reid? The Reid Group? Someone's here to see you" It was as if your father is waking up the 5 year old version of yourself on a freezing Saturday morning and telling you Santa Clause is downstairs! You don't know what to do with yourself. Lol, I felt so official!

I walk up to "The Couch," introduce myself and sit with Ms. Roberts. She was so genuine and beautiful and kind hearted and I just wanted to put her in my pocket and carry her around with me! We spoke with her briefly and it was a few minutes I'll never forget.

Later on in the show, we saw Emerald Lagasse, Edward Norton, and Joss Stone! I saw Emerald stepping into the back room after he was just outside cooking up...something! Afterwards, Joss Stone hit the stage briefly and Edward Norton was interviewed shortly afterward. Edward was fairly small and he gave me Wolverine with his hair! Joss as well lost some weight. I don't remember her being that small...she still had her shoes off, lol. Demeshia and I were singing when Joss was singing and her drummer had a lot of fun with us. He was saying that we can hold a tune, lol. When suggested that Demeshia and I could take her back up singers spot, her male singer replied, "never!" Lol, whatever!

After Edward Norton, Joss performed about 2 songs that were amazing and that I am considering buying! I love her! We headed to NBC to do our last teleprompter reading. This time it was a little less pressure. We had actual video to go with our readings and that was fun. I really enjoyed this one.

Afterwards, we went to Ditch Plains. It's our last Tuesday going to Ditch Plains until we leave New York :-(. On a good note, it was there where Demeshia met the Food Networks' "Chopped" co-host, Marc Murphy. The cool thing about it is that he actually owns Ditch Plains as well as several other restaurants and he was just sitting there with another young lady while he chomped on his own food! Lol, it was great!

Demeshia literally cried! That was cool. I mean, I honestly didn't think she'd cry, buuuuut she did. It was great. He was reeeeeally cool, I mean, he play's a cool judge on the show so that was refreshing to see that he was so cool. So, she cried told him she loved him, we left, she composed herself, we returned with her camera to get a picture of her and him, we left, we then returned to get his information, lol! He was more than amped to give us his info.

The funny thing about the whole situation was LITERALLY, 10 minutes prior, Demeshia and I were on the train talking about this experience as a whole. We were talking about how thankful we are to God. I tell you one thing, God is funny.

I remember when Ms. Reid told us we had to gather $1,000 before coming to New York. It was a struggle for mer personally. I planned ahead, but life happened. Then I got to New York with $100 to my name. The day my mother dropped me off at the train station, she literally stopped at a local jewelry shop and sold some of her PRIZED jewelry. That was a big moment for me to take in. She then gave me $100 dollars.

Another think I learned is that, faith without works is dead. As the week's progressed, I started calling up people left and right to help support me while in New York. The response was amazing. People literally gave what they could. Even Ms. Reid opened her heart and gave me some cash. Then one day, I sat down and thought about the amount of money I received from those various people and the funny thing is, it all amounted to be roughly $1,000. Lol, that's why I laugh. Because God looked out for me. He didn't do it the way I wanted or expected, but he DID it HIS way and in HIS timing and HIS timing was perfect.

It's finally starting to set in on me of how much this experience has changed my mindset, my life and my goals. Honestly, words cannot express how thankful I am for this experience. So, I guess you'll just have to see and look for me at the top.

New York City Day 51: Last Monday

Oh why'd the week have to start off with a summer cold?! Ugh! I have strep throat and am not too pleased about that. I think Demeshia and Lauren F. did this to me! To make matters worse, I forced myself to drink a substance that I've protested against in the pastel tea! I drank two cups of that vile liquid and to no avail, I'm still sick.

I went to the Grio and continued working on a slideshow about man bags...I'll be doing a MOS (Man on the street) interviews this Sunday about the Olympics so that should be pretty cool I think.

After the Grio, I came back home ate some noodles and took a nap for about 2 1\2 hours. I hope tomorrow isn't as bad.

This will be my last blog that I write for the Reid Group on a Monday. It's a sad day indeed, but all good thing's must come to an end so I hear. On a lighter note, we've just been told that we're going to be going to GMA in the AM! We're going to have the opportunity to meet the astounding Ms. Robin Roberts! So follow back up with me tomorrow and see how that experience was!

New York City Day 50: Less than a week!

Aaaaaah! Today marks the 1st day of the last week that we'll be here :-( It's crazy! I don't know what to think at this point! This is the last Sunday I'll be writing for the Reid Group :-(. Well, before it get's too emotional, let me go on to tell you about my day.

I made it a mark for me to be productive today and it was a success! I washed clothes and applied for several jobs in Atlanta. I didn't want to be too picky with the job application process. I feel like I need to be back out there in the work force so I'm taking this job thing pretty serious! Afterwards, I did Aleisha's hair. After that, I went with Demeshia to get some soul food she was craving this restaurant called "Amy Ruth" because she recently discovered it. I didn't get anything, I'm not really big on soul food personally, lol, I just watched her indulge!

She tricked me into going to the park with her! We went to the park on 116th, Morning Side Park. It is amazing park! That park changed my life! I mean, that has got to be the best park I've seen! That's one of the many thing's I'm going to miss about New York. I must say so. We fed the birds and everything and it was pretty cool.

We got back to the dorm and I looked up some material for fresh features. I was just looking for back up stories for the most part. I haven't worked on the website since the first week so this is a new thing for me almost, lol. It's going well so far.

We got back and I was helping out with the documentary. That's still an ongoing process, lol. It was a productive day! I love to ave productive days!

New York City Day 49: PRETTY Adventurous

Today was entertaining! Well, for starters we went to the church where 61 year old Richard Schwartz was killed last night. We reported there. We did a stand up and a bridge and it was interesting. The death was still pretty fresh in the community and it was very evident because people were standing around as the construction workers were trying to fix up the area. Schwartz died when scaffolding nearly buried him. The scaffolding fell through the roof of the building, flew through the window and landed on him. It was a sad story.

Neighbors watched us as we were reporting and some people didn't know what happened and some people recanted what happened. It was interesting. A mail woman walked past and was asking us what we did. She was very sad to hear of his death. She said he was a good man and that she use to deliver mail to his house. It made me kind of sad. I guess events like that don't really take place in that community.

After that, we went back to NBC and listened in at Pat Battle's husband, Anthony Johnson spoke with us. He's a CAU alum! He was very colorful in his speech! Him and Pat reminded me of each other, lol, it was so adorable! I think the highlight for me was when he kept esteeming her! In almost everything he said, he kept referencing Pat and saying how she's the best this and that and this and that and this and that! It was cute!

Some thing's that stood out in his speech was:

• ·      Be able to simplify, break it down and tell a story
• Put yourself in the mind of the victim
•   Look at the scene around you. Identify what was going on.
• DON’T START OUT WITH BORING FACTS. LEAVE THAT TO THE END
• There’s different kind’s of reporters. There may be an investigative, speech and feature reporter. 
• LET ME KNOW WHY THIS STORY IS SO BIG AND WHY WE SHOULD CARE THEN I WANT TO KNOW WHY
• You earn peoples respect by not harassing them

Later on in the day Demeshia dazzled me and Sequoyah in makeup! I did Sequoyah's hair and Demeshia handled the makeup department. We did a mini photo shoot and it was soooo fun! Take a look at some of the pic!

New York City Day 48: Humbling good news

Well, what do I say? Today was, a little bit more than amazing! When I was waiting for the train, I saw Faith Nunley. She works at the HR department at NBC. She's in her second year of graduate school here in New York and she works at NBC! We were talking about our experience at NBC and she was telling me about people that I should meet and keep in contact with. It's funny because the people she was talking about are people that we'v met already. She really wanted me to take advantage of the experience here and she wanted me to stay in contact. No worries Faith, I will!

I went to the Grio afterwards and nobody was there! Literally, 5 people decided not to come in today. It was cool because people seemed to be more relaxed and friendly. It was a pretty quick day actually.  As I was sitting there, Ms. Reid texted me and told me to meet her by the elevator. As I was reading her text, I proceeded to walk to meet her, but she was already behind me, lol. We meet up and she surprises me with a fairly nice gift. I didn't know what to say. I was so humbled. It's funny to me that she did that. I wasn't expecting it at all!

She humbled me today. I'm truly thankful for that. And I was able to spread some good news to the family and friends (well some people, you can't tell everybody your good news for SEVERAL reason).

God was speaking to me all day to day. I mean really. He was revealing so many things to me today. I can't really put into words how amazing that was!

Later on in the day at the Grio, Jonothan left the Grio. Jonothan was an intern and today was his last day. I'm really going to miss him, I must say so. He was funny and he was an extremely valuable intern at the Grio. Him leaving made me realize that next week is our last week. I mean, we all have to leave at some point, that saddens me!!!!! I don't want to leave! I mean today really made me realize that this entire experience is about to be over!

New York City Day 47: Last Day Off

Today was bittersweet, lol. It was sweet because we had another day off, but it was bitter because it may be our last day off until we leave :-(

Earlier, a few of us went to Ditch Plains and ate. Afterwards, a few of us went to see a friend in the city. It was pretty cool. We stayed late and it started to rain; once we hopped the train of course. We wounded up taking a taxi home from 125 and MLK Drive, lol.

Today was also nerve-wrecking, for personal reasons. I bought my greyhound bus ticket today and I got nervous afterwards. I realized that I literally have 20 dollars left to my name and that it has to last me for the remainder of time I spend here. That's not a lot of money at all so I don't feel too comfortable with that. I feel like I've exhausted all of my resources, but it wouldn't hurt to ask again I guess. It's funny because, I came here with the same problem and I kept a smile on for about a week. But one day while we were in the conference room, it took everything I had to hold back tears (tears that I eventually let pour once I hit the dorm). I had no money to do anything with. I mean, I went so far as to ask people who I never would have asked money for, for money. It got crazy.

God is amazing though. He made a way for me and blessed me with funds. I was so thankful. So, I need him to step through for me this time as well.

I've been going through situations like this for far too long. I mean, people complain about how "broke" they are and how they're so poor and all this other craziness. Meanwhile, they're ordering food everyday or rocking iPhones and the latest everything. It's pure insensitivity if you ask me. It angers me because they wouldn't know what poverty looked like if struck them in the face. And I'm definitely not blaming them for having resources, but at the same time people need to be more conscientious about what comes out of their mouths.

But I say all that to say that I had an epiphany. I realized that in order to get something you never had, you have to do something you never did. I cannot, will not and refuse to continue to live like this and repeat this cycle of not having any resources. I simply refuse. I can't continue this generational curse. I mean, that's why I'm here! I'm here because I want to see a change in my family for the better and I want to be successful not only for me, but for them. So something has to give and that something has got to give TODAY!

New York City Day 46: Change of plans

So yesterday, Alexis sent me an assignment and told me to look up iconic African American hairstyles. I looked them up today and didn't expect to be working on it the entire day, lol! I really didn't! My fingers were so tired. I literally spent 8 hours of my day and looked up pictures for these hairstyles. I didn't want to just put any picture up there, I wanted to put up good hair pictures that said something! It was very intense and I'm still not done. I wounded up having around 36 pictures. Friday I'm suppose to put some really good captions in them. 

After that, Sequoyah and I headed down to the CNN center for our meeting with Roland Martin. We get there and NO ROLAND, lol. We were literally about to cross the street and find ourselves there when we got a text from Briana/an email form Demeshia saying that it's been canceled. I was a little frustrated by that because I could have gone straight to my dorm from the Grio, BUT, Sequoyah and I decided to continue our journey of sightseeing, lol. 

We went to the Apple store and met a pretty cool employee. He was REALLY cool and VERY funny! He invited us to this lil function happening later on (every guy we meet is always inviting us out to some party! We met a crossing guard that was suppose to tell us how to find a steak-n-shake and he told us where to find a better version of steak-shake while also inviting us to this each party for $65! Crazy). The guy's name was Jebel. He was cool. 

We went to FAO Schwartz after that and relived some childhood memories. FAO Schwartz will do that to you though. We went home afterwards. I had my one on one meeting with Frank Miller tonight (in case I didn't tell you, he is also a member of The Reid Group...in a sense). He had an assignment to do a story on all us girls and in order to do that, he had to do an interview. It was interesting. He was smiling for the most part of the interview, which was new to me because I rarely see him smile. It was good to see it, but it made me wonder what he was thinking. I really wish he'd learn to open up more, but I don't know, some people are just good with one on one's.

Later on in the evening, me and a few of the other girls had a little party, lol. We were playing around and watching Beyonce videos, dancing to Michael Jackson, free styling, lol! It was great! We all need to let loose every once in a while!

New York City Day 45: Liberty

Today was adventurous! We finally saw the statue of Liberty first hand! It was great! At first we walked through a park to see it, then we decided to smarten up and ask someone how much the ferry was. Jackpot! It was free! So we boarded the ferry and saw...nothing until we got to Staten Island, lol. We get to Staten Island and board the ferry again to get back to Manhattan and we're on the wrong side again! We eventually found our way to the right area of the ferry and we saw the statue all big and pretty in the sky! It was great!

Afterwards, we sat down and got some air. We had a good time laughing and carrying on! We decided to go to an African American wax museum. We get to Harlem 116th street and see no museum! We thought all was lost, UNTIL, we kept walking and saw one of the most beautiful sights. It was amazing! I heard water rippling and dogs barking. We walked into an amazing park. I mean you have to be there to see it.

It was so beautiful. The formations of the high rocks and the murky green water, lol, it was a sight to see! We were walking alongside the green pond and saw so many turtles in there. It was so cute! They kept sticking their heads outside the water and checking us out! And of of course you had your usual geese, ducks and pigeons flying around everywhere.

As we were walking, we saw this humongus set of steps and I saw a challenge! I decided to run up the steps and I almost passed out, lol. It was sooo high and sooo intense. I definitely underestimated it! I don't know what I was thinking! That was an amazing workout though. We sat down after that and we began to sight see. We saw this pair of dogs who happened to be brothers. They were so cute. One of them swam in the water to play with the ducks and geese I guess. I mean, he literally swam across the pond. It was interesting. I was just so curious to know what the ducks and geese were thinking as they swam away from him and behind him. It was amazing. The dog's brother was very interested to see where his brother was. He was looking for him and it was the cutest thing. I mean, the entire thing was so adorable!

We went home a little while afterwards, but we definitely plan to visit that spot again!

New York City Day 44: HR Roundtable

I was EXHAUSTED today. I was up late working on the documentary with Demeshia and I was washing clothes at the same time. Funny story, I left Demeshia's room at around 11:50, emailed Ms. Reid my blog and went to sleep at around 12:05! All while fully aware that my clothes were still in the dryer! I went to bed sooooo sleepy/angry because I knew that at some point, I was going to have to get up to get my clothes. After wrestling with myself (while sleep) for about two hours, I got up at 2:27am and got my clothes! Only to wake up at 6:50am! Lol, I was soooo annoyed and exhausted!

But on a good note, I was randomly selected to attend a HR roundtable at NBC. It was pretty cool. We were able to eat pizza (Yay for the free lunch) and talk about our experience at the internship. It was interesting to hear what the other interns had to say about their internships. I get so frustrated when I become aware of my surroundings because it's usually then where I begin to over analyze thing's and at that point, there's no turning back!

So I'm sitting there and I see3 caucasian girls, one interns for Bravo network and the other for Access Hollywood and the third young lady interns for NBC so she was more so taking notes rather than engaging in conversation. There was a young African American male who sat next to me and he interned for...I honestly don't know who he interned for because he was pretty quiet and didn't say much (which frustrated the H.E double hockey sticks out of me because you're an African American young MAN! You do not have the liberty to NOT say something once you have the floor! How many times must we go through this?!).

Anyway, in listening to the young ladies speak, I became a little jealous. Mainly because they were doing thing's that I wanted to do! One of the young ladies was talking about her taking a picture with Christian Bale (I love him by the way) and she said she's always walking celebrities to different places and making sure they're ok. Another one of the young ladies explained how she pitches stories to other television networks and how the department really values the opinions of the interns. That's amazing!

Don't get me wrong, I think what Alexis has me doing at the Grio has helped me PROFOUNDLY as a student and person. So I'm not at all downplaying what I do there. I mean, I get jealous of Ciara all the time because she's doing, at the Grio, projects and stories that I want to do, so let's be realistic, I'm going to be jealous, lol! But like I told them, I'm thankful that I've been able to see my versatility as a writer. I'm thankful that I have an editors eye and am able to spot a mistake a mile away. On top of that, I'm thankful that I've been able to challenge myself! That's one of the biggest thing's I take away from this internship.

We were asked a question about suggestions for NBC. One of the thing's I suggested was that we have an intern swap day or intern shad won day. I think that'll be pretty awesome. It can be through a random process, or it can be a situation where interns swap internships for a few hours and go to the network or program of their choice! That would be pretty cool, I may start something up like that myself...

New York City Day 43: Teleprompter playbacks Sunday lay backs

Today, we arrived at NBC at around 8:30 am. Pat Battle was there and a long time no see Ms. Terri Martin! Where she's been? Nobody knows! We truly love seeing Ms. Martin and Ms. Battle! Anyway, we were watching our footage of what we shot last week. As you can recall last week, we read off a teleprompter at NBC. It was a bit of a challenge for me, but I pulled it together.

When we were watching it today, I heard myself smacking, it was embarrassing and funny! I stammered over my words a lot and it was hard for me to pull it back together, but I did somehow. After we watched our live shots, we were awarded another day off! Thank the heavens!

Me being beautiful lol!

We went home and changed and me and some of the other girls decided to take a trip down Times Square to search for a Steak and Shake. Money is low for MOST of us so that seemed to be the cheapest yet ALMOST adventurous meal we could get on such a small budget. On our JOURNEY to find Steak and Shake, we heard what appeared to be a man smacking another man. Now, I heard two men arguing loudly, then I heard loud smacking. I turn only to see that a man is punching another man in the face. It sounded like smacking, but was far from it. It was a bloody scene. The young man was bleeding from the nose and mouth. He chased his attacker down and the attacker was ready to strike again. The attacker was holding what looked like a "Bike Rentals" sign. Maybe they had a money dispute, but we'll never know.

Afterwards, we went to Steak and Shake and took a picture in front of Bad Boy Entertainment Worldwide. It was locked so no one could get in, but it was pretty cool to actually see it. I remember as a kid, I would watch "MTV's Making the Band" and I remember members from the show had a hard time finding P. Diddy some cheesecake from Justins, that just so happens to be down the street from the building. Lol, it brought back memories and it was pretty great.

Afterwards, we decided to go to Coney Island again. This time, we wanted to truly get the feel of it and we got in the water (only with our legs and down) and we walked in the sand and things of that sort and it was pretty amazing. We really enjoyed ourselves. There were many beautiful sights and I enjoyed every minute of it. I would love to go there again and again and again! The boardwalk is just that amazing. We went home afterwards and worked on the documentary. Sigh......

New York City Day 42: Dark Knight Rises and Kyle Glover passes away

I'd like to sub title today as "Bitter Sweet Part II." I went to go see "The Dark Knight Rises" today. I could barely sit still during the screening of the movie; mainly because the movie had me over the egg of my seat, but also because I couldn't get the Colorado shooting out of my head. I just wasn't comfortable. When we got to the movies, there was a police officer standing in front of it. That was...there way of showing that they are trying to be more cautious now and day's I guess! I rather him have stood inside the movie theater, but you can't ask for too much in this life.

Demeshia and I

Throughout the movie, people kept getting up and walking around and it was making me uncomfortable. I tried not to over think thing's, but you have to be cautious now and days! All and all the movie was phenomenal! I mean, everything about that movie made me want to watch it over and over again! I laughed, got teary eyed, got nervous, got excited, I mean, I was overcome with all kind's of emotions! That's what a movie is suppose to do to you! I honestly can't compare it to "The Dark Knight" because they both were amazing in their own light. The Dark Knight was more comedic and had more action scenes, but The Dark Knight Rises was more emotional! It told an actual story. You went through many, many, many more emotions during this one. I mean, I will never forget it.

I always get sad when movies end, but I got really sad when this movie was over. I fear we won't see another one honestly. But movies are my passion. I mean, I love journalism, don't get me wrong, but I LOVE movies! Like, I could easily be a movie critic, honestly! I live to watch movies! I can watch them and would love to watch them all day honestly!

But in other sad news, Tameka Foster's stepson, Kyle Glover died earlier today. So sad! There were reports saying that he couldn't sustain the injuries. Then there were reports saying his heart just gave out. Then I read reports saying they just pulled the plug on him. I don't know what happened, we'll find out later on in life I assume. But again, he was an 11-year-old boy and was hit in the head by a jet ski, so all that really matters is that a mother lose her son. Hopefully this will be the last "Bitter Sweet" post I write for the remainder of my time here in New York.

New York City Day 41: Bitter Sweet

Today was a sad one. I woke up to the news that a man in Colorado killed 12 people and injured 59 during the 12:00 screening of the Batman Trilogy, "Dark Knight Rises." My heart melted when I heard that. I recall reading some stories where people said they saw people running out of the exits, but ran back in once they saw he was shooting people who were running out of the theater. On person said she saw a young girl get shot in the face and later died. A young man recalls tripping over blood and then over the woman the blood was coming of. He proceeded to tell her to get up so they could leave, but she never responded. I also read a woman say she saw a young girl on the pavement with her eyes bucked open in horror as blood rushed from her body. I mean, it's just tragic.

James Holmes is the 24-year-old who conducted the killings. Whenpolice apprehended him, they claim he said he was the Batman character, "The Joker." It was reported that he graduated college with honors in neuroscience. He didn't really have friends. He told police that there were more weapons hidden away at his home. However, once they got there, they found booby traps and dangerous devices. Like, that's crazy. For him to go that far and do all that to those people is beyond me. Because he was angry about his life, he decided to take the lives of others. It hurts to hear that. Parents brought their children to see a movie and went home alone. No one expected that I'm sure. They weren't hanging around the wrong crowd or in a bad area, someone just committed a senseless act and killed innocent people.

Lauren & I acting silly

On another, less somber note, Alexis gave me a large number of assignments today. All of which I completed thankfully! She had me do a write up on Alicia Keys' new haircut. That was pretty cool. Alexis liked what I wrote and she didn't have to edit it too much. She compliments me a lot on writing complete sentences, lol. Like, she get's really excited about that. She mentioned, however, that people she pay's doesn't even write complete sentences so that's a pretty good quality for me to have. She also mentioned that I have a good eye for photos. She said I could possibly become a photo editor in the future. I never thought about that! I do take photos pretty seriously though. I love when a picture coincides with the story. So I make sure my pictures do that! I can honestly say that today was bitter sweet.

New York City Day 40: IMG & NYC Mayor Bloomberg

Ok so, the titles a little misleading! I didn't actually meet Mayor Bloomberg, we just went to his mansion for an event to stop the violence and to give out some scholarships to some young kids! It was cool. The journey there was pretty strenuous, but at least we were able to see some pretty cool sights!

But before we went there, we actually went to IMG Agency. Um, it was a little bit more than amazing! I feel like I could work in that building honestly. It was soooo white and big and beautiful! The views were amazing as well.

While there, we met Sharon Chang and Pete Ross. Ms. Chang is Jamaican and something else, but her husband is Chinese and Jamaican! Now that's a new one on me, lol! She said he look's Chinese, but talks Jamaican, lol! That was hilarious! Anyhoozer, she was pretty cool. She's a recruiter for IMG. Basically, she ships off her clients to different networks and thing's of that nature. She said she wasn't passionate about sports but that she got into it because she had to get her foot in the door primarily. She also mentioned how she sent her resume everywhere when she was first starting up. She also encouraged us to be flexible when job searching because you never know where you're going to wind up! Know your stuff, Read everything! A client shouldn't be telling you what's going on. You should already know! - That was one of my favorite thing's she said.

Peter Ross has an interesting job might I add! He's the director of development at IMG and he basically deals with reality television and production. He goes to different (all) networks and asks them if they have any ideas they're trying to ship off as far as a show. He's also asking them if they already have a talent in mind that IMG can package and sell as a show to a network. He worked at TruTv for approximately 4 years and seemed as if he loved it...so do I! I love TruTv! That channel keeps me young! He kept smiling about it, but say's that it was limited because you're targeting a small audience and it doesn't get you too far. He was saying how cheap reality tv is production wise and how it's probably here to stay as a result.

They encouraged us to attend a lot of convention and gain connections and relationships. They also stressed relationships and how you should have dinner with people. Ms. Chang also said, DON'T BE INTIMIDATED BY ANYONE! THEY'RE ALL JUST PEOPLE AT THE END OF THE DAY! Sound advice to leave with!

New York City Day 39: TJMS

Today, Lauren and I co-produced the Tom Joyner Morning Show. Demeshia was in attendance with us. Bless her soul, she has to get up every morning with us and assist in co producing the show. She can do it though...she HAS been doing it!

Before going to sleep, I slaved searching for stories and turned them in...to my dismay, I thought I would get some good sleep...try again! I forgot who I was working for, lol! She told me to trash all 8 of my stories that I WROTE BROADCAST STYLE!!! Lol, that was not easy for me to do. After turning in more stories, I hit the sack.

Me 'play' sleeping at ABC studios sitting with
Jacque Reid while she co-hosted the
Tom Joyner Morning Show.

I went to sleep at around 1:30 and woke up at around 4:40am. Surprisingly, I wasn't THAT sleepy. I really wasn't that tired. Come to think of it, I did ask the good Lord to provide me with strength and energy for today and THAT he did! We got in the cab at around 5:15am and was at the show until around 10am. The show was funny. We got nicknames, "The Jacquettes!" J. Anthony Brown had Ms. Reid cracking up for theeeee longest time!

Bill Bellamy was a guest, I've always had a crush on him! I didn't know he and Shaq were cousins!

Afterwards, I headed to theGrio. I worked on a slide show I started on Monday. Take a look here. I really like this slideshow. It took me a nice amount of time to complete it! I worked on other assignments throughout the day as well. Today was a pretty good day, I must say that. I was a little tired, but who isn't these day's?! It was raining and that kind of scared me because I didn't understand why it was so dark. I mean, it was really dark at like 4pm and the rain was pouring! It hasn't really rained since we've been here, but it's been meaning to, so I guess it was finally catching up with us.

I got to my room later on in the day and was finally able to wash my hair after...I'm not going to say how long! I'm just glad I was able to do it! Then I had a nice convo with my mom and the day ended well. Until next time!

New York City Day 38: AJ Calloway!

Ok, I'm not too sure why I feel kind of crazy putting AJ in my headine, lol. I mean, he sat with us for all of 35 minutes, lol. But hey, that was enough for me! I saw him at the 2010 Soul Train Awards and I THINK I spoke! I may not have, it was all a blur. I just couldn't believe I was there! But that's neither here nor there!

We were all waiting on Ms. Reid to pop in and when she opened the door, there he stood! He glided...er...walked in all smooth and said 'Hey.' I think it was the best greeting I've ever received in my life, lol. So he sit's down and Ms. Reid began hammering him with questions to answer for us! Lol, it was epic and hilarious! I imagine they argue all the time! He talked about a lot of thing's, but I didn't really take the moment to really investigate him and his career, there was more of a relaxed vibe to me. He was very cool. He was extremely funny, charming and quick on his feet with the jokes! Gotta love that! Someone asked him what his next venture is, he said 'Soft porn.' The room got quiet for a minute and bursted out n laughter afterwards.

I really do hope that we have the opportunity to see him again! He had a show to do so he had to run, but he seemed so cool! Company like that is what you want to be around, I tell you that much!

Earlier in the day, we were standing downstairs and saw HISTORY! We saw Ben Vereen! If you couldn't tell from the link, he was chicken George in Roots and Will Smith's biological dad in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Seeing him today was amazing to me! He looked so good! 65?! He looked amazing and he winked at me! :-)

On another note, Morton and I co-produce the TJMS tomorrow morning. Pray for us!

New York City Day 37: Casual Monday

Today came and went. Nothing really stood out about today. I went to my internship and left a little before 5pm. Cool news, msnbc.com will now become NBCnews.com! There was a mini celebration outside theGrio walls for that. After my internship, I came back to the dorm. I was getting some reading in while here. I was also preparing myself for Joyner Wednesday. I've decided that I'm not going to sleep Tuesday. I'm going to stay up until Joyner get's here and after Joyner, I'm out like a dirty rag! I really wish I could speak more about today, but there really isn't much to say unfortunately. One thing I will say though, is that new opportunities ALWAYS present themselves EVERYDAY. EVERYDAY there is an opportunity to do something different and better than the day before. There's always a window to make better decisions. Alway's. Until tomorrow!

New York Day 36: Teleprompter Reading!

Today was the first time we worked on a Sunday! And you know what else, yesterday was our first Saturday off! Lol, so no complaints! Yesterday was sooooo awesome and today was...interesting, lol! We reported to NBC at 8:30 in the a.m! While there, Ms. Reid gave us a script to read for our teleprompter reading later on.

I was excited at first, but once the pressures on, THE PRESSURE IS ON! Forget what I rehearsed, it was thrown out the window...for whatever reason! I really have to work on my speech. I was talking so fast! I don't have any problems implementing my personality into my live shots, my problem is how fast my speech get's! It's highly frustrating!!!!

So we get downstairs and get mic'd up! I like getting mic'd up...it makes me feel official! So we're starting our teleprompter reading and everyone's doing AMAZING! My turn pop's up and I stumble! Lol, I don't know why I began smacking my lips once I pause, but I did! Then (because I talk so fast) I kept stumbling over the words, BUT I kept going! I kept going! I had to, because that is rule #1 in news reading...DON'T STOP! So I was thankful that Smith (that's the camera guy who Ms. Battle introduced us to) said I did a good job and said that I did one of the best thing's to do is not stop, so I did a good job and followed one of the most important rules in journalism! Ok, so maybe I flushed out the compliment, lol, but he definitely said something around that nature!

So the biggest AMAZING thing that happened today was Destiny! Destiny did so good reading the teleprompter! I was so proud of her, WE were so proud of her! She's really coming into her own! She owned it! She gave a little personality and flavor, I loved it!

Afterwards, we did more broadcast writing. Did, I forget to mention that Ms. Battle brought her daughter, Clark, to work with her today?! We've been talking about her for a nice amount of time, so it was cool to meet her. She had personality, which I loved! I mean, look at her mom! They were too cute!

Later on in the night, I talked to my mom and I expressed to her how I never understood the reason why I've been given certain opportunities, or was able to meet certain people and thing's of that nature. But I remember Val Nicholas talking to us about networking and standing out and how, when someone invites you somewhere, you need to PARTICIPATE! BE PRESENT! Don't just sit there and take up space because you won't be invited again! You won't have that opportunity again! That said a lot to me. I have to stop acting like the charity case and be the trophy (I created that FYI!). I have to own my career! I'm here for a reason!

New York City Day 35: Exploring New York Pt II

Today was bitter sweet, I guess, lol. We were suppose to find stories and shoot it with cameras, but something went on with cameras where we weren't able to do that. Sooooooo, we had the day off!!! Aleisha, Demeshia, Lauren M. and I decided to go to Coney Island! It was a little bit more than amazing I must admit. Lauren F. is aaaaalways talking about it so we had to check it out!

As we were riding on the train, we saw the Statue of Liberty! It was amazing...from a distance. It was our first time actually seeing it since being here! I definitely want to go to see it on my next off day! So, we get to Coney Island and hit up Nathan's hot dog shack. It was pretty good. I wouldn't mind going back. Afterwards, we went to the boardwalk ( I THINK it was the first time I've been on an actual boardwalk...I THINK). I also THINK it was the same location where they shot a segment on "What would you do." I love that show!

We proceeded to walk around and really soak up the place. Alicia and I played in the sand and the water, lol. Then we went on to ride 3 rides for free. Saved 18 dollars! We checked out Times Square later on in the day. I, for one, can never get use to Times Square. I love it! I wouldn't mind going there by myself of with just one other person next time though, lol. Groups are not the best to travel with in Times Square because it get's pretty hectic! I just love to see the sights there and see the different types of people. It's all very exciting to me! Today was eventful and I enjoyed every moment of it!

New York Day 34: Double the learning

Today ended week 5 of my internship at the Grio. I was finally able to go over my writing with Alexis today. She gave me some good, DETAILED advice. I again, appreciate her for doing that. She really want's me to get it. She mentioned before, "I know you're the editor of your paper and..." Me being the editor in chief of the Panther means absolutely nothing. Lol, being the president of something means nothing if you're not willing to learn. There's always something to learn!

I for one, do not have an issue with criticism. I have a problem when people aren't criticizing me actually. I don't want to slide under the radar as an intern, student, employee or anything of that nature. So I appreciate her for being so thorough with me! Then she went over the partner content that I posted on the website. She didn't really have to edit much! Hooray! Then she gave me the biggest compliment today! She mentioned that she's glad  she doesn't have to tell me to do thing's more than once! That's a compliment! That means I'm listening and applying myself! You want your superior to say thing's like that!

Another cool thing that happened today, Adam (Deputy Editor) FINALLY approved of my story pitches! Lol, not that he's never approved of them before. I mean, he would still use my stories, but I don't ever recall him saying that my story pitches were really good (like he did today). It made me feel like I made a break through! Lol

After theGrio, we went to CBS Studios. We met Tanya Dunham and Randall Pinkston. They gave us a lot of advice on how to do live shots and how to piece together a broadcast story. We'll be reading from a prompter Sunday, so I hear, so I'm definitely excited about that! They told us how to be compassionate to people and build strong/genuine relationships. They also told us that it is important for us to be well-rounded. I'll leave you with a few exerts of what was said during our meeting:

• ·     READ ABOUT HISTORY, POLITICAL SCIENCE, ECONOMICS
• ·      LOOK AT BLACK ENTERPRISE, WALL STREET JOURNAL, BUISNESS SECTION
• ·      STUDY YOUR GROUND, SO YOU CAN GROW!!!!!!!
• ·      You’re tying to establish a relationship with the victim. “Excuse me, I’m sorry this happened to your family.” 
• ·      Multiple sources are always good.
• ·      If it was easy, it wouldn’t be called work.
• ·      Take time with people, write ‘THANK YOU’ notes to people you interview!
• ·      If you do a good job, PEOPLE WILL REMEMBER YOU and that’s when you’ll know you’ve done a good service.
• ·      When you use a  sound bite, you want to evoke emotion. It should go beyond 5W’s. Don’t use something somebody can find.
• ·      Stand up’s are used to say what you can’t show
• ·      Stand ups are to connect one part of the story for another part of the story
• ·      A Stand up close will summarize what you should be looking forward to
• ·      1^st 30 seconds, last 30 seconds, after interview is over is when you get your BEST SOUND BITES!!!

New York City Day 33: Networking!

Boy oh boy was today a busy day. This blog is going to be filled with a lot of valuable information so you may want to take out a pen and a notepad.

Me and Rihanna at Essence!

We went to Essence earlier this morning. We got a chance to talk to Charrea Jackson and Ms. Wendy Wilson. I've been meaning to talk to Charrea! She did a piece on casual sex on college campuses and how it's viewed. She interviewed me back when I was a junior...in college, lol. Here's a portion of the article. It was so cool to actually meet her in person and her actually remember me. Small World! I love going to Essence...I could TOTALLY see myself working there! The environment is so welcoming and peaceful and interactive and I love it!

Aside from that, we met up with a man named Val Nicholas. He is...an expert at networking to put it lightly! I needed to hear what he had to say...simple. I've been waiting years to say what he said today and I'm glad I finally heard it! Here's a few exerts of what he said:

•     Don’t wait for people to come to you
•      You go to them
• ·      Don’t wait to be discovered
• ·      WHAT IS IT ABOUT YOU THAT MAKES YOU MEMORABLE???
• ·      If you get invited somewhere, you don’t just sit there and not say anything
• ·      If you get invited somewhere, participate!
• ·      You need to show them you have something to say, offer and give
• ·      Do something for someone else, don’t ask for a hand out, after you help them, they’ll owe you
• ·      Coming in and sitting down and telling me all your dreams will get you no where
• ·      If I’m gonna help you, WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME???? 
• ·      If you want to be on tv, we want to see what you DID on tv
• ·      BETTER TO SHOW THAN TO SAY!
• ·      Don’t go anywhere without a stack of business cards
• ·      If somebody gives you their card, you need to call them or that connection is gone.
• ·      When you reach back, make sure you have something to talk about.  Say “Hey, we met up         here. I heard you have a project you’re working on, I can help out?”
• ·      IT’S EASY TO TAKE ORDERS, HARDER TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY.
• ·      Raise your hand, especially if no one else raises their hand.
• ·      It’s ok to fall down, as long as you learn from it and you let people know that you learned from it.
• ·      YOU HAVE TO JOIN GROUPS!
• ·      IT’S NOT ENOUGH TO JUST SIGN ON; RUN A COMMITTEE, RUN AN EVENT. THAT’S GOING TO GET YOU EXPOSED TO THE PEOPLE WHO NEED TO KNOW WHO YOU ARE.
• ·  You don’t have to wait for thing’s to happen. You can make thing’s happen.

      After that, we met up with some people from Ms. Reid's neck of the woods. We met Amy Rosenblum and Jane Hanson. They are so animated! I love it! Both their careers are too major to put in words, but I'll leave you with one of the biggest thing's that stood out to me. In this business, you have to have curiosity, nerve, passion, discipline and to be well prepared. After that, we did a quick networking event. We had to talk to several different people and we had two minutes to spend with each of those people. It was pretty interesting. It forced you to get to the point and not blabber about nonsense pretty much. So it was a pretty busy and eventful day!

New York City Day 32: Being honest with myself

So today was Grio day! I spent the majority of my day transcribing. Which is cool sometimes, I don't really fret too much over transcribing because, hey, it keeps me busy! I also posted up some stories. Have a read, have a read. Now I'm sure you noticed, if you took a peak at the story, that my name isn't on those posts. Now that is because I did, what we call in the business, lol, a 'web-run down.' I pretty much searched for interesting stories through websites that the Grio partners with.

That was the just of my day for the most part. You know, in interning for the Grio, I confirmed that I have an active spirit. I'm not one to sit for long periods of time and still be expected to produce immaculate work. I know me! I've known me for a very long time. And I've known me long enough to know that some thing's I'm just not going to comprehend. Some thing's just aren't going to keep my attention. Some things, no matter how interesting to someone else, is just not going to interest me. And you know what, I'm ok with that.

Anyone trying to force me to think the way that they think is only going to result in disappointment for both sides, lol, I've come to that conclusion. People have to accept that people do not think like they do, why? Because they weren't raised how they were raised. People have to accept that people don't act like they do, why? Because no one person responds to the experiences that take place in life, the same. I am learning to be comfortable with being me. I am learning to be comfortable in my own skin because I'm me for a reason. I'm here for a reason. Not saying that I'm not open to grow (because I've been growing everyday), but I'm open to adjust. In speaking from the heart, I just thought I'd mention that.

New York City Day 31: Broadcast!

Today at the Reid Group, we did a looooot of broadcast writing. It is not easy, I must admit. I just feel so constrained in print because you have to write thing's a certain way EVERY SINGLE time. I also have to write in the past tense form when I'm writing for print. So when I'm trying to write for broadcast, it's difficult because I have to write in present tense and not only that, but I can't give as much detail. It's hard to try to condense almost two pages worth of information into no more than three sentences! I have to be short, sweet and to the point! Lol, I'll get it together though.

Mara Schiavocampo came and spoke to us about news packages and how to stand out as interns. First off, she is soooooooooo adorable!!!!! Lol, I just kept cheesing at her because she was so welcoming and genuine in everything she was saying! She couldn't stay too long unfortunately, but she left us with enough information. Here's some of the thing's that were said.

• Alway's look for way's to set yourself apart from the pack
• Look within your passion and think of way's where you could do thing's that everybody else isn't doing
• In finding story ideas, always remember, if the story interest you, it probably interests someone else
• In reference live shots, don't look around when you're on camera.

We also had one on ones with Ms. Reid. I'm alway's curious to know her thoughts about me and the Reid group as a whole. Lol, I just wonder what goes on in her head as she hears us talking to each other. I'm mostly curious to know if se's thinking the same thing I'm thinking, lol! But our talk wasn't so bad. It wasn't bad at all actually. I told her how things were going at my internship and I let her know how I felt about the live shots and different thing's we've been doing throughout our time here. Nothing bad of course!

She then told us that we may not be able to go to this AMAZING party thrown by A.J Calloway and others! Lol, I would be so hurt if I couldn't go. A.J and me go waaaay back, he's going to be expecting me there! Lol, no really, I feel like we need to be there. Hopefully we'll have impressed her by Friday so she'll let us go! Fingers crossed!