Student spends holiday in NYC interviewing for magazine internship

This archived article was written by: Angela Oliver

When you think of the month that we have off of school for Christmas break words such as family, friends, presents, shopping, and snow probably come to mind. But while most of my peers were spending Christmas break with family and friends, shopping and doing all kinds of other holiday activities I was experiencing the hustle and bustle of big New York City by myself.
Back in October when I started applying for internships I never imagined anyone would be interested, I was merely occupying my time with little hope that anything would ever come of my efforts. So you can imagine my surprise when a magazine in New York City wrote me and expressed that they would like to interview me in December. Plans for my trip to New York started to solidify in mid November, it was very surreal.
I left for a nine-day excursion in New York City on the morning of the fifteenth of December. My father drove me to the airport and dropped me off. I was on edge all day. The traveling part of my trip was incredibly nerve wracking. Before my trip I had only traveled alone once, and my destination had been Kansas, which is not nearly as large and daunting as New York. That day I wrote in my journal on my journey ” I’m on the plane between Chicago and New York City right now. My flight from Chicago was delayed fifty minutes, so I had about two hours between flights. I spent my time by walking around the Chicago O’Hare airport, calling my Mum and also calling the magazine in New York to make sure they knew my plane had been delayed.
Once I get to LaGuardia I’m going to get my bags and ride the bus into Manhattan, I’m supposed to be meeting an Editor at Grand Central Terminal. Dad drove me to the airport this morning. It’s still very surreal that I’m actually going to New York. My parents have been very supportive; it’s nice to have them trust me.
Today has been a long day. I’m very worn out, I hope to sleep well tonight. I haven’t gotten much sleep the last couple nights, about 7 hours total. On my flight between Salt Lake and Chicago I wanted so badly to fall asleep, but the girl sitting next to me fell asleep and was snoring, but even worst she was drooling. This was no normal form of drooling however, there was a string of drool hanging from her mouth, and it slid up and down between her lips and her shoulder as she snored. It was one of those things that disgusts you, and yet you can’t manage to pull your eyes away from it. It’s revolting, and yet strangely fascinating. You can’t help but stare.
I’m looking out the window of the airplane right now. I can see the ground under me. There’s so much water; lakes, rivers and ponds all over the place. And green, something that Utah definitely is not. It’s really pretty. The sun is setting and the sky is orange, pink and red. It’s a gorgeous contrast with the lush green landscape. We’re flying through the clouds right now, and I’m surrounded by pink and purple fluff in every direction, this is what I imagine heaven will be like. This life thing is so beautiful. Any synonym does not do it justice. It is simply yet complexly beautiful.”
The few minutes before my plane landed were the most memorable part of the whole day. As we flew out of the clouds, we were above the Hudson. It looked as though we were skimming the water because we were so low. We then flew in over Manhattan, and circled around passing over the top of the Empire State Building and then into the airport.
My experience in New York City was nothing short of spectacular. I was able to experience so much in the nine days I was there. I was able to not only attend workshops at Yale University in Connecticut and attend an interview with the bigwigs of the magazine industry, but I was also able to see things like Julliard, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the Chrysler Building, Lincoln Center, a ton of other parks including Central Park, China Town, Little Italy, Soho shopping district, New York University, the fashion district, Times Square, the Mahayana Buddhist Temple, Chatam Square, the Brooklyn Bridge, Financial District, Ground Zero, old cemeteries, Greenwich Village, the Hudson River, The Natural History Museum and the International Center of Photography just to name a few.
I was able to experience the obscurities, eccentricities and uniqueness of New York City. It definitely stands out as a lively and animated city. It never stops moving. Being in New York was like being part of a ballet of gigantic proportion, in the sense that so much is going on, you’re a part of it, and it’s important that you make sure not to collide with the other dancers. Unfortunately, I did collide with other dancers on more than one occasion. One such occasion occurred as I was walking across the street. I had the disadvantageous experience of being hit by a car. It was in no way a disaster, but it is something I look back at and laugh at. I was crossing the street at Broadway and 53rd; I had the right of way so I started to cross the street. There was an SUV stopped in the cross walk, so I walked behind it, and right as I was centered behind it, it decided it was a good idea to back up in turn hitting me in the hip and knocking me over. I hurriedly got up and ran out from behind the vehicle turning around to see what the driver would do. Hilariously he didn’t even notice he had hit anything, and was continuing to back up. Because I was late for my interview I decided to laugh it off and keep walking. Lucky for me I only ended up with a bruise about the size of a plate on my hip, I figure it could have been much worst.
All in all my experience in New York was a memorable one, and not something I will soon forget. I have been so lucky to receive such opportunities as this. I won’t find out until March if I landed the internship or not, but even if I don’t I got to spend nine crazy days in the city of New York, and it was a once in a lifetime experience. In closing, if there’s one thing I learned from the whole adventure it was to go after whatever your dream is, even if you think it’s out of reach, because the reality is that it’s probably not as far out of reach as you think it is.

lifestyles editor
[email protected]
When you think of the month that we have off of school for Christmas break words such as family, friends, presents, shopping, and snow probably come to mind. But while most of my peers were spending Christmas break with family and friends, shopping and doing all kinds of other holiday activities I was experiencing the hustle and bustle of big New York City by myself.
Back in October when I started applying for internships I never imagined anyone would be interested, I was merely occupying my time with little hope that anything would ever come of my efforts. So you can imagine my surprise when a magazine in New York City wrote me and expressed that they would like to interview me in December. Plans for my trip to New York started to solidify in mid November, it was very surreal.
I left for a nine-day excursion in New York City on the morning of the fifteenth of December. My father drove me to the airport and dropped me off. I was on edge all day. The traveling part of my trip was incredibly nerve wracking. Before my trip I had only traveled alone once, and my destination had been Kansas, which is not nearly as large and daunting as New York. That day I wrote in my journal on my journey ” I’m on the plane between Chicago and New York City right now. My flight from Chicago was delayed fifty minutes, so I had about two hours between flights. I spent my time by walking around the Chicago O’Hare airport, calling my Mum and also calling the magazine in New York to make sure they knew my plane had been delayed.
Once I get to LaGuardia I’m going to get my bags and ride the bus into Manhattan, I’m supposed to be meeting an Editor at Grand Central Terminal. Dad drove me to the airport this morning. It’s still very surreal that I’m actually going to New York. My parents have been very supportive; it’s nice to have them trust me.
Today has been a long day. I’m very worn out, I hope to sleep well tonight. I haven’t gotten much sleep the last couple nights, about 7 hours total. On my flight between Salt Lake and Chicago I wanted so badly to fall asleep, but the girl sitting next to me fell asleep and was snoring, but even worst she was drooling. This was no normal form of drooling however, there was a string of drool hanging from her mouth, and it slid up and down between her lips and her shoulder as she snored. It was one of those things that disgusts you, and yet you can’t manage to pull your eyes away from it. It’s revolting, and yet strangely fascinating. You can’t help but stare.
I’m looking out the window of the airplane right now. I can see the ground under me. There’s so much water; lakes, rivers and ponds all over the place. And green, something that Utah definitely is not. It’s really pretty. The sun is setting and the sky is orange, pink and red. It’s a gorgeous contrast with the lush green landscape. We’re flying through the clouds right now, and I’m surrounded by pink and purple fluff in every direction, this is what I imagine heaven will be like. This life thing is so beautiful. Any synonym does not do it justice. It is simply yet complexly beautiful.”
The few minutes before my plane landed were the most memorable part of the whole day. As we flew out of the clouds, we were above the Hudson. It looked as though we were skimming the water because we were so low. We then flew in over Manhattan, and circled around passing over the top of the Empire State Building and then into the airport.
My experience in New York City was nothing short of spectacular. I was able to experience so much in the nine days I was there. I was able to not only attend workshops at Yale University in Connecticut and attend an interview with the bigwigs of the magazine industry, but I was also able to see things like Julliard, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the Chrysler Building, Lincoln Center, a ton of other parks including Central Park, China Town, Little Italy, Soho shopping district, New York University, the fashion district, Times Square, the Mahayana Buddhist Temple, Chatam Square, the Brooklyn Bridge, Financial District, Ground Zero, old cemeteries, Greenwich Village, the Hudson River, The Natural History Museum and the International Center of Photography just to name a few.
I was able to experience the obscurities, eccentricities and uniqueness of New York City. It definitely stands out as a lively and animated city. It never stops moving. Being in New York was like being part of a ballet of gigantic proportion, in the sense that so much is going on, you’re a part of it, and it’s important that you make sure not to collide with the other dancers. Unfortunately, I did collide with other dancers on more than one occasion. One such occasion occurred as I was walking across the street. I had the disadvantageous experience of being hit by a car. It was in no way a disaster, but it is something I look back at and laugh at. I was crossing the street at Broadway and 53rd; I had the right of way so I started to cross the street. There was an SUV stopped in the cross walk, so I walked behind it, and right as I was centered behind it, it decided it was a good idea to back up in turn hitting me in the hip and knocking me over. I hurriedly got up and ran out from behind the vehicle turning around to see what the driver would do. Hilariously he didn’t even notice he had hit anything, and was continuing to back up. Because I was late for my interview I decided to laugh it off and keep walking. Lucky for me I only ended up with a bruise about the size of a plate on my hip, I figure it could have been much worst.
All in all my experience in New York was a memorable one, and not something I will soon forget. I have been so lucky to receive such opportunities as this. I won’t find out until March if I landed the internship or not, but even if I don’t I got to spend nine crazy days in the city of New York, and it was a once in a lifetime experience. In closing, if there’s one thing I learned from the whole adventure it was to go after whatever your dream is, even if you think it’s out of reach, because the reality is that it’s probably not as far out of reach as you think it is.