Wake me up when September ends

Four days until the lovely month of October begins. Even though this week has felt soooooooooooo (continue with the o’s) long, the month has gone by really fast. And honestly, I’m happy about it.

I am a tour guide here at school and tours officially start on the 1st, this Monday. I’m really excited to get back into them. It’s such an amazing feeling when parents and students tell you that they are considering the school because of the impression you made on them. Plus, it’s $10 an hour

On the down side, I feel like I’m getting a cold. Been sneezing non stop, sore throat, tired… the works. And the problem with me getting sick is that my body doesn’t mess around. When I get sick… I get sick bad. Here’s to hoping I stay well!

That class I mentioned in my last post, the one where I have to blog, well I finally got it up and running and will be doing my first official post Friday. I decided on the topic of “21.” I know, that sounds strange, but allow me to explain:

For some reason, I really like the number 21. Actually, it’s not for some reason – my birthday falls on the 21st. And I turned 21 this year. I thought instead of talking about one topic that can be repetitive, I’ll have a theme (21) while talking about a variety of topics. Thus, I plan on writing posts like… 21 athletes with jersey number 21; celebrities whose birthdays fall on the 21st; 21 movie titles with the number 21 in them, etc. My first post will be interesting, I hope, so check it out! http://www.blackjackofalltrades.wordpress.com. (Clever name too, huh? Blackjack. 21. Get it!?)

Alright, that’s it! Have a great weekend!

Back to school, back to school…

To show my dad, I’m not a fool.

Billy Madison aside, it really is that time of year again. It seems as though I was just writing about returning home from Washington and yet here I am sitting on my bed in my apartment back at good old Westfield State.

Not only does it feel like the summer flew by, but my whole 4 years of college! I’m a senior this year and I remember moving in freshman year, saying goodbye to my parents, and taking in all that it means to be a college student.

Now I’m at the end of my journey. Well, the beginning of the end of my journey I guess.

Being away from campus for a whole semester really makes me appreciate being back here. I missed pretty much everything about it — my friends, the professors, the newspaper, the Communication department… you name it. But I’m here and it already feels like I never left.

My last first day of classes was today and it was a success. Actually, one of my classes consists of blogging. On wordpress. I think I know how to do that. I’m not quite sure though. I will link to that blog on this one when it gets going!

For all of you students out there: Have a good first day/week. And to everyone, thank you for reading!

Red Sox/Yankees, Old Orchard Beach, and sweet, sweet summertime

Wow, been almost two months since I’ve had the time to write anything. I have just finished making a gravy and meatballs with my dad and thought it was the perfect time for an update.

Back in early July, I was able to cross something off of my bucket list: Attend a Red Sox/Yankees baseball game at my favorite place in the world… Fenway Park. My wonderful boyfriend bought the tickets back in February as a Valentine’s Day/Anniversary present and I was beyond excited. I wanted to chant “Yankees suck!” so bad (and I did!) and just see my favorite team and our rivals in action. And surprisingly, it wasn’t a shut out. The Red Sox had the lead for 3 or 4 innings before the Yankees came out on top in the end. And while a win would have been a great end to the night, I was just so thrilled to be there for the game!

Then at the end of July, my family and I took our annual trip to Old Orchard Beach, Maine. If you haven’t been there before, go! (Though, try to pick a week it doesn’t rain) Somehow whenever we choose to go, there are always 1 or 2 days that rain. It ruins the beach part of our trip, but I always have fun anyway because I’m with family and friends. What’s better than that really? While there, I indulge in tons of horrible food with absolutely no regrets, run beach side at 7AM, and share laughs and memories with some of the best people I know.

Recently, I went to Six Flags with Matt and tried the new Goliath coaster. Word to the wise: If you have a headache, or are afraid of getting one, don’t go on it. I personally didn’t think it was worth the wait and it was definitely not what I expected. Him and I also went to Salisbury Beach for Tripoli Pizza last week. That pizza is without a doubt the best pizza I have ever eaten. Unfortunately, the closest one to us in Peabody is probably in Salisbury or Lawrence, both kind of far just for pizza. So that’s why we go once a year, while also enjoying chocolate and cherry dipped black raspberry ice cream and the arcade games. We are just little kids at heart

Now that it’s August (wait, what? Where did the summer go?) I’m starting to think more about going back to school in September, and more importantly my future. I know it’s still early and that I have until May to figure it out, but I want to start soon. I don’t want to be one of those people that graduate college and then say “okay, now I have a degree, time to look for a job!” I want to have that job already. Since I know what I want, I’m going to try my hardest to get it. But first… I have to get through move-in day. Living on the fourth floor, while it will be a good work out, is going to take some getting used to!

My birthday is in 15 days (but who’s counting!?) and I’m going to Foxwoods! I’m working as much as I can this summer and I’ve been saving for it every week. Now, wish me luck! Write soon

Home: the best place in the world

Sometimes, it’s hard to put things into perspective. Time is one of those things for me. One minute I’m graduating high school. The next I’m meeting my college roommate for the first time. And before I know it I’m interning in Washington DC. Now, it’s the summer before my senior year of college and I still don’t know where the time went.

Before any more of my life passes by me, I’m here to update what’s been going on since my return to the greatest place in the world: home.

I got to catch up with some old friends, both of which I’ve known since middle school and thankfully stayed friends with. I’ve lost touch with most of my high school friends (which is a blessing if I must be honest) but they are two that I’m so happy to still have in my life. One just got back from Africa so we had a lot to catch up on! Meeting at our usual spot, Bagel World, it was a much needed reunion.

I’ve been back at Shaw’s – the job I’ve had since November 2006. For anyone outside the east coast, Shaw’s is a grocery store — cheaper than Harris Teeter but more expensive than most other stores. I started off as a bagger back in ’06 (my first day was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, mind you) and now I’ve worked my way to up to, well, pretty much everything else. I can cashier, run the front (CSR), do service desk, and hang grocery tags at the early hour of 6AM. It can be really stressful and sometimes I feel unappreciated, but I really do love it there. I have a fantastic checkout manager who I feel like I can talk to about anything — sports, life, or any problems I’m having with the job. The store managers are great and really respect me and understand the hard work that I do. And all the employees at Shaws make the place a fun environment. While it’s not an ideal job, it’s what I have right now and in this day & age I will absolutely take it. I may not want to work there forever, but for now it’s what I do.

Spending time with my family has also been a really important priority. I try to be home, eat dinner, and play games with my family a few times a week. I know that sounds silly, like I should be doing it all the time, but sometimes sitting home is just boring. And my family gets it. But when I am home, I love the time I spend with them. I take walks with my mom, just talk to my dad, and see my brother when I can with his hectic schedule. My favorite thing we all do together is play games. Mostly, we play whist (it’s a card game. It’s complicated, but it’s fun!). And usually, my dad and brother kick my mom and I’s butts, but tonight we showed them what we’re made of and came out on top 3 games to none. We like trivia, board games, word games, anything. I don’t know any other families that sit down and play games together so I’d say mine is pretty awesome. I mean, I wouldn’t trade them for anything.

And last is the time I’ve gotten to spend with my boyfriend, Matt, to make up for all the time we lost. Back in January, I realized I had to figure out how I was going to manage three months without seeing him. It is the longest period we have ever gone without being together. It seemed unimaginable, like it would be almost impossible to get through it. But I knew we would. And now it almost feels like I never left. Between watching Lost, playing Mass Effect 3, going to Salem Willows, and playing tennis together I seem to still find time to fall more in love with him every day.

Man, it’s good to be home.

And, so, the journey ends

As I sit here and wait for my parents to come and pick me up, I’m reflecting on my time here (while listening to Maroon 5, of course). I have some inspirational things to say, while I’d also like to point out some things I will and will not miss about our nation’s capital.

Despite some of the struggles I’ve had throughout the semester — roommate issues, coping with being on my own, etc — I don’t regret anything. To be blunt, I really disliked the program I was in because I felt like most of the “programs” and assignments we had to do did not contribute to my learning at all. It was busy work in my eyes and I hate busy work more than anything. However, if it wasn’t for the Washington Center, I never would have gotten to intern at The Daily Caller and that would have been a huge mistake.

I learned more in my three months there than I have in my three years at college. I feel like I don’t know what else I could possibly learn when I return to Westfield State in the fall. I learned incredible skills that I will continue to use throughout my career, I met amazing people that contributed to that learning and that I was able to laugh with and make connections with and that I will never forget. The fact that most of the office pretty much told me to work there when I graduate is a beyond wonderful feeling. I’m such a humble person so when I hear those things I’m not sure how to react, but it’s crazy because I never expected any of this on January 24 when I began my internship. Now it’s May 4 and I’m about to leave D.C. with so many incredible memories and more experience than I ever would have though possible.

Because I’ve written about all the cool things I’ve done at work — i.e. interviewing famous people! — I won’t reiterate, but those experiences I never would have had if I didn’t come here. I don’t know how I mustered up the courage to even come here in the first place, but I did and I’m so happy about it. I’ll forever be able to tell people that I worked for The Daily Caller, a national news website, and was there to help them reach 5.5 million unique users. Even though I didn’t get paid, I know that they appreciated the work that I did for them and it was really sad to have to leave. And even weirder not being there for the last two days.

But on to my real point: I never knew the value of an internship before I did this. I thought it was something people did to have on their resume. That’s why I did it. “It will look so good on my resume that I worked in  D.C. for a semester!” Which it will, but now I’m realizing that what I gained from being here is more than a section on a piece of paper.

Like I said, I learned so much and got to do such amazing things here and those things you don’t learn in a classroom. You learn the basics – how to write, speak well, how to conduct interviews, and maybe you’ll have to actually go interview a professor every now and then, but never did I do the things I did here. They don’t teach you in school how to deal with criticism from people that read your articles and don’t like them. They don’t teach you how to deal with criticism from editors and reporters. I had to learn on my own what the readership was like at TheDC and formulate my stories based on that. You learn in school to be an objective reporter. But what is that? I learned that it pretty much doesn’t exist. The Daily Caller is typically for moderate to right-wing readers so I wouldn’t expect there to be a “congratulations Obama” story if he wins the election in 2012. It’s just the way it is. Readers don’t want to see that because that’s not where they fall politically. It IS about making money and it IS NOT about being objective.

I learned by whole journalism career that you have to be unbiased and leave your politics at the door which in most instances is true. I never knew where any of the reporters stood politically. However, they work for The Daily Caller so they do stories that would attract their readers whether or not they personally agree. It’s a crazy world and at first I wasn’t sure I’d fit in, but because of my internship I learned that I did and I will. So that’s my point: Do an internship! Whether it be local, in D.C. or across the world do it. I guarantee you will learn so many things about yourself and the field that you’re interested in. Even if you find out that something isn’t for you, you have no idea how important that is. You train yourself in school to pick something you think is interesting or something that you’re good at. But how do you know if once you get out of school and don’t just sit in a class learning about it, if you’ll even like it? Then what? You do a job that you hate? I’m a strong believer in education, but an even stronger believer in getting up everyday and going to work to do something you absolutely love. So do an internship, figure it out. You will not regret it, I promise you.

I discovered that I may not want to live in D.C. and I may never want to do broadcast reporting, but I also discovered that my heart belongs in journalism. I have a passion for it and I’m good at it. I now know, after my time spent at The Daily Caller, that journalism is where I’m supposed to be and no matter what I have to do to get there, I know I’ll continue with it throughout my career.

Okay, so, that was my little inspirational bit, now for some ups and downs:

I will miss..

- FrozenYo
- Chop’t
- The new friends I’ve made (which all happen to go to the same school so I hope to visit them!)
- The Daily Caller
- Nice weather (unlike New England)
- My apartment (minus my roommate)

I will not miss.. 

- The metro!!!
- Not having my car
- Being away from my family, friends, and boyfriend
- Walking everywhere
- Overpaying at Harris Teeter
- Being poor

I’m sure there are more likes/dislikes but I can’t think of any at the moment. Anyway, I’m amazed at how quickly this internship and three months went by but I’m so happy to be returning home tomorrow! Write soon

Home is so close I can feel the Massachusetts air

Well, not exactly, considering the air in Massachusetts is probably colder than the air here, but you catch my drift.

With four days of work left and just over a week until my parents come, my anxiety is kicked up 100 notches. Not bad anxiety, I’m just very, very anxious to go home. It’s like the end of the semester at school when you have two more papers to write and one test and you can’t leave until everything is done. I keep marking the days on my calendar and doing everything I can to keep busy to help pass the time.

Other things I’ve been doing? Last weekend I went to the aquarium and saw a seahorse!! I saw other animals too but I was super excited about the seahorse – it was so cuute! We ate at the Cheesecake factory after (YUM!) and rode in a dragon boat. Yup, three twenty-year-olds suited up in life jackets to pedal around a dragon boat for a half hour. Six dollars well spent, my friends!

I also completed my portfolio. I have additions to make to it as I continue to write articles, but it feels so nice to have a portfolio completed. It makes me feel accomplished!

Before I pack up my stuff and go home next week, I’ll do a final blog post from D.C. — I will continue from home when something interesting happens! — about all that I’ve learned. It’s been quite a ride.

Seeya

RANDOM POST ALERT!

So, like I’ve said… I’m obsessed with all things Maroon 5 and so naturally I’m in love with their new song “Payphone.” I am going to share the lyrics and the song with all of you so you will learn to love them, too.

I’m at a payphone trying to call home
All of my change I spent on you
Where have the times gone
Baby it’s all wrong, where are the plans we made for two?

Yeah, I, I know it’s hard to remember
The people we used to be
It’s even harder to picture
That you’re not here next to me
You say it’s too late to make it
But is it too late to try?
And in our time that you wasted
All of our bridges burned down

I’ve wasted my nights
You turned out the lights
Now I’m paralyzed
Still stuck in that time when we called it love
But even the sun sets in paradise

I’m at a payphone trying to call home
All of my change I spent on you
Where have the times gone
Baby it’s all wrong, where are the plans we made for two?

If happy ever after did exist
I would still be holding you like this
All those fairytales are full of sh*t
One more stupid love song I’ll be sick

You turned your back on tomorrow
Cause you forgot yesterday
I gave you my love to borrow
But just gave it away
You can’t expect me to be fine
I don’t expect you to care
I know I’ve said it before
But all of our bridges burned down

I’ve wasted my nights
You turned out the lights
Now I’m paralyzed
Still stucked in that time when we called it love
But even the sun sets in paradise

I’m at a payphone trying to call home
All of my change I spent on you
Where have the times gone
Baby it’s all wrong, where are the plans we made for two?

If happy ever after did exist
I would still be holding you like this
All those fairytales are full of sh*t
One more stupid love song I’ll be sick

Now I’m at a payphone…

[Wiz Khalifa]
Man work that sh*t
I’ll be out spending all this money while you sitting round
Wondering why it wasn’t you who came up from nothing
Made it from the bottom
Now when you see me I’m stunning
And all of my cars start with the push up a button
Telling me the chances I blew up or whatever you call it
Switched the number to my phone
So you never could call it
Don’t need my name on my show
You can tell it I’m ballin’
Swish, what a shame could have got picked
Had a really good game but you missed your last shot
So you talk about who you see at the top
Or what you could’ve saw
But sad to say it’s over for
Phantom pulled up valet open doors
Wiz like go away, got what you was looking for
Now ask me who they want
So you can go and take that little piece of sh*t with you

I’m at a payphone trying to call home
All of my change I spent on you
Where have the times gone
Baby it’s all wrong, where are the plans we made for two?

If happy ever after did exist
I would still be holding you like this
All those fairytales are full of sh*t
One more stupid love song I’ll be sick

Now I’m at a payphone…

Warning: there is a rap part from Wiz Khalifa in there so beware!

 

ENJOY!

Now, there are only two Mondays left until it’s over

It’s one of those bittersweet moments.

On the one hand, I keep counting down the days until I leave. Not because I hate it here, but because, well, I just want to go home. On the other hand, it’s going to be so strange not waking up everyday and coming to the Daily Caller office. I’m going to read the news and see something I want to blurb and realize that I don’t have anyone to blurb it for! But hey, it’s been fun.

Speaking of fun – I went for a bike ride this weekend using D.C.’s capital bikeshare. It’s cool. You pay $7 for 24 hours and can take the bikes around the city and drop them off at any of the locations they offer. I wanted to try them out to see if I could potentially ride them from my apartment to work. I quickly found out that is not an option. It’s 2.2 miles and it took me about an hour which is just too long for a morning commute. It was such a beautiful day for a bike ride and I’m glad I went, but I did discover that I’m the worst bike rider ever! I almost got hit by a car =O whoops. I haven’t ridden one in years so that may explain. But 4 miles on a bike in just under 3 hours? Not too shabby.

DC Capital bike share!

Later on Saturday I went out to eat with people from my roommates’ college (Dickinson College). We went to this neat Italian place called Vappianos. It’s perfect for a big group of people because when you walk in they give you a card that you bring with you when you order food. I got this pasta dish so after I ordered I tapped it on this machine and it added up the charges and when you leave the restaurant that’s when you pay. It was pretty good, but that’s not the best part of the evening. Following Vappianos (and FrozenYo) Hannah and I did a Harry Potter workout. What’s that, you ask? Well, check out this picture:

Our Harry Potter workout!

So basically what happens is every time a spell is cast in the movie, we do an exercise and we did exercises for ALL of the things mentioned above. It was ridiculous. You don’t think all of those are going to happen, or all in a row, but they do. My abs hurt so bad Sunday and Monday. But so worth it – we couldn’t stop laughing. I suggest everyone tries it! (with any movie you want!)

Sunday I went to Eastern Market for the first time with Caitlin. I didn’t buy anything but it was another gorgeous day and figured I’d go to check it out. Glad I did – it was a great area!

Then Monday was just a normal day of work, but The Daily Caller bought tickets for whoever wanted to go to the Nationals Game!! I am a huge baseball fan so I was pretty pumped to go. I think I was the only one who actually went to watch baseball, but it was nice to socialize with my coworkers AND see a national league game. It was not as good as Fenway at all, and it made me miss home even more, but it was fun nonetheless. I can check that field off of my list of baseball fields to see

Nationals game!

Alright this has been an enormous post so enjoy reading and follow me on Twitter!

And, of course, being home was wonderful

As promised, my parents took me out to dinner Friday night at Burton’s Grill.  We had a gift card so we didn’t hold back on the food consumption. My brother’s girlfriend came, too. She’s sweet! It was the first time I met her so she was a little shy but I honestly don’t know why my family is so crazy and welcoming. Then we went home and did a Myers usual and played a game called “Say What?” It’s fun. And with my family it can just get funny. I ended up sleeping at Matt’s house Friday night because we were up early for Saturday morning.

Matt and I went to PAX East all day Saturday – it’s a video game expo and it was my first time going. It was extremely tiring but really cool being there. I’m no expert at gaming, I wouldn’t even say I’m mediocre, but it was still pretty awesome.  Plus, I love seeing Matt in his element. It was just a really long day, but afterwards I got to go back to Matt’s house and just hang out with him. I missed him so much! It was great to be with him all day

Then Sunday was Easter and I had lots of family time! i went to Church with my dad that morning. I won’t get into details, but the mass was the worst I’ve ever been to. It didn’t feel religious at all, but oh well. We had a nice day… it’s just too bad the Red Sox lost after the great game they played!! They aren’t off to a great start =/ but it’s only the beginning of the season so I gotta keep the faith! After most of my family left, Matt came over and we played another game and just again hung out together before I came back to DC this morning.

It was so hard to leave home because I love being there, but I’m in the home stretch here now and will make the best of it! I will get back into the swing of things tomorrow, when I get back to work, and do my journalism thing!

Thanks for reading! Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter!

After being here for over two months, I’m stoked to go home

…. TOMORROW!

I will be arriving at Logan Airport at 5:00 and I am beyond excited to be there. I can’t wait to see my dad and brother, who I haven’t seen at all since I’ve been here, and just for everything that comes with being home.

It’s strange that there’s only one month left, to the day, of my time here in D.C. I’ve accomplished a lot and still have more to do. I continuously get compliments from my co-workers and I can’t tell you how nice and encouraging that is to hear. I’ll miss everyone at TheDC and that I’ve met in DC when I leave, but there really is no place like home.