Have Lemons? Make Lemonade!

Finding a job in NYC has definitely been hard, and it seems like it's only gonna get tougher. Is it depressing for me? You can bet it is! I have days where I am so full of energy, with an optimistic attitude, and then I have sudden moments where I just have breakdowns. My lovely new friend Danielle  calls them: "I hate New York days." We randomly became great friends after we both moved to NYC at the same time, for the same reasons, and met at the LDS employment center.  We have kept each other going in our ups and downs.

As a way to forget about my problems, stress and worries, I decided that at least once a week I would go explore a random part of NYC I hadn't already seen. So far, it has been immensely entertaining since everything out in NYC is a first for me. I had never been here before and to suddenly take a chance and move out here has truly become an adventure for me. I've seen almost everything by now: Times Square, The Naked Cowboy, 9/11 memorial site, Rockefeller Plaza, Brooklyn Bridge and Central Park. Of course, there are still many things I have yet to see, such as the Statue of Liberty. However, I am a very poor college graduate out in the wild trying to land my first broadcast journalism job, so everything that requires no payment or fee is what I plan on enjoying before I hit the 20 dollar ticket to see the top of The Rock at the NBC tower.

Tonight, as part of one of my adventures, I decided to call one of my other new friends, Jon, and go sight  seeing around the city. First we, thought about going to the movies, but then I remembered it would cost me 12 bucks, money I could definitely save for my next grocery bill. I decided to skip the idea and head out to Jon's instead where we could figure out what to do. Once I was over at his place, we then thought it would be so fun to go to F A O Schwarz, NYC's amazing toy store that reminded me of the movie Home Alone 2. The idea also quickly died when we realized it closed at 8:00p and the time was 7:45p. Jon and I ended up going to 42nd street, the Times Square area, where we walked all the way up to about 59th street (just before hitting Central Park) and then all the way back down to 47th street. Throughout this walk, we managed to find a bunch of super amazing stores (Gucci! Prada! Armani! Versace! Apple! All in my opinion of course), then break my one and only camera (so sad!), and get lost looking for a Wendy's that ended up closing three hours before we got there. To sum things up, we settled for a chocolate shake and fries at the Mcdonalds across the street from the Wendy's it took us forever to find, and finally headed back home on the subway.

The good thing about my broken camera, however, was that I did manage to get very the small amount of pictures we took tonight onto my computer, which was something I though might not work out. Below is a picture Jon took of me while I was sitting on the fountains of the FOX tower (I think it was), in front of Radio City. It was his idea to get a shot of this background and I loved it!

My overall lesson from worrying too much about the negatives: always look at the bright side of everything. Something good will always come out of something bad.

Columbia University

On the lucky 09/09/09 day I decided to explore Columbia University's campus. I had actually jogged through it the night before and was so amazed by it that it left me with nothing but the "awe" sensation of it's beauty. I was dying to come back, and so I did. In my opinion, there aren't many more campuses nicer than Columbia's.

The first picture here is of the Low Memorial Library, which was finished in 1897 and served as the main library until 1934, according to Columbia's virtual campus tour website. It seemed to be a favorite spot for students to relax around and enjoy a nice moment of reading. I know it would definitely be mine! The campus tour website also indicates that today it serves as the university's administrative center and is the office to the university's President and Provost. 

To the right is Butler Library, where one of the tenth largest library systems in the nations is located, according to Columbia's tour website. You can definitely see the greek architecture it has with the columns. I love it. This library was built in 1934. It has the Rare Book and Manuscript Library, which contains more than 600,000 rare books and 26 million manuscripts, also says the web-based tour website. I didn't go inside to see it for myself though. Maybe, I could make that a next adventure.

  

It was the seconded day of classes in the fall semester and where else to find crowds of students than College Walk. On the picture to the left is this well polished walk way that is located dead center of the main campus. If you walk through it you will basically be getting an all-rounded view of the main buildings on campus. They all encircle this passage way. It's the school radius, one could say. 

Lastly, after having walked through this wonderful place, I had one thing left to do: see the Journalism Building. It was truly all I had eyes for.


Unfortunately, for me, I didn't take a picture of it, don't ask why because I, myself, am not sure. It could have been that I was lost within myself from the splendors of it that I just didn't think to do it. The good thing, though, was on my way out when I took my all-time favorite picture of the word that calls my attention like a birthday cake to a kid. See it below for yourself!

Jones' Beach in New York

Jones Beach: Wantagh, New York

With the economy at its worst since the Great Depression, it appeared that many tourists and New York residents left their worries aside to enjoy Labor Day weekend at the beach. I was just another attendee among thousands of people that relaxed and enjoyed the cool waters Jones Beach had to offer. To my surprise, this was one of the cleanest, most organized beaches I had ever seen. The staff members knew their drill! Apparently, not even heavy amounts of traffic could break them in. They were well prepared. As for the attendants, it was all about escaping stress to have some family fun.

It's all about the setup

Part of the main key to making a day at the beach a success is always the setup. Things, such as the beach towels, umbrellas, potato salad and Fresca were essential in our trip to the beach. This picture with the green and white umbrella was our lovely spot we made. Isn't it great?! With the clouds over head and the sun at just the right angle, my 30 minute nap out here couldn't have been any better. I know my roommate definitely enjoyed hers!

Nothing like digging holes for that sand castle

Among my favorite things to watch out at the beach are children. Sure enough, I had kids, like this cute little boy, surrounding us and even throwing sand in our nice little spot to get to down to the end of whatever it was they were digging. Some even threw balls at my roommates and me while we tried to nap in the sun, oh boy, but I love them anyways.

Beautiful Sunset

Lastly, but definitely the best part was the sun setting down. Our day at the beach ended with the stunning sunset as we walked back to the car and headed back home to good old Harlem.

New York City

New York City: The Media Capital of the world and here I am.

I've wanted to come here my entire life (well really since my senior year in high school when I decided to pursue broadcasting as a career). Finally, I find myself right where I have wanted to be for so long. I don't think I've ever seen so much diversity and so much tourism. It's immense. There's no way anyone could ever possibly be bored in the Big Apple. There's dining from every kind of restaurant imaginable. Entertainment ranges from clubs to theaters, shopping and just good old hanging out with friends. All I have to do now is go out there and find me buddies to explore with.

Today, as part of my adventure in the job searching field, I decided to personally deliver a couple resumes to the Telemundo and Univision studios. Unfortunately for me, it didn't go as planned. I spent about 40 mins locating the Univision station only to find out I located their business offices and not broadcasting location. The good thing, however, was the nice guard at reception who called the Univision offices and helped me locate the correct address. He was such a pleasant person and made me feel better even though he didn't know it. The dreadful part, though, was yet to come.

I took on my next errand to find the Telemundo station in NYC so I could also drop off my resume. Sure enough, I found Rockefeller Plaza fast and easy. I walked in to ask the security guard at reception how to locate the Telemundo studio in the building. I was told to provide the name of the person I was looking for before I could be let in. Well since I wasn't looking for anyone in particular and only knew it was the news director I wanted to see, I started trying make an effort and remember what his name was from the previous year I had randomly met him at a NAHJ/UNITY event. I stood there for a good 20 mins attempting to figure it out on my envy touch and it was worth it because I located his name thanks to Google. I told the guard his name only to have her tell me he was no longer in that building and they had moved the studio to 135 Madison Ave. Well things only got worse from there.

I started on my next search to find this new location. I walked to Madison Ave and realized I was in the 400's. This was a long way from the 135's, so I decided to take the subway and head south for a couple stops. I was a little lost for a while, but finally found the nearest sub train, got on it and got off at 25th st where I thought the 130's would be (this whole procedure took me 40 mins, so you could imagine how tired I was from walking). Finally, after nearly an hour of trying to find this place, I located it. To my unwanted surprise, it turned out that 135 Madison Ave was a stupid old carpet store and hotel. I don't even think they were in business!! I was so mad at the security guard from the Rockefeller Plaza I wanted to go back and yell at her. I gave up searching for the day, went to my favorite spot at Times Square where this picture is, sat for a while to relax, and started my journey back to my new home in Harlem where my nice comfy bed awaited for me to take a nap.

Day over!