A Good and Relaxing Week!

Well, after the first couple of weeks of learning how things work at my internship, things have started to pick up. The ongoing debate of the stimulus bill has been the big news at work and of course around the country. I decided to write and put together my first news story over the stimulus deal and I had the chance to shoot it right outside The White House. So I hope to post a video of that in my next blog. Still yet to see President Obama, though.

That's a lot of money!

Leaving The White House...cheese!

For the Washington Center, all interns had to attend the Civic Engagement fair. The purpose of the fair is to learn about various volunteering organizations and issues in society that may be of interest. I chose to volunteer for the HIV/AIDS walk awareness organization in efforts to raise the HIV/AIDS awareness in the community. I also will be volunteering for the Pro-Choice America organization, which is an organization that advocates for privacy and women’s rights to choose. There’s a variety of volunteering organizations that I’ll try to participate in for the experience.

My weekend was good and relaxing at the same time. I finally had time to slow down, and catch up with some homework assignments, get some much needed sleep and do some cleaning. Interns didn’t have to work on President's Day, so me and a couple friends took a trip to the Ford’s Theatre, which has been renovated and reopened a few days ago. It’s a historic theatre, used for staged performances and is the place that President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in. We were told that after Lincoln was shot, he was carried to a house across the street, which he later died in. We were able to get a tour of the actual site.

Inside Ford's Theatre

Inside the home in which Lincoln died

Capitol Hill

The roomies!

I Am Loving It!

The wonderful world of DC

The first day of work was basically an introduction to everything. My supervisor gave a tour of the office building, introduced me to other coworkers, gave insight on what the company is about and informed me of my responsibilities while interning at Tribune. I couldn’t wait to jump into things and get started. Before leaving work, I made my time schedule for the next two weeks. My supervisor is flexible so my time schedule fits to my interest. For the rest of the week, my time was spent learning about the editing systems on the computer, reading through the news wires, logging and sound biting, and getting familiar with my new coworkers and their names. Throughout the week, the big discussion has been about President Obama’s stimulus bill package proposal.

Thursday, I began my evening class: Media, Ethics and the Movies. After a brief class discussion we watched a movie called “The Front Page”. It’s a funny look into the newspaper business, where journalist will do about anything to make the front page. Our assignment was to find out the ethical issues throughout the movie. Thursdays will be my longest days with work in the day, and class at night.

Friday, I was able to meet up with Candice and her friends. We had a great night out in the town. Saturday, my friend Jasmine and I plans were to go to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, but by the time we arrived, the museum was closed. So from there we took a walk up and down U Street. U Street is an historic area known for its music and culture of the African American community. After a couple of hours, we decided to eat at Ben’s Chili Bowl. It’ a restaurant known for its chili dogs, half smokes and milkshakes. The line outside of Ben’s was long and around the corner. We met a woman by the name of Dr. Valentine, a DC native. She was pretty well-known around the area, so by the time we got to the door we were served immediately. I was amazed by the whole place because so many famous people have eaten here and more recently, President Obama. Let me tell you, the food was delicious and affordable! To top it off, Dr. Valentine paid for our food…. So nice of her. We ended up trading business cards with her; she had connects to a television station called TV ONE. So the networking process begins.

Admiring the work of art...hmmm

Sunday was also a good day too. My roommates and I went to few museums near the National Mall area. The weather was actually feeling nice, a good day for sightseeing. First, we went to the National Air and Space Museum and then we went to a couple Art museums.

Giant airplanes in the National Air and Space Museum

Later that day I met with my advisor and other interns in the communications program for dinner at a fast food restaurant called El Pollo Rico. They mainly serve two things: chicken and fries….oh, and cole slaw if you want it. You get to chose from a whole, half or a quarter of chicken… It's the only place I’ve been to, with just that on the menu. But the food is really good, filling and affordable!

Media and Communication interns after a dinner outing

Unfortunately, I stayed up really late Sunday, catching up on my homework. One of my goals is to keep procrastination to a minimum…. But I had a great week!

Quote of the week:
“Carpe Diem”

Signing off,
Erica

Ooooh I Can’t Believe It!

Sorry folks, technical difficulties… Here’s my blog about my few days in DC!

Wednesday, January 28

The day had finally arrived and I couldn’t wait to get started. My flight was scheduled for 7:00 a.m. but because of the rain, ice and snow in the DC area, we were delayed for about an hour. I made it to Baltimore at about 1:00 p.m. and took a shuttle bus to my new residence for the semester. The apartments are called Grosvenor Tower, located in North Bethesda, Maryland. After checking into my apartment, I met my new roommate, Brittany. She’s from Boston and goes to school at the University of Massachusetts. She’s really nice and was helpful in getting me familiar with the area. Later that day, there was a building meeting for all the TWC students. I made some friends that attend Delaware State University; we’re in the same program (Media & Communications) and have class together. After a long day, I was still excited because I couldn’t believe that I was actually here and couldn’t wait for the next day.

Thursday, January 29

The first day of orientation for all the Media & Communications interns. Taking the train is common for people in the DC area. On the way to orientation it was my first time in a subway and riding on a train. I found out pretty quickly to stand to the right when using the escalators because people will just about run you over, trying to get by. Orientation went pretty good and didn’t last too long. I met a guy from Korea; he said his flight to DC was 24 hours and cost $1,500. Wooooow! I met my second roommate, she’s also from Korea. It’s been interesting discussing each others' ways of life. That evening I went out to eat with my roommate Brittany and some friends in the Political Leadership Program. I had a great time getting to know everyone and of course talking about politics.

Friday, January 30

The second day of orientation was for all TWC interns. I really enjoyed orientation today. There were some great guest speakers who were motivational. There were 5 things that I learned from them to keep in mind while I’m in here in DC.

1. Never say the b-word… bored; because there will always be something to do.

2. Become an active learner.

3. Apply what you've learned, work and impact your future.

4. Don't sweat the small stuff and look at the big picture; understand what you're really here for.

5. Consider everything good/bad as an experience; document and reflect.

I took note and plan on applying this advice to help make my DC experience even more enjoyable.

After orientation I took a trip to my internship, Tribune Broadcasting, so I’ll be able to know my way to work on Monday. Tribune is America’s largest employee-owned media company, operating businesses in publishing, interactive and broadcasting. Tribune operates basically in the major cities, one of them including Houston, my hometown. Their cable channel is WGN, and they are affiliated with FOX, CW, and ABC. During my internship, I’ll be doing things like writing, editing and putting together news stories, doing interviews, and helping the reporters and producers with newsgathering and production. My interests are to get into TV broadcasting and/or news reporting.

Saturday, January 31

What a day! It began with a trip to downtown DC. I went with a friend I met from Florida, named Jasmine. We’re in the same program and class. We first stopped into the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Next, we went to the Washington Monument. The view was amazing. Then we walked to the Lincoln Memorial. It was breath-taking and gave me chills looking at the huge statue of Abraham Lincoln, and knowing that MLK gave his "I Have a Dream" speech at that very location; and also how not long ago this same area was filled with people from all over, to see the inauguration of President Obama. After taking plenty of pictures we headed back to the apartment.

Well, tomorrow is the Super Bowl so I’m sure it will be a fun day. Go Steelers!

Quotes from orientation:

“To those whom much have been given; much is expected.”

“You learn from failures, not doing well, rather than having an easy coast to the finish line.”

Signing out,
Erica