A soggy sponge.
How I feel after one day in NYC. Information is flying at you from every angle and every context, I feel like I’m absorbing at a faster rate than I can process. I’ve made a good dent in my notebook and met some pretty strong, smart women. Looking at these successful women working in jobs that I want to work in hasn’t been deceiving at all. It gives me more hope than I expected for my career. Before this week, I felt shitty about myself when I saw people getting jobs or read about people in agencies, but now I’m like Hell Yes! There’s hope for all of us yet. Rinse, wring, repeat, this week is only ramping up from here.
- Hailey Woram
5/6/2019
Empire State of Mind
It’s good to get back to the eastern time schedule that I grew up with for so many years. It’s especially great to experience this time zone in New York rather than Indiana. I’m couldn’t be more stoked about my first trip to New York. I could hardly contain my excitement as we touched down in NYC. My excitement quickly turned to fear as I thought I was going to be killed about five different times in New York traffic during our Uber ride to the hotel. I feel that this combination of excitement and fear is the perfect way to summarize my thoughts coming into this trip. There’s the excitement of visiting several great agencies with the opportunity to learn from talented professionals in the industry. Then there’s the fear of not getting to those agencies because I don’t know how to use the subway. There’s the excitement of $1 pizza slices. Then there’s the fear of the place that claims to have “New York’s best pizza” not actually having New York’s best pizza. Hopefully I’ll be able to lose the fear and gain an empire state of mind, so I can conquer New York and all it has to offer. Hopefully if I listen to Jay-Z and Alicia Keys sing about it enough I can find it within myself.
-Brenan Joy
empty seats
like a handful of my peers, i took a red-eye into jfk out of pdx. on paper, this flight was full - maybe an open seat here or there. and like most people on that flight, i was praying to have an open seat next to me. as passengers filed into the plane, i kept my fingers crossed, watching people pass by into their respected seats. when the flight attendant finally said, “we are now closing the cabin door,” i was stoked. not only did i have one empty seat next to me, i had the whole row to myself.
since i’m overly superstitious, i took this as a good sign. it was a good sign for the flight and it was a good start to this week. i’m stoked for what’s to come with all the agency visits, meetings with alumni, and meetings with professors. and i’m stoked for what’s to see.
it’s going to be a good week. cheers.
andrew sakuda | 05/05/2019 | 1
Limp Dick Energy
I’m not talented enough to be here.
I’m not smart enough, creative enough, or interesting enough.
It wasn’t until halfway through packing last night when my roommate confronted me. “You need to stop!” Her being the first person I ever met when I came to UO as a freshman in 2015 she has seen me search for what I want to do and major in. Being from outside Allen Hall she had interesting insights that I think it’s been hard for me to see. “Yes, your portfolio still needs improving and your resume isn’t extensive. But you have such good ideas and are so creative.”
I promise this week I will stop telling myself I’m not good enough. I know that the more I tell myself that, the more people will notice and believe that it’s true.
I think agencies can probably sniff out the limp dick energy.
MP 5/5/19
I arrived a few days early to New York, and while I wasn’t doing school business, I had some time to explore the city a bit.
As I exited Central Park at 59th and Broadway one day, I was drawn to a large group of pigeons on a fountain and noticed a man standing nearby with several birds perched on him. We started speaking and I learned that he “owned” 11 of these birds, having raised them from eggs. He explained the trust they had with one another, as well as the full history of pigeons.
Often times it is easy to get into a pattern, letting ourselves fall victim to the lure of monotony. We need to constantly be experiencing new things, meeting new people, and seeing sights we never knew to exist. The Pigeon Man has the ability to do this every day; by sharing his bird stories around the park, he is able to constantly meet new people and inspire them to live more unique lives. Meeting him filled me with joy and inspiration for the coming week. I can’t wait for the range of quirks I have yet to uncover around this city, both inside and outside the agencies we visit!
5.5.19 JM
An ESFJ walks into NYC…
According to the Myers Briggs Personality Test, I’m an ESFJ. Referred to as “The Supporter”, ESFJ’s are all about understanding people and being in tune with feelings of others. In my own life, I’ve always valued the relationships I have with the people I encounter in my life. Whether they’re life-long friends or strangers, my life has been shaped by the lived experiences of the people around me. Beyond just people, I also believe the places I visit and the things I see contribute to my personality.
Visiting and experiencing America’s cultural hub of ideas and people will play a role in how I think and see the world. Learning from the people, thriving off the energy of the city and understanding how the world outside my bubble functions are all experiences I hope an ESFJ can learn from. So, as this ESFJ ventures out to new places in the city, I challenge myself to use my personality traits to the best of their ability.
- Z
United flight 1759. You really had me barely catching flights and feelings. After three calls to try to change my flight a bunch of us lost ducks were able to make it on the last red-eye to NYC. I may be still handling a missing luggage situation, but I won’t freit because too much because I am too beyond excited to start this crazy and a little scary week. I learned a lot on last years NYC trip and I am ready to learn more, shake more hands, and experience all that I can within this short week.
My roommates and I lucked out with a room on the top floor of the hotel. I arrived earlier than them and found myself with a few minutes of unexpected silence - a welcome relief from the hustle and bustle of traveling. I contemplated how best to spend my time - more research? Go on a hunt for a New York bagel? Scrub the stench of Newark airport off my body? In the end, I relished my hour of silence and alone time. I sat, reflecting on the moment, knowing that I probably wouldn’t get another chance to do so.
Something about New York has always felt romantic to me - busy and dirty and expensive, yes, but alluring in a way I can’t quite pinpoint. That’s what I’d like to nail down this week: why is New York attractive to me? What about this city makes it worth pursuing? Every one of us will find our own reasons to return (or not), but we get to decide them for ourselves. Here’s to finding our New York.
Olivia Bowman 5/5/19