QUESTION NUMBER 1: DO YOU WANT TO LIVE HERE?

After hearing from many alum that have went on this New York trip, as well as today’s W+K speakers, the biggest question that we must ask before committing to anything is: do we want to live in New York. Before even accepting a job here we must look at if this fast paced city is compatible to our characters. And from the past 3 days I’ve been here, I’d have to say: yes it is.

I feel as though the stigma of New York is that people are rude and not friendly, but after speaking to multiple strangers while being here it’s apparent that that isn’t the fact. A stranger on the train told me that “places like Times Square have very rude people and loud honking all the time because those are tourist locations. Locals try to avoid Times Square…” she said. All in all people here are always on a mission therefore come off as rude and mean. If you start going to less touristy areas the honking summers down and people are not as rude as they appear!

The diversity in race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity feels more like home, Berkeley, California, and this makes me more comfortable and at peace. I think because this you get to soak up so much more culture! Branching off of that the hip-hop scene here is phenomenal! After going to a hip-hop open mic in the Bronx I witnessed the huge amount of talent that local artists had to show! Extremely supportive of each other, I was able to make great connections!

Wieden+Kennedy today showed us that this diversity doesn’t only flow through the streets but in the dorms as well. The different perspectives brought to the table help form all of their end messages. A big takeaway from their talk today was to not pursue advertising and to stay true to our passions because these passions that grow in each of us is what creates the agency as a whole!

- Julian Watanabe-Neis