When I look at this photo of a half-finished puzzle from the MOMA I immediately thought about what this trip meant to me right now and for my future.

The pieces already in place represent this experience in NYC. We got to learn from so many amazing minds, figure out what works for us and what doesn’t, and develop relationships with not only the people throughout each agency but with each other, the people we will call our peers in the future. The pieces are a foundation for our careers and understanding of what we want to do with the path we’ve chosen. We need those pieces to move forward, but there is so much yet to come.

This unknown future is where the rest of the pieces come in. They haven’t yet found their perfect place and it will take a few tries until they fit just right. Similarly, we as students are beginning a new chapter in our lives and many of us will learn that the first path we choose isn’t the right one. But, like an unfinished puzzle, the possibilities for our future are endless as long as we keep trying to find the perfect fit for us by learning from our mistakes and using them to grow.

This trip has allowed me to find two places where the puzzle pieces fit in my life:

1. I now know I want to pursue advertising.

2. I now know I want to build my career in New York City.

Before going on this journey I had neither of those things figured out and knowing that a little bit more of the puzzle that is my life is complete is so satisfying and comforting. Our life journeys are our own personal puzzles and we are constantly hoping to find what fits, and I am proud knowing that the energy and time I put into making this trip worthwhile taught me things about myself that we uncertain before this past week.

Apart from the excitement of overcoming some uncertainty and completing a little more of my puzzle, here are a few of my favorite takeaways from this week:

1. Be aware of your blindspots - Flock Party

2. Enjoy the process, live with it and the rest will follow - Horizon Media

3. Build growth and need for something they didn’t know they needed - Rokkan

4. Stories are more valuable than souvenirs - Rokkan

5. Every little detail matters - Saatchi & Saatchi

6. It’s better to go big and reel it in than play it safe - Saatchi & Saatchi

7. Simplicity is harder than complexity - Saatchi & Saatchi

8. Be a sponge - Laundry Service

9. Don’t limit yourself to one thing so you can expand your knowledge - Laundry Service

10. Make information easily accessible - Digitas

It’s been real NYC, until next time.

Savannah Nucci  5/13/17