Investing in my future
My commitment to my Career in Journalism shines not only throughout my educational studies and internships, but also in the many opportunities I have been given.
For example, while I was attending the University of Tennessee of Knoxville, my Professor – Dr. Sam Swan – presented an opportunity to go on a New York Broadcast Network Tour with my Journalism & Electronic Media colleagues on March 16 – 21, 2012.
It was an opportunity I knew I could not pass up, because I was going to have the opportunity to network with possible future employer’s and to learn more about the industry I want to get into.
Video featured below: My classmate Adam King put together this video of our trip to New York while on our Broadcast Network Tour.
Tennessee Students Raid New York from Adam King on Vimeo.
Good Morning America
Our first stop was Good Morning America, in which we had the opportunity to take a tour of the studio. After our tour, we watched the live broadcast from outside the GMA studio with the rest of the crowd.
Once the live broadcast was over, many of the Presenter’s of GMA came out to greet us – Robin Roberts, Josh Elliott, Lara Spencer, and Sam Champion.
Robin Roberts, a UT Alumni, actually spoke with our class. When we told her we were students from the University of Tennessee, and since she is a UT Alumni herself, she ended up singing with us – our school’s Fight Song – ‘Good ole Rocky Top‘.
Robin Roberts is probably one of my favourite Presenter’s, because we share much of a similar medical backstory – she has overcame her battle against breast cancer, and as for myself, I have overcame my battles against shunt malfunctions while undergoing 28 brain surgeries – I am a brain tumour survivor.
Our Broadcast Network Tour
Not only did we have the opportunity to tour the GMA studio, but we also toured many other studios as well – NBC, Fox News, CNN, Time-Warner, CBS, WPIX-TV, ESPN, Food Network, MTV, and Bloomberg.
When we were at the NBC studio, we got to see where the Saturday Night Live show took place, and then at Fox News, they showed us around the studio and how they conducted their daily newscasts.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take the CNN tour, because I started having bad headaches, because of my medical condition; therefore, I had to go back to my hotel room to lay down until my headache eased up.
I was highly disappointed that I had to miss this tour, because it has always been a dream of mine – since I was young – to work at CNN.
Once I got back up on my feet, the next tour was the Food Network, which was a sight to see. The studio was quite impressive – the kitchen base was huge and how they conducted their shows was quite interesting.
We also toured the Bloomberg building and I’ve got to say, the architecture of that building blew me away. It was an immaculate and gorgeous building – not only on the outside, but also on the inside.
We seriously got to meet so many amazing people throughout our tours. I learned so much about the industry and what career path I really wanted to take – to become a Presenter/News Broadcaster.
Live shows
My Journalism colleagues and I also had the opportunity to attend many live shows; therefore, I got tickets to attend a Live with Kelly show, an Anderson Live show, and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.
Kelly Ripa – on the Live with Kelly show – was most certainly a fun show to see. Kelly entertained us with some jokes, plus she spoke with one of my favourite actresses – Elizabeth Banks – on her show.
But I do have to say, Anderson Live was by far my favourite show to see, because Anderson Cooper is an all-time role model of mine. I have been watching him since I was young, plus I highly admire his broadcasting skills.
Craig Ferguson was also a very entertaining guy to watch. My classmates and I actually went for some drinks at an NY Irish Pub before the show, so that we could get on his “Scottish level”.
Sightseeing
My Journalism & Electronic Media colleagues and I of course got to squeeze in some non-business related stuff – such as see Top of the Rock, Statue of Liberty, Little Italy, Empire State Building, Central Park, and Times Square.
NY Knicks Game at Madison Square Garden
And last – but not least – to top off our trip to New York, a few of my classmates and I went to see a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden.
As I am originally from New Jersey, I have unfortunately never had to opportunity to see a Knicks game before and it was something I had always wanted to do.
Now I might not necessarily be the biggest basketball fan, but as I said, it was something that I had always wanted to do – to watch a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden – and now I can say that I have and mark that off my bucket list!
Video featured below: Clip from the Knicks game. Duration 0:23.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od8qVKGL6Dc
