ABC….ONE, TWO, THREE.

Thanks to TWC, we have the opportunity to visit different locations and people that we normally would not be able to. TWC Career Services hosts Brown Bag Lunches. These lunches are during the week (on Fridays mostly) and during lunch time..duh! They're open to all TWC interns and the best part…FREE. Interns love free anything! Anyways, I went to the Brown Bag Lunch at ABC News Studios. We met with TWC Alum Kimberly Berryman. She is a Production Coordinator at ABC and also helps coordinate the internship program, writes for ABCNews.com and books guests for various programs. She told us that her official title should be “professional floater.” Whatever needs to be done at anytime, Kimberly is usually the one to do it. She told us a story about Inauguration Day. The crew needed help putting on wires on the ground to broadcast live, so Kimberly went at 3 o’clock in the morning to help set up. I don’t want to imagine how cold it was. She did her job, and her reward? To go to one of the Inaugural balls which the president attended. She said it was totally worth freezing. Yah, I would guess that.

Kimberly with TWC interns

Kimberly spoke about her experience with TWC when she was an intern in 2006. She gave us some advice on things she wishes she would have known when she was an intern. She told us to get out of our desks, follow people around and network. Another piece of advice which I have been hearing from everyone is to write thank you letters. She showed us a cabinet of past interns, and she told us that out of the hundreds of interns that have interned at ABC- there are about five Thank You letters. So I am guessing they are kind of important. We also took a tour of the studios. I felt like a kid at a candy store. It’s funny, because they make it look so much bigger on TV. They use special tricks to make it look as if the studio has hundreds of people when actually there are about 10 people. Kimberly said the ABC Studios in New York are a lot bigger, because that is headquarters.

Me @ ABC

Kimberly said she really did not know she wanted to work in media while she was in school, and she tried a couple of different majors. She interned at a radio station, and thought she would like to be on-air. But as she learned more, she fell in love with production. Her goal is to be a producer working at ABC headquarters in New York. I was thinking about my own experiences at school. I always wanted to be a sports reporter, and I do not think that will ever change. What I am struggling with is print vs. broadcast. I love to write and be in front of the camera…why not do both? We shall see. “Lo que está pa'ti nadie te lo quita.”

Leli’s recommendation for the week: WRITE THANK YOU LETTERS! I will be writing one as soon as I am done here.

Until next time, Ciao.

Ohh, Mondays!

AP=Mother Country of Journalists!

I had a great first week working at Book Hill, but then Monday came around. Dum-Dum-Dum… I knew Mondays were going to be long days, but I had no idea. I went to work, and then Molly, Sara and I had our first Lecture Series event. Pretty much we go and hear someone lecture about what they do in their field. Molly and I went together to the Double Tree Hotel. We were scheduled to hear Rosemary Reed, President, Double R Productions and Marc Adelman speak. Rosemary and Marc were great and they gave awesome advice for “baby” journalists. They told us to stick with journalism and not give up just because the industry is crashing. That lecture lasted until 4:30 pm. I couldn’t go home, because it was my first day of class. So, I found a book store, sat down and read my book for two hours. I lost track of time, and I had to rush to find the AP News Bureau. It turns out that I had the wrong time, and I was half an hour early.

Inside the AP News Bureau

I was super excited to see the AP building. It’s like the mother country of journalists. We met our professor, Professor Feldman, in the lobby. When the rest of the class got there, she started to pass out our AP TAGS!!! Yes, I have an official press tag!! HAHA! She gave us a tour of the building! Way Awesome! By the way, my class is called Media, Ethics and the Movies. You know, like “All the President’s Men,” which is one of the movies we will be watching. (I have seen it three times…no worries) The first movie we watched was “The Front Page.” It’s a 1974 film about cop beat reporters in the 30s. It is so funny! The film depicts the exact opposite of a good reporter. Anything and everything that is wrong about reporters is shown in the film. The reporters lie, exaggerate and manipulate the truth. I did enjoy the movie. What I didn’t enjoy was getting out of class almost one hour late. The class is from 6:30pm-9:30pm, but we got out around 10:20pm. The Metro ride to Franconia-Springfield is about one hour. I got home at 11 pm, and I was beyond pooped! But the worst part- getting up the next morning at 6 am. Not fun! Well, that was my Monday. Don’t worry; I do have a recommendation for you guys.

Leli’s recommendation: Potbelly’s sandwich shop! Ohhh Yummmy! FYI, I got the Pizza sandwich. PS: ALWAYS PACKED!

Until next time, Ciao!

I had to take a picture of them! Yah!!

The Internship

Hello again everyone! Well, the first “official” week has come and gone. That’s pretty scary. I am not sure if I mentioned this before, but I work for Book Hill Partners. It is pretty hard to explain what they do, but I will try. They are a PR, lobbying, government relations, public affairs, business strategies and public affairs firm. In other words, they do a little bit of everything. I work with two other interns from The Washington Center, Molly and Sara.

Molly, Sara, Me

Molly and I are in the Media and Comm. Program, and Sara is in the Business and Management Program. Each of us has a different “special project.” Molly works with Integrity, a cyber security company, Sara assists Joe Davidson BBQ, a world famous barbecue champion, and I handle the PR for The Taylor Hooton Foundation. The THF is a non-profit organization that fights steroid use in our youth. Don Hooton is the one who started the Taylor Hooton Foundation in memory of his son who took steroids for high school baseball and committed suicide. I knew about the foundation, because I am a sports junkie. Future goal: ESPN!

Anyways, I love working for the foundation. Don is a great guy and a very hard worker. I created a Facebook and Twitter page for the foundation, so check them out! I am in charge of creating Media List for Hoot’s Chalk Talk. What is Hoot’s Chalk Talk? Well, it is the foundation main source of education. Don travels from city to city visiting high schools and MLB stadiums. There he talks to the students about the dangers of steroids. At the stadiums, the trainers from the teams talk to the students about health and nutrition. Some of the team’s players also talk to the kids about team drills, and they play catch. And then Don talks about steroids. It’s a great program, and the foundation is going to travel to all 30 teams. And guess what? On July 24, the foundation is coming to Washington, DC. to Nationals Park! And the best part…it’s my 22nd birthday! I am so looking forward to it.

Don Hooton with Yankee star Alex Rodriguez.

Ok, enough about work! Let’s talk/write about what I do best…SHOP! I highly recommend the Pentagon City Mall. 1) Its beautiful, 2) Has a store for everyone and 3) FOOD! Some of my favorite stores found at Pentagon City: Nordstrom, American Eagle, Hollister Co., True Religion, Express and Forever 21. I went shopping with my cousin, Janet, and then we got hungry! She doesn’t like ANY type of seafood, which I LOVE. But she made a sacrifice, and we ate at Asia Bistro on Pentagon City Row. It’s just outside the mall in a small plaza with a bunch of restaurants- if you do not want mall food. I was able to have my sushi, and I was a happy camper.

Leli’s recommendation of the week: Pentagon City Mall located @ 1100 South Hayes Street, Arlington, VA 22202. Happy shopping everyone!!

Until next time, Ciao!

Good-Bye, Tourist…Hello, Washingtonian!

I have only been in DC for two weeks, but it feels like I have lived here my entire life. I know that sounds crazy, but it’s true. The first couple of days, I felt like an impostor riding the metro and pretending to be a normal commuter. After my first two days, I got used to the metro and the walking. I know exactly where I am going, and I do not need to ask for directions. I even gave someone directions today about how to transfer trains at Metro Center, which made me feel like a true native. TWC had two days of orientation last week, and I am glad I got the confusion out of my system. Here is something I had to learn the hard way- the metro will break down if you need to be somewhere on-time. NO MATTER WHAT! So, I advise future interns to ALWAYS get on the metro early. It’s better to be super early, than 10 minutes late. It doesn’t matter if you are way too early because there is a Starbucks in every corner, so sit down, drink a coffee and relax. Another very important rule concerning the metro is you stand on the RIGHT side, and you walk on the LEFT side of the escalator. If you are standing on the left side, someone will tell you to move, or they will physically move you. The best part of orientation was visiting the Newseum. As you can probably guess, it’s a museum about news. I felt like it was the holy temple for journalists.

Media & Communication interns @ the Newseum

Besides the walking and public transportation in the city, my favorite part of DC is the “outdoorsy attitude.” Everyone is always outside! On the weekends, people are walking, running and biking all over the place. There are so many different trails and hikes to explore. I went biking my first Sunday with my cousin and friends. WOW! We biked 20 miles from Alexandria, Va. to Reagan airport. My legs are still killing me, but it was so much fun, and I totally recommend it. I also visited the National Zoo. The pandas were my favorite! It’s a great zoo and a great place to walk and camp. The best part… It’s free!

Leli’s recommendation for the week: The National Zoo located at 3001 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20008.

Until next time....Ciao!