I first want to apologize for not keeping everyone up to date about our trip to New York City. Internet was purchased for me to work on my blog, but we were not informed that it was only usable by the room. Because everyones` schedules were so different and chaotic, there was never the right time to use Dr. Lepre`s room to use the internet. None the less, I think I speak for everyone when I say, we all had a fabulous time in New York. Here is a recap of the week.

Day 1

Maddie (one of my roommates) and I were one of the first people at the airport. We waited patiently, but nervously for more familiar faces to arrive. Eventually everyone who was flying into JFK airport showed up and and things started off farely smooth.

The plane out of Knoxville was tiny, so tiny that if I stood on my tip toes my head would graze the top of the plane (I`m 5`10). We made one stop in Detroit and boarded a larger plane (thank goodness, can we say claustrophobic?). I got a little motion sickness a few moments during the ascents and descents, but nothing unbearable. When we reached NYC, our pilot told us we could see Manhattan below us, too bad i was wedged between two men and couldn`t see out the window! At this point I was so excited, I almost busted out of my skin. 

We finally landed and I was itching to get into the city. My two roommates and I got our luggage, got a cab and headed into the city. It took at least 30 minutes to get to our hotel on 6th Ave. Our room was on the 11th floor and we had a great view. Because we had the rest of the day to do whatever we wanted, we teamed up with a a few more girls and went exploring in the city. 

Our first stop was for food. We didn`t know where very much was so we went to the first place we saw which was T.G.I. Fridays. None of us were prepared for the price inflation. My bill alone for Grilled Stuffed Quesadillas, one Sam Adams Seasonal beer plus gratuity, which was already inlcuded, was $29. No more chain restaraunts for us in New York.

Our plan was to head to the Empire State Building. On our way we ran into Time Square. This had to be one of my favorite parts of the city that we saw. It was like the whole block was one big TV. There were ads and screens on every building. 

To go to the observation deck of the Empire State Building it costs $18. The view was worth it. It took less than a minute on the elevator to go up 86 floors. You could see for miles in every direction. We saw Wall St., Central Park, the Chrysler Building, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Hudson River and everything in between.

When we were ready to leave, we decided we wanted to take a cab back because we all wanted to freshen up before our dinner at Pala that evening. To our luck there was a limo driver in front of the exit and he offered us a limo ride for only $5 a person. We figured, why not, we are in New York. So we got a limo ride home and snapped pictures every second of the way back.

Our dinner at Pala was delicious. We were served calamari, some sort of cheeseball, salad and pizza by the foot. 

Day 2

On Monday, some students had the opportunity to go to "Good Morning America." Other places students visited today was NY1, The New York Post and Young & Rubicam (advertising). There was a panel on the importance of networking and resumes. The speaker was Katherine Crawford, Director of Academic Programs & Communication for International Radio & Television Society Foundation, Inc. This was very helpful for everyone. Before the trip anyone who wanted to have their resume critiqued could submit it for Crawford to review. 

A happy hour with ED2010 members was scheduled for Tuesday night. Those students who were going to see "Avenue Q" did not get to attend. Many were disappointed (especially when we found out later they had 25 cent drafts).

The play did not disappoint. The play was basically soft, puppet porn with many humorous songs about homosexuality, one`s purpose in life and of course porn.

Day 3 

The panel for today was about turning internships to jobs. Because "Live with Regis and Kelly" and "The Martha Stuart Show" tapings were earlier that morning, many students were not at this panel. In fact there were only 3, myself and two others. This played in our favor when Dr. Clark got a phone call from CNN. Because we were the only ones at the panel she was going to let us go to CNN later that day. Nina, my other roommate, was ecstatic to the point of tears especially when the name "Anderson Cooper" was mentioned. I myself was also quite excited. 

I went to OK! magazine and met with Mark Marino, the Articles Director. After that was a talk and tour at the CW 11 studios with Jim Watkins. Although the tour was very interesting, at that point my feet were hurting so bad, all i wanted to do was take my shoes off and burn them. 

We had to be at CNN at 5 p.m, so I had time to go back to the hotel and change shoes. Our tour guide for CNN was Kay Jones, Editorial Producer for "Anderson Cooper 360." The CNN offices were awesome. There were four or five floors of offices, newsrooms and studios. We were able to see the Lou Dobbs set and we were even able to sit at his chair and get our picture taken. When the tour was over we were invited back by Jones to watch the production of  "AC 360" at 10 p.m.

We came back and were able to sit in the control room. It didn`t get too crazy, but it had to be one of the coolest experieneces while I was in New York. When the show was over, everyone kind of just left. The three of us were wondering if we should just let ourselves out. We were very disappointed that we didn`t get to meet Anderson. On our way out Nina and I stopped at the restroom while Sarah waited in the hall. As we left the restroom I saw a silver-headed man walk by. Yes, it was Anderson Cooper. Nina stopped him immediatly and asked him a few questions. We all got pictures with him and he couldn`t have been nicer. He was wearing a navy blue Polo, jeans and some black and red Pumas with a backpack over his shoulders. I was a bit star struck and couldn`t stop staring at him. 

He rode the elevator down with us and hailed us a cab. 

Day 4 

Today I was supposed to go to an Oprah Magazine talk and tour, but to my disappointment it had to be cancelled; however, this meant I was able to go to the Playboy offices and sit in on an editorial meeting. We had our picture taken in front of the building and we were told our picture would be featured on a blog on the Playboy website. 

In the afternoon, Maddie, Kelly, Lauren and I headed to China Town. On the subway there was a quartet singing to the subway riders and they were quite enjoyable. We took an unintentional detour to Brooklyn, but there was a very good-looking and helpful cop that helped us get back on the right subway line. 

China Town was a bit overwhelming, but in an interesting way. You couldn`t walk two minutes without someone trying to sell you something. "You want Gucci, we got Gucci; You want Coach, we got Coach." 

We ate lunch in Little Italy. We all ate pasta of some sort. It was delicious of course.

We also went to Ground Zero that day. It was very eerie and almost creepy to walk next to it. Walking through that part of the city was not like walking in downtown Manhattan. The tone of the area was somber, even six years later. To see this big empty lot between the buildings, knowing what used to stand there and knowing why they aren`t there anymore was a bit overwhelming. So far there is not much of a memorial besides a tent that has billboards with the names of those who passed and pictures of future plans for the memorial site.  

Day 5 

Thursday`s panel was about making the move to New York City, with UT alumnus Adam Bryant, LaRue Cook and Jennifer Powell. They talked all about getting an apartment, dealing with negative parent reactions, financial issues and more. It either made you feel empowered to move to the city or wanting to leave screaming and never look back. 

I had a shadowing opportunity at Real Simple and therefore, I had to miss the Food Network tour, which I was a bit upset about, because I love food and the Food Network. 

We also visited Hearst-Argyle Television Inc. and met with Marv Danielski, Vice President of Marketing and Creative Services. Although Danielski was very open with us, many of us were anxious to get back to the hotel and get ready for our swanky dinner at the Park. 

Once my roommates and I were all dolled up and ready to go, we went to get a cab. It took about 20 minutes or so for us to hail one, but we finally did. We had our own private room at the Park, which was the Red Room. The three boys that went on the trip were all dressed to impress and looking quite handsome. All the ladies looked wonderful. 

We had cocktail hour until about 8 p.m. We chose between two appetizers and three entrees. I chose the roasted chicken with mushrooms. I never relished mushrooms as much as I did that night. We were also served a desert platter with chocolate-covered strawberris, mini cookies and some sort of fruit tart.  

After the Park we were on the search for a place called The Malaysia. It was a roof-top bar and lounge. We finally found it. It was very trendy and expensive; $13 martinis and $9 beers. After The Malaysia some went home and others continued to bar hop.

Day 6

Maddie and I had not had the chance to do any souvenir shopping and I still hadn`t seen Central Park. So that`s what we did in the couple of hours before we had to leave for the airport.

We pretty much ran back to the hotel because we were running a little late. Then we gathered all our luggage and headed for the airport. The fog and/or smog was really thickening up while we were waiting at the airport. Once we boarded and were ready to take off we were delayed for about an hour until the air cleared. This was going to make us dangerously close to missing our connecting flight in Detroit. 

We arrived in Detroit a little after 7 p.m. Our flight began boarding about 10 minutes prior to us arriving and was sheduled to leave at 7:15. We got off the plane at gate A3 and we had to board at C11. Did I mention Detroit`s airport is huge, so huge it has a monorail running through the airport.

We hopped on the monorail, went up about two flights of escalators, ran (more like sprinted) down another connecting tunnel (also huge), up one more flight of escalators and down the hall to our gate. Huffing and puffing, we all made it on the plane and we were headed back to Knoxville.  

And that was our trip in a small nutshell. It was amazing. None of us wanted to come home.