Tuesday

Today I again woke up at 5am to get ready for the day. Its killing me but so worth it. I did my usual, took a shower, changed into my clothes, did my hygiene, put makeup on, i did my hair today and packed the rest of my bag for the day. While getting ready I talked to my roommate and suitemates. I meet my color group again, then headed over the dinning hall to get breakfast. Do i tell you, the coffee machine there was my saver for this whole conference. It kept me awake and moving. I talked to a few of my friends to see where they were headed today.

Today was our field visits. Which means we spend the first half of the day a place we got to pick. People could pick to go to The People’s House, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, WUSA 9, The Spy Museum, Library of Congress, DC News Now, The Hill or D.C. United. All of these options were great, I picked to got to the Library of Congress, which was one of my highlights of this trip but also a little disappointing. Each one of these would meet up and leave to go to them at different times and also get back at different times.

Library of Congress

One of my Suitemates and Color Group member were also going to the library of Congress. Which was great so then I wasn’t alone the whole time. One the bus I sat next to my Suitemate Cassidy, we talked about life, then headed over to the library. no one told me we had to walk half way there because the buses dropped us off at the wrong spot. Never wear heels guys. When we made it to the Library we went through security then got to a little area where they were going to talk for a few and go over the plan for how it was going to work. They also split us into two big groups.

We also got a little thing from the library, stickers, papers, pins and more. I sadly lost my pin I will forever grieve that (even though I could probably make it). The Pin said “I Heart old News”. The stickers were also pretty cool, same with some of the papers they gave us.

The Actual Library section

In the two groups one of us would start in a little library section where you could’ve got a library card to the Library of Congress. We got to see really old newspaper and comic books. Which was really cool. A few of the people also talked to us about the library missions, how it works and how we could use this. I honestly loved this part because we got to see real artifacts of the library that only a selected few could see.

Tour of Library of Congress

Once we were done there, we moved to the pretty part of the library, where we got a tour and got to see a few things. The only downside is that my group didn’t get to see much because they took to much time in the other part. Which was a annoying. still got to see a few things. I will be back to see it more. The library of Congress is so pretty and so useful. Also, our tour guide broke his tour mic thing so we couldn’t even hear him speak. Which was really fun when I look back now. I will say I chose the wrong shoes for this. The heels were doing a number on my feet and ankles. After the tour, we went back into the room, grabbed our stuff and headed back to the buses to go to George Mason for lunch.

Lunch

Back the George Mason, we had lunch in the dining hall, which was fire. A few of my friends were back so we sat with them. More of them pilled in as they got back from their field visits. We all talked about the field visit, what they did at theirs and more. Also, the cake they gave us for dessert was probably the best food they’ve given us at the dining hall. I will I can see why college students get tired of this food though. Once we all were done eating we headed to meet with our color group.

Color Group Meeting #4

At the color group meeting, we went over field visits, shared a few more things. Then talked about what else we were going to do today. We also got to play a chair game, where the person in the middle says something about them self and if it connects with you. you have to get up and go to a new seat and try not to end up in the middle. We had a bunch of speakers today, but only two people per color group could visit one. Which was called Career Exploration. There was a bunch of people I wanted to visit with but I ended up meeting with Nadgeena Jerome. We Before the Career Exploitation we also got to listen to a speaker.

Speaker

Once the color group meeting was done, we headed over to the Johnson Center to listen to the speaker. Our speaker today was Andrias Murdaugh, she is one This Morning on WTVR CBS 6. In her speech, she talked a lot about broadcasting, she helps set up a lot of events, to say yes, and listen to others. Her approach for her time with us was to be more engaged and actual walk around and talk to people. which I loved and it kept a lot of people’s attention.

The two biggest take aways I got from her was to go out make memories, meet people, you don’t need to find a story in that, it will come along. Then that people see stuff in you, but you need to take that step and say yes/go for it. If you stay behind this comfort zone, you’re not going to get that far. You need to take the risk and say yes to things.

Quotes:

“People will celebrate you, even it’s time to go” – Andrias Murdaugh “Raise your hand and say yes. Give it a try” – Andrias Murdaugh

Dinner

After Andrias was done, we all headed over to the dinning hall to eat. The food was lowkey fire. Me and my table talked a lot about the trip so far and more. Once we were done, we headed over to the Horizon Hall for the next event. Which was Career Exploration and Networking mixer.

Career Exploration

For the Career Exploration I got to hear Nadgeena Jerome, she is a Multimedia Journalist and social media producer. She is super sweet and cool. I loved what she talked about too and a few of the questions people asked her too. In her speech she talked a lot about her struggles of first starting her journalism career, you can pivot in your career and it’s okay to do so, Media is always changing and will always change.

I learned a lot from her speech, which I love because that was the point. A few points I took away from her, hour in journalism can be harsh, but it’s worth it in the end. Internships are gold in journalism, connecting is how you advance in this career. You don’t have to know what you want to do, even older people still don’t know. Don’t always type things, handwrite stuff, keep writing its a skill you should have and develop. Ask questions, be prepared to ask them and also get good at making some on the spot. You also need to advocate for yourself and plan things out.

I could go on about things she taught me and stuff I learned about her. She really gave a lot of advice to us. Though I really loved how she made sure to connect to us, but was still real with us. She told us the harsh side of this career but also the good in it.

Quotes:

“It’s okay to change and pivot” – Nadgeena Jerome “Shoot your shot” – Nadgeena Jerome “You find a story, you can do what you want with it” – Nadgeena Jerome “Not everyone will like what you say” – Nadgeena Jerome

Networking Mixer

After we meet with one of the speakers, we could leave the room and go talk to any other speakers we wanted to. There was also cookies, brownies, Lemonde, water and tea we could get if we wanted too. As well as talk to our peers and meet new people. I wanted to meet with Hayley Salvatore, which I didn’t get to because she had to leave right after she talked with the group she had. Which was really sad but one of my friends that was in her group did give me her email.

Since I didn’t want to speak anyone else, I walked around taking pictures of people and also talking to people around me. Which I liked, because I got a lot of pictures of people for my Instagram and also got to know a lot of new people or people, I hadn’t had much time to speak with. After a few we meet up with our color group one more time.

Color Group Meeting #5

In the color group meeting, we went over each speaker people in my color group went to, as well as other we got to talk to. We shared our thoughts and what we learned that evening. We were suppose to go over other things, but we played that chair game again, tell we had to head to the dorms for the night.

Dorm

As the nighted ended, me and my color group walked back to the dorms singing songs. Once we go to the dorms we headed inside to our rooms. At my dorms, I packed my bag for the next day, and go ready for bed. Per usual, I talked to my suitemates, then headed to sleep.