Dog Days Are Over

It's been a few hours since the semester has ended, and I'm about hop on a plane home, where the wonderful holiday season awaits me. It's been four months since I ended my summer in New York City, hopped on a plane, with the idea that I was flying towards an exciting and invigorating semester after a life-changing summer.

Perhaps because I enjoyed the summer so much is why this semester came up so short. The summer had created a new standard of what amazing really was. Or maybe it was because for 10 weeks I was able to do something I truly loved, instead of taking classes in subjects that the university finds important for me to take (Biology, I'm looking at you).

Regardless of how or why it happened, I found myself clinging on to the dog days of summer. The days of the hot subway, the smelly garbage on the sidewalks, and the five flights up to my apartment. And those were the things I didn't like about New York City, so you can see how seriously I missed it. It was rough. I mean, I'll go ahead and label this semester the worst of my entire college career. But being the glass-is-half-full kind of gal that I am, I must recognize some beautiful moments that did indeed take place (and I'm not just talking about seeing Ryan Gosling TWICE).

1) French 601c: For whatever reason, my beginning French class quickly became a community. Maybe it was that we all bonded over how hard the course material was, the witty comments coming from a darling girl named Felicia, or the Godess of fun classes just blessed us to have a good time, but we had so much fun. I became SUPER good friends with an RTF major named Kylie, and here's the video we made for one of the projects:



Nous parlons bien francais, n'est-ce pas?

2) Her Campus Texas Social Media: The other exciting part of this semester was being knighted the "Social Media Editor" for Her Campus Texas. As the SME, I'm in charge of the content and copy for facebook and twitter, and started our pinterest! It's seriously confirming my love for social media, and I now know the secret to marketing to college-aged girls is Mean Girls and 90s nostalgia. I'm also still a contributing writer for HCTX, and I love it!


3) Ragtime Dramaturgy: At the beginning of this semester, I began work on Ragtime dramaturgy with the intelligent and talented Andrew Carlson and Isaac Gomez. At first it was really hard, I felt intimidated and inadequate. However, as the process went on, I became more comfortable and created some great work! We also facilitated 20 post-show discussions (you read that right) with the amazing cast and the audience. I became surprisingly attached to it in early November, and was oddly emotional when it ended. It made my love for theater intensify and grow!

Ragtime with Isaac and Andrew Foote who played Tateh!

Which brings me to my favorite part of the semester: 4) Theater and Dance Dept UT's Department of Theater and Dance. I seriously can't get over how much I'm OBSESSED with the kids who are so insanely passionate, talented, and loving. There would be days where I felt like I had just watched the scene of Mufasa dying in The Lion King (and trust me there were a lot) and would walk into Winship (theater building) and would be immediately uplifted. It was like taking a five-hour energy without the disgusting taste. I would look around and say, "Wow, I'm seriously in love with this department."

Theater kids after "And Then Came Tango"!

5) Movement Improv Class: The theater and dance department also provided me with a way to deal with NYC separation anxiety. In my movement improvisation class, we were required to create a personal solo for our final piece. "Alright!", I thought, "Now's my chance to choreograph a two-minute, one-woman Nutcracker!" But as we did composition work, I found my narrative wrapped up in my New York summer experience. And there it was. Set to Florence + the Machine's "Dog Days are Over", it was a cathartic process where I was able to release all my feelings about that experience and the events that came as a result of it.

The dog days are officially over. I no longer need to cling to the past, so I can make room for more wonderful memories that are headed my way <3

If You Can Make It Here, You Can Make It Anywhere: Part 2

It has been 71 days since I have packed my bags, flew to New York City, lost my wallet, and started my 10 week journey of living in the city that never sleeps.

And yet, it feels like yesterday.

Isn’t that how the saying goes anyways? Time flies when you’re having fun?

I’m not sure how to describe how incredibly grateful and happy I am to have had this experience, and I think that’s okay. Even though I had 24 intern friends, two roommates, and had loved ones visit, no one will quite understand the experience I’ve had because it was all mine! These past 10 weeks have been very personalized, individualized, and Felicia-ized. 

My DoSomething.org internship was nothing short of life-changing. I learned more than I thought I would. Apparently there is more to social media than just posting cute pictures of myself with a witty caption-- who knew? ;) I learned more than social media, but about non-profits, people, and myself. The environment at DoSomething.org is so...perfect. Collaborative, inspiring, innovative, and then some. And let’s not forget the snacks. And let’s not forget the people! I feel closer to these people in 10 weeks than I did with the people I went to high school with for four years (just sayin). We truly became a family, which was evident from the abundant amount of tears we all shared on our last day. We had so much fun this summer, and yet got so much work done too. Shoot, I worked my butt off!  The work did pay off though, because during my end-of-the-internship meeting, Calvin expressed how proud of me he was :)

Calvin, my flawless supervisor

Interns on the last day!

The only thing I do regret is not immersing myself into more theater and dance. It’s like the epicenter for all of that, and I don’t think I took advantage of it. Of course, the two Broadway shows I did see were probably the best experiences I could ask for. When I saw Anything Goes with my mom, we were able to go backstage and I got to dance part of the Anything Goes choreography on center stage. Then, when Brenden was in town, we sat in the front row to watch Wicked. Not too shabby in my opinion. I also took a few theater jazz classes at the Alvin Ailey studios, which literally was a dream come true. My eighth grade self was screaming! It was great to take classes at the same studio as the dancers do who have inspired me since fifth grade. I went to a class on my last day in the city, and we did a fun, high-energy piece from Jesus Christ Superstar. It was pretty fast-paced which set me up for some fumbles, but it didn’t even matter because I was literally SO HAPPY to be dancing. I noticed I was involuntarily smiling and just letting my body do it’s thang. 

As I was riding the subway home, I wanted to kick back and listen to my New York playlist (yes, it exists) and reminisce over the past 10 weeks. But in true, unpredictable NYC fashion, I ended up talking to two guys about the city and life, and I realized I really had come full circle. I started this journey by losing my wallet, the world trying to humble me and tell me I have to just roll with the punches. During the last 10 weeks, so many other things have happened that I never expected (read: mouse and cockroaches) and I learned to just deal with them. Then during that last subway ride, here the world was again, telling me to just relax and enjoy life. It isn’t just about what happens to you, it’s how you react to it.

Leaving for the airport!

I really am proud of myself for making it through these 10 weeks and only crying once. I can truly say I have lived in New York City! And honestly, I feel invincible. After all, if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.

In The Heights

For those who know my hometown Vancouver, WA, know about its lack of diversity.

An anecdote I like to share about the diversity of my high school takes place at the Dr. MLK Jr. Assembly freshman year. During the assembly, the guest lecturer asked for all African American students to stand up. The number of students that stood up could be counted on my two hands, and half of us were bi-racial. Not exactly diverse.

It's not as if I haven't experienced any other cultures or other ethnic traditions; that's not it at all. I just haven't lived in a neighborhood where the majority was an ethnicity besides white. That's why living in Washington Heights has been an exciting and somewhat startling experience.

I was definitely jarred by hearing sirens late at night. The bodegas, graffiti, and families sitting out on their steps threw me off a little bit at first too. It was weird to see people actually doing stuff out on the sidewalks. Old men playing checkers on the corner, young men trying to impress the ladies that walk by, and kids chasing each other. Everything seemed so...public and open.

It was also weird to see people that actually looked like me, not Hilary Duff or the Olsen twins.  I saw girls with the same skin color as me. I saw girls with the same shape as me. I saw girls with curly hair (like my hair when I wear it natural) and it looked good. I remember calling my mom my first weekend and saying, "Okay, so I may fall asleep to sirens, but I know they'll have good products for my hair."

I'll admit, I was a little scared the first couple of weeks. It wasn't until I listened to the soundtrack of the Broadway musical In The Heights, that I started feeling comfortable. Yes, I am aware of how atrociously cheesy that sounds, but since when am I afraid to get cheesy?

In The Heights is a musical about several families connected by a bodega in Washington Heights. It follows the families as they love, fight, celebrate, and grieve together.  The musical highlights how important community is in Washington Heights, and that's when I realized why my neighbors did everything outside. They were a community, and they were all out enjoying the company of their community in their outdoor living room. When I started imagining the characters of In The Heights interacting with my neighbors, everything just made sense. I would even listen to the soundtrack as I walked home!

Although I haven't made an effort to join the community, I do feel a sense of camaraderie. People have spoken in Spanish to me, thinking I am Dominican, and honestly, I think that's really cool! Of course, I could have only responded with my few key phrases that I learned in Dobie's cafeteria at UT, which probably wouldn't have made any sense in the conversation context. I've even publicly wore my hair au naturale a la afro a couple times this summer, which I don't think I've done since I was six.

My natural hair!

Although it was a bit of a hassle to ride the train all the way up to Washington Heights after hanging out with friends in the Lower East Side, living here this summer has been eye-opening and fascinating. Just like the characters in In The Heights, I'm glad I could call Washington Heights home for this summer.

Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This

...but I don't recall Mama Fitz saying anything about there being weeks like this.

A week where everything is absolutely perfect. A week that you feel is so rom-comy, it could be a montage written by Nancy Meyer herself with the peppy "Mama Said" song overlay.

THAT was the week I had while Brenden was visiting.

During our senior year of high school, Brenden and I had both discussed how much we wanted to go to New York University for college. I didn't get accepted to NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and Brenden ended up not applying, so my dreams of us frolicking around the city together were dashed.

Fortunately for me, we started dating, he came to visit for our two year anniversary, and my dreams of us frolicking around the city together were alive and well.

Boy, did we frolick.

I won't sit here and bore you with a list of everything we did; I get it, that wouldn't be fun to read. I also won't sit here and gush about how Brenden is literally the best boyfriend in the entire world; we can save that for if we ever have a sleepover and stay-up late whispering in our sleeping bags after giving each other make-overs and eating too much junk food. I will sit here, however, and tell you that we had a fantastic time.

Since it was Brenden's first time in the city, we did all the tourist-y stuff, which honestly, I love! I know to be a "true New Yorker", you are suppose to hate all of that, but I really do think it's fun! The insane bustle of Times Square, the tranquility of Central Park, the magnificence of Grand Central station; I realized I had spent these last nine weeks focused on working and discovering new non-tourist-trap areas, so I loved going back to see the classics!

Many of the days were spent hopping on-and-off subways and weaving through the crowds hand-in-hand so we could make sure Brenden could see all of the significant sights, but there were a few moments where we slowed down a bit, and they were really special. Moments where I just looked up at the sky and smiled.

On our two year anniversary, we went to the top of Rockefeller Center and I was left in awe. I still can't figure out how to describe it. Not only was it aesthetically pleasing, but it just showed how--awesome--(for a lack of a better word) New York City is. It was breathtaking.

It was here that we read our anniversary letters we wrote to each other. I was so elated, in such a lovey-dovey mood, I wanted to run all 67 floors of the Rockefeller Center yelling, "I'm in love, I'm in love, and I don't care who knows it!". Instead, I posted it on facebook. Typical social media intern, am I right?

The other moment took place in Central Park, at the Bethesda Terrace and Fountain. Maybe it was all the couples running around taking engagement/wedding photos, but I was just so happy to sit there with Brenden and enjoy life. As cheesy as that sounds.

Okay, I'd like to apologize. This came off a little more gushy than I intended. But I can't help it! Mama said there'd be days like this. She is absolutely right. Like she always is.

Ten Commandments of the Subway

1. Thou shalt not set their bags in an empty seat when people are standing.
I hope your bags are comfortable in that seat there...

2. Thou shalt not hold onto an overhead bar if thou is not wearing deodorant or have not shaved their armpits.
I mean, I was raised in Portland, go to college in Austin, I'm fine with women going au naturale, but I don't need it in my face while I'm riding the train.


3. Thou shalt ABSOLUTELY NOT try to surreptitiously lift up a cute girl's dress during crowded rush hour (or any hour for that matter).
No exceptions. It's pervy.


4. Thou shalt assist a young parent with (un)loading a stroller from/onto the train.
You can have the whole stone-cold, selfish NYC attitude, but you can be nice enough to help a lone parent with a baby.


5. Thou shalt not get on an un air-conditioned car in the summer.
It will feel literally like 1000 degrees. You'll thank me later.


6. Thou can reenact any movie subway scenes if the car is not packed and you have at least two witnesses with you.
RENT, Step Up 2, etc...

7. Thou shalt not wait for the express train if it will take more than three minutes to arrive.
Because by then you don't save any time.


8. Thou shalt squeeze as many people into the car during rush hour as possible.
It happens whether thou likes it or not.


9. Thou shalt not sing and ask for money if thou doesn't have a tolerable voice.
It's not fair to the rest of us.

10. Thou shalt not make-out with thou's significant other.
Unless you like death stares from Felicia.

One Is The Loneliest Number

It's true, one can be the loneliest number.

20 can also be the loneliest number when your friends are all over 21 years-of-age.

The last time I was this aware of my age was in fifth grade when I had to lie and say I was born in 1986 (making me at the legal age of 13) to sign up for AIM.

It's not even that I have this intense desire to drink alcohol, I just want to hang out with my friends! I'd be fine with a cherry coke, really! I just hate being the young one that can't go out because I'm five months from being 21. I mean, I'm so close to 21, I can smell the cosmopolitan I want to have as my first legal drink! 

Me and my 21/22 year-old friends

There are so many things in the city that you have to be 21 years-old to do. Don't worry, I know it's New York City, and I realize how many great things I can do without being 21 years-old. I realize how many great things I have done without being 21-years-old. It just seems that for an optimal New York City experience, you have to be over 21. Concerts and dinners-- there's professional networking events I can't attend because I'm not 21 years-old. That hurts more than the scene in The Lion King when Mufasa dies. It's really frustrating. I think we can now all realize why Adele skipped a '20' album and went straight to '21'.

I know this may sound like a horribly whiny post, and really, I'm okay because I'm far from lonely. My friends have done a tremendous job in including me in their plans. I just haven't thought about my age like this in a long time. I guess at college I'm too busy going to class, procrastinating on homework, and re-eancting Broadway musicals to notice!

I Want It All

It was some night during the spring semester of my freshman year at UT, watching an episode of Sex and the City with my friend Elizabeth that I decided that I wanted to be like Carrie Bradshaw. Not in the constant drinking and having sex sense, in the writing a blog/column on my MacBook Pro while eating Asian take-out after a fabulous city event sense. That same night I made a twitter, a tumblr, and started working on some pitches to send to Her Campus Texas (an online magazine for college women) to see if I could be accepted as a contributing writer.

I have officially achieved my goals from that night. I'm sitting here in my New York apartment, writing this blog, and about to dig into some delicious Pad Thai noodles that I had delivered. On top of that, Monday night I attended a fabulous city event hosted by none-other than Her Campus.

I was invited by Do Something's Biz Dev associate, Muneer, to sub for Calvin at an event hosted by Her Campus and Bing. It was to promote the launch of Bing's new social search. Judge me all you want, it was the exact kind of city event I always wanted to attend and I felt so cool. I snapped a picture with one of the Her Campus founders, rubbed elbows with some wonderful media/communications people, and won a smart phone through a tweeting competition. Not bad for the first day of the work week right?

Windsor Hanger, one of the Her Campus founders!

Just feeling the celeb status as people took my pic with my new phone!

As I walked to the subway, I silently thanked myself for actually dressing nice that day and mentally high-fived myself for confirming that I was a good fit for the "social media intern" title.

Flash forward to the next day, when the DS interns volunteered at the Bing "Summer of Doing" event. Let's just get this out there on the table right now: I MET CORBIN BLEU. And NO, I didn't spend the whole time harping on High School Musical. I interviewed him, rapped "In The Heights" with other interns for him, and spent 15 minutes soaking in his musical theater advice.  He was so down-to-earth and genuine. While some celebrities volunteered for only 10 minutes, he was there for three-and-a-half hours, tiling a mural, painting a wall, and taking pictures with literally anyone who asked. His generosity is why I was able to pluck up the courage to ask for some musical theater advice. The best piece of advice? "You have to really love the whole process. It may take a long time before you book your first show. That's why you have to love taking classes, auditioning, and perfecting your craft."

Corbin Bleu!

He is absolutely right. When people think of Broadway stars or any kind of performing, they think of just the finished product. The note that creates goosebumps, the leap that gets air rival to a slam dunk, the standing ovation. It's the whole "I want it all! The fame, the fortune, and more." Even I forget sometimes about all the preparation and hard-work that goes into creating those spine-shivering moments. There are days where I certainly don't want to go to a dance class, or feel too lazy to practice for my vocal class, but I know performing is something that can make me truly happy. On the subway, I automatically select my "musical theater" genre and subtly (or maybe not so subtly) dancing to the songs, attracting stares from strangers. It makes me feel happy and complete.

This is my dilemma: I want it all. The social media events and the Broadway performances. Both are exciting and challenging. I often find myself forcing myself to choose between the two, but I don't think I necessarily have to choose. Not right now, anyways. I'm in New York City! I'm going to enjoy it all.