Day 6: The best day...

TODAY WAS A GOOD DAY. 

After a early start, today had to be the best day so far in this experience. It began with meeting the lovely Mrs. Pat Battle during her segment for the morning news. Being in the studio while live on-air brought back so many memories of when I interned at WAGA FOX 5 Atlanta. I really wanted to go to the control room to see where the magic happens. Mrs. Battle was such an delight with her witty personality,  all of us  girls agreed that she was "the homegirl". She's able to capture her audience by having a comical and sarcastic style of reporting, while still relying the story and  relevant information. It was definitely relieving to hear that she was married and had a family that was functional. Having a husband that was reporter was also very interesting to find as well, adding the fact that he attended Clark Atlanta. I am guilty to admit that I would love to be a fly on the wall in their household to see how they balance their family and this intense business. 

Ms. Christine Fields, who insisted we call her "Tine", was definitely a blessing to meet. Learning different techniques for shooting was beneficial because I need to advance in that area because it is essential to my career. I realized it need to tell my mother to FedEx my Bare Bones  textbook, an "dummy" manuel for proper shooting, down here because it definitely needed. It felt good to know a snippet of her knowledge when she was explaining the basics of cinematography and photography. I was silently thinking to myself "Ok, CAU Alumna!" The photographs that were shown were meritorious to say the least. The few I had a chance to look at  each had unique character. I was even more shocked to hear of the places around the world in which she had taken them. I made the mental note of  "following the lines". 

After learning a few techniques of "live shots", doing them on camera was not that intimidating. I actually felt official to be on the streets of New York City with NBC4 paraphernalia. At first, I was nervous to be on a main street with all these tourist curiously gazing at us, but when my turn came it flowed naturally (almost). I really thought Mrs. Battle was going to have prove her name when this weird guy was going too far with his comments and being a little too much in the mix. 

After the day ended at "30 Rock", we collectively went to Times Square and had our a true "bonding moment". All the characters that were in the street made me feel as though I was in an congested amusement park. The statue of Liberty impersonators, a silver man, a Chicago performer, along with Mickey Mouse and Elmo were just a few characters we were greeted by. Although dinner at T.G.I Friday's  was ridiculously expensive, it was well-needed outing because we all grew more closer as a group (in my opinion). We laughed, shared a few personal stories, learned common interest and even addressed undertones issues that may have been "incidents".

Saturday nights are so live in Harlem. Everyone is outside, music blasting, children playing in the park.  A fellow "Reid girl" and I really connected as we explored our surrounding neighborhood. We linked with a few friends from college and was able to really experience Harlem. Literally just a few blocks, we were opened up to a foreign world that was starting to feel like home. We found ourselves at a social gathering that that was on a roof! Looking over Harlem upon the concrete jungle, I definitely had a moment. It had finally set in that I was in NYC, and I realized that since high school I have wanted to be here; Atlanta was simply an detour.

After we left the gathering, we walked to a latino seafood restaurant on 125th Ave and Amsterdam. It immediately became the spot to go to for a great inexpensive meal, plus it's 24 hours. They served fresh seafood that one could buy straight off the ice as well as a variety of cooked meals with choices that ranged from fresh veggies to spanish rice. 

After our eventful day, we felt proud to be back in the dorms by 10:30pm, beating our 11pm curfew. We had to laugh amongst ourselves because throughout the whole odyssey we still were focused on our work, stressing about the upcoming events that awaits.