New Summer... New Blog.... New York!
WARNING: This post is long. You may want to grab a cold beverage and a snack for ultimate enjoyment. Other posts won't be this long, I just feel like I need to fill you in on the past semester of events that's led me to this first posting.
365 days ago my summer journey in Italy was just beginning. Today is very reminiscent of that incredible experience, only I didn't head for the International Terminal at Atlanta Hartsfield Airport... I headed straight for Gate A19, destined for New York City!
Yes, somehow, through the combination of hard-work and luck, I was fortunate enough to score an incredible Fashion Assistant Internship with Condé Nast's _____ * Magazine. These next 10 weeks will be the culmination of my hard work earning an Apparel Merchandising degree at Auburn University. It's time to put all that tuition money to use!
Not to focus on my summer in Italy too much (this is a "New Summer, New Blog" after all...), but I do feel the need to share something with those of you who were kind enough to read my rambling blog posts everyday last year.... The blog I kept in Italy is what lead me to New York right now.
My room has always been the prime candidate for an episode of Hoarders with the stacks of magazines I refuse to throw away (I promise I'll need to reference them one day...). So my love for fashion publications goes way back. When I made the blind leap-of-faith and chose Apparel Merchandising as my major 4 years ago, it didn't occur to me that a career in magazines would be an option in this field of study. It wasn't until my return from Italy (and writing blog posts every day for 12 weeks), that it hit me like a lead balloon: fashion magazines! That's my dream. That's what I want to do.
I remember that "a-ha" day like it was yesterday... It was a Thursday this past September and I had an unusual amount of stuff to do, with my day focusing on my evening plans: our big Psychedelic Social (my favorite social event of the semester). So you can imagine the stress (and, I'll admit, unenthusiasm) I'm feeling when my dad reminds me at 4:30 that our Pastor from my church in Huntsville will be in Auburn for a "Meet & Greet" with the students of his congregation at 5:00. Yes. But our Pastor is new and he went out of his way to come down here, so I forge onward and go to visit with him. Little did I know, but he was the first person I was truly able to give an honest answer for when asked "So what do you want to do with your major?" Being able to tell him "Fashion publications", and meaning it with my whole heart, was like revealing this huge secret I've kept from the world for 22 years. So needless to say, that conversation sticks out in my mind as the day when I put all the pieces of the puzzle together.
Getting back to the present, I'll give you a Spark Note's version of how I am currently on this Boeing 757 heading to LaGuardia (y'all know I'm not very good at Spark Notes. See: story above).
My degree at Auburn requires it's students to do a 10-week internship in order to graduate. I thought I was being so smart and started looking (and applying) to places in January... Well that got discouraging real quick because I was sending my résumé to anyone and everyone and getting absolutely no responses. Then, one day in my Advanced Buying course, we had a speaker come talk to us about "Branding Ourselves". She showed us some impressive sets of coordinating business cards, résumés and cover letters--they put my Word Document, 12 pt Times New Roman résumé to shame! No wonder I wasn't getting any responses! So I got my talented roommate to paint a cute, fashion sketch, transferred my text into Photoshop and slapped that cute painting in the corner. Voila! Professional resume (or at least more so...).
Next I know it is March, Spring Break rolls around and mom and I are maxing and relaxing at Orange Beach. There's a website that posts only magazine internship openings and I check it religiously. Well, on a glorious March day, the listing for a _____ * Magazine Fashion Assistant Internship came up and I sprinted from the pool to the condo to apply to it asap. A week later, and after I'd applied to 20 other places, an email with a Condé Nast adress popped up in my inbox. Holy cow! I flipped--ask my roommate. I threw my phone (it had an OtterBox...) across the room and my roommate had to read the email. "We would love to schedule an interview with you..." (freak out again). I promptly reply and, after many emails, a phone interview is scheduled for the next Monday. Over the week I prepare for any question you could dream of being asked in an interview (strengths, weaknesses, favorite color..). So come Monday at 2 pm, I was ready. I dial the 212-area code number and speak with the _____ * Fashion Assistant. The interview takes a total of 12 minutes and it ends with me thinking: I've hit the motherload. This is it. I don't want to do anything else. I nearly start crying tears of joy during the interview when the lady gives me the job description! She gives me the "Well we've got a lot of applicants and will let you know by the end of the week." ...Not a very confident conversation capper. So the following week is spent with my stomach literally in knots. By Friday, I've come to terms with the fact that I didn't get it and spend the whole weekend applying to other places. On Monday, I'm at dinner with Jesslynn. My friends know not to ask me if I've heard anything because that's just s gateway for a sob fest, but she does. I reluctantly say "no", but decide to check my emails on my phone anyways, out of habit. That's the moment the clouds part and the angels come down. I have an email. Again, I give my phone to Jesslynn cause I can't read it and she narrates it for me: "Dear Sara, I enjoyed speaking with you... yada, yada yada... We'd love to offer you the internship!" WHAT?! I literally start crying in the middle of dinner at Niffer's. All this hard-work, patience and perseverance has paid off! That is what has led me to waking up at 4 am today and heading to New York City with my dad.
*I am not sure if I can put what magazine I am working for, so check back in later posts to see!
**********
I hope that long-winded story was worth your time reading. If not, I apologize! But I am going to do my best this summer to share my experiences in the city with y'all. I will post more pictures tomorrow evening if I can -- here are a few from this past weekend:
365 days ago my summer journey in Italy was just beginning. Today is very reminiscent of that incredible experience, only I didn't head for the International Terminal at Atlanta Hartsfield Airport... I headed straight for Gate A19, destined for New York City!
Yes, somehow, through the combination of hard-work and luck, I was fortunate enough to score an incredible Fashion Assistant Internship with Condé Nast's _____ * Magazine. These next 10 weeks will be the culmination of my hard work earning an Apparel Merchandising degree at Auburn University. It's time to put all that tuition money to use!
Not to focus on my summer in Italy too much (this is a "New Summer, New Blog" after all...), but I do feel the need to share something with those of you who were kind enough to read my rambling blog posts everyday last year.... The blog I kept in Italy is what lead me to New York right now.
My room has always been the prime candidate for an episode of Hoarders with the stacks of magazines I refuse to throw away (I promise I'll need to reference them one day...). So my love for fashion publications goes way back. When I made the blind leap-of-faith and chose Apparel Merchandising as my major 4 years ago, it didn't occur to me that a career in magazines would be an option in this field of study. It wasn't until my return from Italy (and writing blog posts every day for 12 weeks), that it hit me like a lead balloon: fashion magazines! That's my dream. That's what I want to do.
I remember that "a-ha" day like it was yesterday... It was a Thursday this past September and I had an unusual amount of stuff to do, with my day focusing on my evening plans: our big Psychedelic Social (my favorite social event of the semester). So you can imagine the stress (and, I'll admit, unenthusiasm) I'm feeling when my dad reminds me at 4:30 that our Pastor from my church in Huntsville will be in Auburn for a "Meet & Greet" with the students of his congregation at 5:00. Yes. But our Pastor is new and he went out of his way to come down here, so I forge onward and go to visit with him. Little did I know, but he was the first person I was truly able to give an honest answer for when asked "So what do you want to do with your major?" Being able to tell him "Fashion publications", and meaning it with my whole heart, was like revealing this huge secret I've kept from the world for 22 years. So needless to say, that conversation sticks out in my mind as the day when I put all the pieces of the puzzle together.
Getting back to the present, I'll give you a Spark Note's version of how I am currently on this Boeing 757 heading to LaGuardia (y'all know I'm not very good at Spark Notes. See: story above).
My degree at Auburn requires it's students to do a 10-week internship in order to graduate. I thought I was being so smart and started looking (and applying) to places in January... Well that got discouraging real quick because I was sending my résumé to anyone and everyone and getting absolutely no responses. Then, one day in my Advanced Buying course, we had a speaker come talk to us about "Branding Ourselves". She showed us some impressive sets of coordinating business cards, résumés and cover letters--they put my Word Document, 12 pt Times New Roman résumé to shame! No wonder I wasn't getting any responses! So I got my talented roommate to paint a cute, fashion sketch, transferred my text into Photoshop and slapped that cute painting in the corner. Voila! Professional resume (or at least more so...).
Next I know it is March, Spring Break rolls around and mom and I are maxing and relaxing at Orange Beach. There's a website that posts only magazine internship openings and I check it religiously. Well, on a glorious March day, the listing for a _____ * Magazine Fashion Assistant Internship came up and I sprinted from the pool to the condo to apply to it asap. A week later, and after I'd applied to 20 other places, an email with a Condé Nast adress popped up in my inbox. Holy cow! I flipped--ask my roommate. I threw my phone (it had an OtterBox...) across the room and my roommate had to read the email. "We would love to schedule an interview with you..." (freak out again). I promptly reply and, after many emails, a phone interview is scheduled for the next Monday. Over the week I prepare for any question you could dream of being asked in an interview (strengths, weaknesses, favorite color..). So come Monday at 2 pm, I was ready. I dial the 212-area code number and speak with the _____ * Fashion Assistant. The interview takes a total of 12 minutes and it ends with me thinking: I've hit the motherload. This is it. I don't want to do anything else. I nearly start crying tears of joy during the interview when the lady gives me the job description! She gives me the "Well we've got a lot of applicants and will let you know by the end of the week." ...Not a very confident conversation capper. So the following week is spent with my stomach literally in knots. By Friday, I've come to terms with the fact that I didn't get it and spend the whole weekend applying to other places. On Monday, I'm at dinner with Jesslynn. My friends know not to ask me if I've heard anything because that's just s gateway for a sob fest, but she does. I reluctantly say "no", but decide to check my emails on my phone anyways, out of habit. That's the moment the clouds part and the angels come down. I have an email. Again, I give my phone to Jesslynn cause I can't read it and she narrates it for me: "Dear Sara, I enjoyed speaking with you... yada, yada yada... We'd love to offer you the internship!" WHAT?! I literally start crying in the middle of dinner at Niffer's. All this hard-work, patience and perseverance has paid off! That is what has led me to waking up at 4 am today and heading to New York City with my dad.
*I am not sure if I can put what magazine I am working for, so check back in later posts to see!
**********
I hope that long-winded story was worth your time reading. If not, I apologize! But I am going to do my best this summer to share my experiences in the city with y'all. I will post more pictures tomorrow evening if I can -- here are a few from this past weekend:
 |
Nothing says you are "In Flight" like mini pretzels and a Diet Coke! |
 |
Checking into my 2x2 apartment.... wish me luck. |
 |
The view outside of my apartment building.... Hello Empire State Building! |
 |
Enjoying a Brooklyn Summer Ale at Pastis in the MeatPacking District! |
 |
Outside the Conde Nast Building... Its HUGE! |
 |
Yet another photo-op outside the building |
Labels: New York Summer
posted by Sara Kate at
9:49 PM
2 Comments:
OMG you're back!! Thank goodness, things can resume life as we know it...me at home and you off living your dream. We love you..good luck tomorrow!!
Thanks for letting me be the one to start NewYork off. It was a great couple of days. Good luck tomorrow. Tell Rose I'll see her soon.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home