Wednesday, December 31, 2008

In With the New

As is evident in the amount of time between my last post (on August 29th) and this post (on December 31st), Fall 2008 was an incredibly busy time for me.

On the eve of the new year, I can't help but reflect on 2008. One of the biggest skills I learned to master this year was time management. Somehow I managed being the president of my sorority chapter, being managing editor of my school's life and style magazine for women, editor-in-chief of a newsletter, and an intern for Rivals.com. I also worked, was a member of various clubs on campus, and of course stayed focused academically, ending the semester with a 3.72 GPA. And still managed to maintain a social and personal life. So I think it's safe to say I've got the whole time management thing down.

But mastering this level of high-stress time management also comes with mastering balance, which I think I struggled with more so than the actual management of time. Balancing between each aspect of my life and allotting the right amount of time and attention to each and prioritizing got difficult at times. I often had complaints from family members that I didn't call them enough or from friends that I didn't have time for them. But at the end of the day, I knew that I was making the right decisions and doing what was best for me. And I believe it paid off.

Earlier this month I found out I was selected as a Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Intern. Anybody who is in the realm of communications knows that this is the most competitive and most prestigious internship in copy editing there is. I was placed at the San Francisco Chronicle, so after a two-week training session at the University of Texas in May, after graduation I will be heading out to San Francisco. A move to the West Coast is daunting yet exciting, but the fact that not only was I chosen but I was placed at a large, award-winning newspaper gives me an describable sense of self-pride, and I can't help but be hopeful that this internship will open a lot of doors for me.



So needless to say, I achieved, learned and accomplished a lot in 2008. In addition to my personal feats, I also was blessed enough to witness many life changing events. In 2008 I shook hands with Barack Obama (then a party candidate), later voted for him (my first time voting) and watched on television as America voted him the 44th President of the United States. With a heart swelled with pride I ran with my peers through the Penn State campus and ended at Old Main, where thousands of strangers with one thing in common – Barack Obama – shared tears, hopes and dreams.

I celebrated with thousands of other women as my sorority, the first sorority established by African-American college women and the same sorority my late grandmother and aunt were both a part of, turned 100 years old, making it all the more meaningful when I was elected president of my chapter in April. I witnessed the Penn State Football team play an incredible season (and watched Penn Staters go crazy in a riot downtown after a win over Ohio State) and watched as they made their way to "the grandaddy of them all": the Rose Bowl. I got to interview Grammy-award winning artist John Legend for my magazine and got to meet an artist well known in the pop and hip-hop genres, T.I.

I also traveled quite a bit this year. I lived in New York for the summer, traveled to St. Maarten with my family, and went to Chicago for the first time where I met thousands of other aspiring and established journalists at the UNITY Journalism Conference. I spent time in Philadelphia raising money for the world's largest student-run philantrhopy, THON, a dance marathon at Penn State for children with cancer that raises millions of dollars every year.

In short, minus the recession and various other saddening events, 2008 was an amazing year for me. Looking forward to 2009, I am confident that the upcoming year will be just as amazing. In 2009 I will publish my first issue of Valley Magazine as the Editor-in-Chief. I will travel to Mexico City as part of an International Reporting course. I will graduate (God-willing) with a degree from Penn State. Post-graduation I will temporarily become a California girl (possibly permanently – you never know!) And then...I will begin the rest of my life. And while I must admit that I'm nervous, I'm nothing short of excited.

So I wish a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year to all, and I hope that everyone brings in the New Year fabulously! My New Year's Resolution? To blog more consistently! ; )