An Update from Hannah's Suite

Today we asked each other, “What has been your favorite thing about the summer so far?” We all responded, “That’s too hard!” After racking our brains for a while, we could not narrow everything down and only choose one thing. We have been having so much fun living in our suite at Juilliard, experiencing life as working adults, and seeing all of the sights of New York. We have done so many amazing things already, and it is just one week into the program!

Many of our highlights have been classic tourism, such as visiting the top of the Empire State Building or eating at Magnolia Bakery. It is exciting to go to these must-see places while we’re living in NYC. However, the events that are not on the calendar are just as exciting and are becoming the most memorable. Living in the dorms allows us to get to know one another and bond on a new level. Our suite quickly became our home-away-from-home where we are comfortable sharing how our days have been, showing off new clothes from a recent shopping trip, setting goals, or even having a dance party.

As we look forward and anticipate all of the fun activities for the rest of our time here, we feel very lucky we get to do all of these things. We also know that some of our favorite parts of Career Explorations are going to not be events at all, but the time we spend with each other and the family we have built here!

360 Degrees of CE

On Friday, July 3, after groups returned from the Afro-Punk Film Festival, NBC Studios, and other exciting city tours, Career Explorations gathered in Times Square for a 360 degree photo.

360 Degrees of Career Explorations

We all enjoyed exploring the theater district before seeing our program's first Broadway show - West Side Story - at 8pm. What an exciting way to kick off our July 4th weekend!

Afro-Punk Film and Music Festival

This past 4th of July, Career Explorations kicked off the celebratory weekend with a trip across the Brooklyn Bridge into the heart of Brooklyn to experience some fantastic films, movies, and skating. Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge gave us a great view of the NYC skyline, and it created bonding time with interns that hadn't met each other yet. And although we only saw one movie (the documentary Adjust Your Color: The Truth of Petey Greene), heard no music, and only had a glimpse of the skate park, the experience overall gave us a lasting impression of the culture just across the East River. The movie was awesome! It was legit and Career Explorations was up.

- Kimberly Nguyen

Scavenger Hunt Winners

After the group picture on Saturday, we dispersed into scavenger hunt teams and looked all over the city for various things on our lists. The search took us all over New York from Grand Central to the Public Library to Times Square. We took photos with police officers, bought unusual ice cream at the factory in Chinatown, and found out which statues were in which parks. The contest was close, but the winning team separated themselves with some creative thinking and a picture of the naked cowboy taken with the help of an iPhone. Here are some of their pictures.

CE 2009 Group Photo

Just before our scavenger hunt this past weekend, we snapped a photo of our 2009 interns and staff. Students are nearing the end of their first work week, so expect some exciting blog posts in the upcoming weeks profiling a variety of internship experiences in the city!

New York City at Night

We wanted to share a few photos from our double-decker bus tour on Sunday night. What an amazing way to see the city before everyone's internships started on Monday morning!

starting up summer 2009

Welcome to the Career Explorations NYC blog for summer 2009! As students begin their internships today, Group Advisors Amy and Sarah are kicking off the blog with a bullet-point entry of all the exciting events of the first weekend in New York City.

Friday, June 26:
-Arrival day, welcoming students and families by car, train, and plane from all over the world!
-Suite dinners at the Juilliard dining hall
-Dessert at Ellen's Stardust Diner, with an amazing singing waitstaff

Saturday, June 27:

-Scavenger hunt around NYC, hitting Manhattan hotspots ranging from Grand Central to Times Square to Chinatown
-Group dinner at Italian restaurant Etcetera Etc. in midtown

Sunday, June 28:

-Delicious NY bagel breakfast in the suite
-Internship site visits all over New York City
-"Great at the Job" workshop with Jodi Glickman
-Double-decker bus tour of New York City at night

As you can tell, we are in for an exciting summer! Keep up with our blog over the course of the summer for more detailed updates, including internship profiles, mentor interviews, pictures, event and restaurant reviews, and more! You can also follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/CENYC2009