And This is Just Day One

Today was the first day of J-school orientation. For some reason (and I refuse to believe it was because of first-day excitement), I could not sleep the night before and only managed about two hours of sleep before waking up fully alert before my alarm even went off. One would think that because I was ahead of the game I would be ready and out the door in a timely manner, but lo and behold I somehow ended up running late. On top of that, my train took twenty minutes to cross over the bridge instead of the usual three minutes I’m used to. Go figure.

Flash forward an hour later: I’m downing my second cup of coffee (the first cup from home was too weak), chatting it up with my new J-school friends. There’s a friendly relaxation between us and a relief that we won’t have to search awkwardly for somewhere to sit once lunchtime rolls around. For the next two hours we proceed to take ID pictures, get measured for graduation cap and gowns (very early, yet it somehow shows the light at the end of the grad-school tunnel), receive locker combinations, and register for classes. And that’s in addition to listening to lectures about the program from various professors. To be honest, it felt like high school all over again. By lunchtime we were all starving, yet still optimistic about the program.

After scarfing down the catered sandwich combos provided there was still over two hours left of free-time. Courtney and I decided to venture out and get some sun while killing time. Note to self: don’t spend more than an hour in the heat if it isn’t a dire necessity. Not only was I hot and sticky, but I was drained and my caffeine high was quickly plummeting.

Luckily, the second part of orientation flew by, but it was still a struggle at some point to stay awake. Everything was wrapped up by 5 pm and it was on to happy hour; and what a convenience to have it a stone’s throw away in the lobby! While I passed on the beer and wine, it was nice to know that it’s at my disposal when I’m in the mood. When it was time to leave, Courtney and I walked to the subway together. While gabbing about the day’s events our conversation came to a halt and we both literally stopped mid-sentence when we saw Tim Gunn walking through the subway.

Yes, Project Runway- fashion guru- impeccably dressed Tim Gunn! Courtney, bless her soul, acted on both our behalves and went up to him and asked for a photo. I, on the other hand, was too chicken to approach him. Huge regret. I did, however, learn a valuable lesson about not being shy and going after what I want. I’m a journalist, for pete’s sake! My job is all about doing whatever it takes to get the story. I’ll chalk this up to off-guard nervousness, but next time I will get a picture. And a story to go along with it.