Central Park Zoo

Last weekend my boyfriend and I ventured to the Central Park Zoo.  We went into the park on 87th street and happened to get a little lost.  The paths in the park are not straight through - they wind around.  The zoo is located on 65th street so we decided to get out of the park and walk down the sidewalk.  When we finally got to the zoo, we were frozen.  It was $12 for an adult ticket for the general attractions.  The first exhibit we visited was the Tropical Zone because we wanted to warm up. This is a huge room filled with plants found in the rainforest and exotic animals.  There were hardly any nets or glass so the birds were free to fly around.  It really felt like you stepped into a rainforest.  The colors on the animals were absolutely beautiful.  After the Tropical Zone, we saw a polar bear, snow leopard, and red panda.  Then we found the Arctic Zone which was home to one of my favorite animals: the penguin! We spent about ten minutes watching the penguins play and swim around.  There were probably about fifty penguins and they were very active and funny.  There was one that kept showing off by splashing the glass with his tail.  The last creature we encountered were the seals.  They were very smart and amusing and could do tricks on command.  Despite our very cold walk through the park, we really enjoyed the zoo.  It took about an hour to walk through all the exhibits.  It is definitely worth the visit!

Alumni Night

This last week has been very busy, both interning and getting acclimated to the big apple.  Last night Marist held an alumni night at the 92nd Street Y, set up by Deborah Porter.  The alumni were from the communication department and areas such as Sports Communication, Advertising and PR were discussed.  About fifteen alumni showed up and there were about fifty Marist students. Food was served and it was delicious! The night was set up with alumni staying at designated tables and the students rotating to a different table every fifteen minutes.  One of my friends described it like 'speed dating.' I ended up at the Sports Communication table first.  One, I know nothing about sports, and two, I have no interest in them.  However, the woman who spoke was very knowledgable.  She gave us tips on how to stand out as an intern and be successful.  Her most important advice was, when you are interning, always be enthusiastic, even if you are given a menial job.  Being enthusiastic shows your supervisor that you are willing to do what is needed in order to help the company.  It also persuades a supervisor to trust you with more tasks.  The next table I visited was Journalism which had a woman who worked on a Teen magazine.  She gave the standard pointers about how to get a job and how to move up in a career.  The last three people I visited sat at the Advertising table.  One man worked for Public Service Announcements and stressed how important it was to be working at a job that is rewarding.  He talked about the anti-drunk driving campaign and how your poster might deter someone from drinking and driving, therefore saving a life.  The alumni dinner was a wonderful night.  I met some very interesting people and the food and atmosphere were awesome. I would advice people who are Juniors or Seniors to visit the next alumni night and start to make contacts!

Food on Foot Tours

Last weekend, the girl's from the Marist and Manhattan tour, my boyfriend, and I went on a Food on Foot Tour.  We were able to get our tickets from the explorers card that we were given for joining the program.  I am a big foodie so I was so incredibly stoked for this. The man who started the tours, Cory, lost his job when the economy failed a few years ago.  He decided to turn his career into something he loved: food.  The premise of the tours is to bring the group to restaurants that are unknown by most people and who serve cheap, delicious food. Cory tells the group that his tour is based around good food and getting to know the people you are touring with.  At different stops, you are encouraged to sit with different people and get to know them.  We went to four restaurants: a pizza place, an Asian place, a sandwich place and a hot dog place.  We also went to two sweet spots: a Greek bakery and a pie shop.  The food was amazing. My two favorite spots were the pizza place and the sandwich place. The pizza place was called NY Pizza Suprima and was near the seventh avenue exit of Penn Station.  We tried their upside down pizza which has cheese first, and then the sauce.  This restaurant makes its own spaghetti sauce which is delicious.  My second favorite place, City Sandwich, was created by an American who lived in Italy for a while.  The food has a European twist to it.  We shared a sandwich with panchetta, fresh mozzarella, arugula, tomatoes on a hollowed out baguette.  It was probably the best sandwich I've ever had.
The tour cost $37 for the ticket I had to buy for my boyfriend.  You had to pay for the food at each stop, but it was relatively cheap.  I would highly recommend this tour to anyone.  Cory will tailor his tours to your needs.  I cannot wait to go on another one.

Adventures of A Marist Senior by Jennifer Abbey

Every senior out there probably thinks I'm crazy for doing Marist in Manhattan my second semester senior year.  You mean leave Marist and your friends your last semester to WORK full time?  Aren't I doing that in May? Why start sooner?

Well let me tell you.  It's worth it.

The obvious reason doing Marist in Manhattan your last semester is to get a job.  My goal as I intern full time at ABC News is that it will turn into a job.  I am hoping to make a good enough impression that even if there isn?t an opening in my department, there might be somewhere else within the company.  But that?s not the only great thing about it.

I am also here in Manhattan for when I start going on job interviews.  No running back and forth from Poughkeepsie every other week for an interview.  I can just jump on the subway and boom, I'm there.  Much easier!

But probably the biggest reason that seniors don?t want to do Marist in Manhattan their last semester is leaving their friends.  You mean no Saturday nights at Union Square?  No Sunday mornings at Rossi's? Well, it is possible.  And a lot easier than you all might think.

With Poughkeepsie only an hour and a half train ride away, your Union Square Saturdays are a hop, skip, and a jump away.  You can leave NYC at 7 p.m. and be in Fulton by 9! But even better than that, you?re in one of the greatest cities in the world.  Your friends are going to want to come to YOU.  The restaurants, the night life, the activities.  The Walkway over the Hudson?  Try walking in Central Park! My friends are already begging me to let them come  visit.  There is so much to do in New York that I'm not even missing my Poughkeepsie social life. 

New York is also one of the easiest cities to get out of.  Weekend trips to Boston, Atlantic City, D.C. and Philly are super easy.  With Amtrak, the LIRR, Metro-North, Megabus, and Greyhound, there are millions of ways to go explore somewhere new on the weekend.

You're also not alone here at Marist in Manhattan which was one of my biggest concerns.  I live in a single room so I thought I would never make any friends and I would spend every night alone with my Facebook.  But that's not even kind of true.  Not only do the other students in the Marist program live at the 92nd Street Y but other students from all over the U.S. live here.  There are students from California, students from Cornell, and students from schools right around New York.  There is always someone to talk to.  In the kitchen (which is on every floor), the bathroom, the hallway.  There are people everywhere all the time so you don?t have to feel alone.  I can come home from my internship and still lounge around with other people just like I do at Marist.  But it's new people.  It's fun, exciting, and completely different than Poughkeepsie.  And who doesn't like a fresh atmosphere?

Interning full time really isn?t that bad either.  I'm sure most of you have had internships in the city before.  Waking up at 6 a.m. to catch Metro-North and probably not getting to do much at work since you're only there twice a week.  I get to be at ABC News four days a week.  Everyone knows me well and trusts me because they see me every day.  I get the opportunity to assist on weekend shoots that are understaffed.  It's not that easy to just jump on the train on a Saturday and come down to New York. I?m in the heart of the media world and it is well worth it for anyone that wants to be a media mogul someday like me.

I hope that I have convinced you to do Marist in Manhattan.  If not your last semester, think about it for the fall of your senior year.  The possibilities for a job are truly worth it.  When you're right there at hiring time, companies are going to think of you, not that intern they had a year and a half ago.  And don?t forget, it?s not all work and no play down here in NYC.  You work hard, you can play just as hard.  Okay, I think I?ve killed every cliché in the book.  Work hard, and say hi to Darby's for me.  ;-)

-Jennifer Abbey, senior Communication major with a dual concentration in Radio/TV/Film and Journalism

Kindness

Don't worry, I didn't forget about the blog. I've just been so busy between class, my internship and the attractions of the city.  My first week at the internship was wonderful and I can't wait to go back next week.  I feel that most people who don't live in the city have a perpetual feeling that the people here are gruff and impersonal.  However, I have witnessed a few acts of random kindness this week that really made me have hope for generous people.  Several times on the subway, I have seen younger people give up their seats to older people.  I have also witnessed people holding doors and waiting for people to reach them.  The city may have its stern reputation but there really are caring people who live here.  I can't wait to write on Monday about our weekend adventures!

Marist in Manhattan Orientation

Time is already flying by! On January third, the students were introduced to the city during orientation. We learned the ins and outs of the subway system and were given some good advice, such as always look like you know what you're doing.  We went to Madame Tussaud's House of wax where we took our photos with some pretty famous look-a-likes, including Robert Pattinson and Morgan Freeman. Afterwards, we enjoyed a delicious lunch at TGI Fridays! Later that night, we bonded over an entertaining bus ride called "The Tour." The bus has three rows of seats that face out of one huge window so you get a wonderful view of everything.  There were singers coordinating with the tour and the two hosts were funny and entertaining.  There is so much to do in the city and with our explorer cards, we are able to visit a few cites, free of charge! I look forward to documenting the next few months of adventures with my new friends!

Hello!

Hello! My name is Tory Nolan and I will be taking over the blog for Caitlin.  I am a junior at Marist College and my major is Fashion Merchandising with minors in Business and Product Development. I am interning at Kristino which makes handbags for stores such as Forever 21.  I look forward to blogging about my experiences in New York City. Please follow me to find out what fun adventures I explore in one of the greatest cities in the world. If you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to contact me!

Tory

Marie Conger : Life of a Designer Intern

The past couple weeks have been some of the most exciting times I've had at my internship. I am currently working with Kristino Handbags and Accessories as a design intern. We sell to pretty much all the junior chains such as Forever 21, Charlotte Russe, Mandee, Afaze, Delia's, and more. The first several weeks were a bit frustrating with the factory we were working with because there was terrible communication and we weren't receiving any samples that we requested. However, we recently transitioned a lot of our projects to a couple new factories and one has shined above the rest. What does this have to do with me? In one of the sample shipments they sent us I got to see one of my own designs come to life! This was such a great feeling to actually see something I designed for Kristino come in. For the rest of the day I could barely focus I was so excited!

Since then, the designer I have been working with has allowed me to finalize and send more of my designs now that we have an efficient factory to work with. This week I finished eight more sample requests and we should be receiving them in the next two weeks. Despite all the other projects I'm working on for Kristino at the moment I can't help but smile when I think about getting those samples in. Unfortunately they will most likely be arriving during the last week of my internship, but I have already been told that I should come back and visit during winter break. I really can't believe there are only a couple more weeks left in the city, I don't want to leave!

RENT on Broadway by Meaghan DaCosta

  On Wednesday, November 9th, a group of us from the Marist in Manhattan
program saw the off-Broadway production of Rent. It was in a very small theater,
New World Stages, and we had great seats in the middle of the audience. I am a
huge fan of the movie Rent, but I had never seen the Broadway show before, so I
was very excited. Since Rent moved to off-Broadway, it is a much smaller
production with a different cast. I still thought it was an amazing show though,
with a very talented cast. I have always loved the story and music of the show,
so seeing it performed on stage instead of watching it in the movie brought the
entire story and music to life! I love musicals, but I usually don’t get the
chance to go frequently, so I was so happy to hear that we were seeing Rent for
our November social activity. The show was great and we all had fun!

Networking : Its a Small World After All

Any teacher, avisor or boss can tell you the importance of networking. Networking, aka helping create opportunites for  yourself by conversing with people from your industry. Although it seems intimidating, always remember that the person you are about to talk to was in your shoes once! Its a fact, people enjoy sharing what they do for a living and talking about what they have acomplished. So why not introduce yourself and help put a name to a face. 

 A few key tips I have learned about networking:

1. Never be afraid to introduce yourself, as long as you present your self in a professional manner you really have nothing to loose.
2. Always have a business card on you. Although it may seem outdated, handing a professional in your field a business card with your name, school, major and contact information can trigger a memory or name recognition next time you send out your resume. ( Plus, almost all colleges, Marist included, will print personalized business cards for a reasonable price)
3. Be yourself, but keep it professional. Don't try and act like someone you are not, but also remember that these are people you could come across in your future. Never bad mouth a boss or company in the presense of other professionals, you never know who knows who.
4. With that being said, it really is a small world. You may have a connection to someone in the industry you are intereste in without even realizing. ( For example, one of the clients at my internship, Mally Roncal ( Celebrity Makeup Artsist) happens to be a Marist Alum, not only that, so is her personal assistant!)

CUPCAKES GLORE!

The fad of cupcakes has yet to fade. One awesome perk to living at the 92nd Y Residence, is that there is an infamous CRUMBS Bakery just a block away. The other night me and a few of the other girls could not resist the sweet tempation of a giant CRUMBS cupcake. With over 50 falvors and more debuting each day, its a impossible to only go once. Not a cupcake person? They have tons of other cookies and sweets. Yet with flavors such as Cosmo (Vanilla cake tinted pink filled with strawberry buttercream frosting and topped with lime cream cheese frosting edged in pink sugar), or S'Mores ( Chocolate cake filled with vanilla cream cheese frosting topped with chocolate cream cheese frosting covered with chocolate chips, marshmallows and graham cracker pieces), you may find a new love for the anything but small "minature" Cakes.

Check out their menu

Mid Terms Already?!?

Im not sure if I am more upset that I am offically 1/4 of a year from graduating college or half way through spending the semester in Manhattan! Time really does fly when  you are having fun. A few of my favorite places I have gone have been Ripley's Believe it Or Not! Museum and Madame Tussauds. The Wax figures were unbelieveably realistic. One great thing about this program is that I can offically consider myself a "Real New Yorker" yet I still can have a blast exploring all the "tourist" sites the city has to offer. Check in soon to see favorite moments of the other Marist in Manhattan program gang!

Fashion Week : A Word from Paige

At Fashion Week, I got the wonderful opportunity of working with the Visual Merchandising Team. This experience was extremely hands-on, and they used my ideas and creativity as a source of inspiration for actual displays used in future window displays and the runway for the collection just released. Although the Visual Merchandising Team had no idea of my background, how creative I was, or what experience I previously obtained, they chose me among the other volunteers to step aside and literally play with leggos (I have no idea why I was the lucky volunteer chosen)! My task was to sit with a floor full of leggos and construct imaginary, toy guns because the overall feeling of the collection was ?free and rebellious.? After that, I built up small towers surrounding a display of glass cases that were used to hold handbags. My blocks of leggos had a ?tetris-y? feel and made the display look like a contemporary, alive video game. My leggo displays served as inspiration to the Visual Merchandising Team, who continually altered and probed at my designs. After that, I helped build floral arrangements and displays for the windows in the showrooms. Because I am interested in Visual Merchandising for my future, it was very interesting to see how Visual Merchandisers think, and how they never seem to find the ?perfect, visually-satisfying? look to something, until they conduct trial-and-error over 100 times!
- Paige

Fashion Week: A Word from Meaghan

  My experiences at the 2011 NY Fashion Week were amazing! I have
volunteered for Fashion Week in February in the past, but this was my first time
volunteering at the September shows. I worked two shifts from 11:00am to 8:00pm
on Friday, September 9th, and Monday, September 12th. On Friday, I worked at the
General Idea and Nicole Miller shows. The first designer, General Idea, was a
menswear line that I had never heard of. I enjoyed working at this show because
the designer was very involved in working with the lighting and the music, and
he didn’t have his “people” do all the work for him. The clothing was very
cohesive and I enjoyed watching it on the runway. The second show that I
volunteered at, Nicole Miller, was an exciting and glamorous show. There were a
lot of celebrities there and it was a huge crowd in the audience. I love the
style of clothing that Nicole Miller designs, so I was so excited to be able to
be a part of it and see the show. I mostly helped set-up and clean up after both
shows. I put the seat numbers on the seats before the show, and picked up the
leftover trash after the show was over. I did these same tasks when I
volunteered on Monday, the 12th. The first show I volunteered at on Monday was
Rebecca Minkoff. This was extremely exciting for me because I really admire her
clothing. There were even more celebrities at this show, which definitely added
to the overall excitement. This was a very organized show, however it started
about fifteen minutes late. One of the models in the show was a blogger who won
a contest to walk the runway in the Rebecca Minkoff show. I think this was a
great idea and added an interesting touch to the show. The second show of the
day was Norman Ambrose. This was his very first fashion show during NY Fashion
Week, and I think he did an excellent job. The clothing was beautiful and very
glamorous, and the show went very smoothly. Overall, I had an amazing experience
at NY Fashion Week. Both days were busy and full of excitement and I loved every
minute of it!
-Meaghan

Fashion's Night Out: A glimpse of Soho FNO madness

American Vogue, the Council of Fashion Designers of America, NYC & Company and the City of New York created Fashion's Night Out in 2009 as a collaboration intended to celebrate fashion, restore consumer confidence, boost the industry's economy and put the fun back in shopping. Proceeds from sales of official FNO gear will benefit the New York Community Trust's New York City AIDS Fund. (http://www.nycgo.com/fashionsnightout) 

 

My fellow Fashionistas Paige and Britt joined me in exploring Soho on none other than New York's FNO. After  short subway ride to the Soho region we walked on to the street crowed with people dressed to the nines and shopping like it was Black Friday. It was a really neat experience, not sure if shopping in stores packed and champagne flowing is my style, but it was still a good time., check out the clip to get an idea of what it was really like.

StarStruck: A Word From Rob

Hey I'm Robert Peterpaul! I am interning for NBC's Access Hollywood this semester. So far it has been an amazing experience and I have met a lot of great people. For instance, the other day I got to meet one of my favorite actors Alec Baldwin (name drop much?). Anyway, last week was very cool for me. In the morning I was told to go downstairs to greet Christina Hendricks. Yup the really pretty red head from Mad Men. So I take the elevator down and meet her and her “people” at the Visitor’s Center - Yes, even stars like Christina Hendricks has to be cleared with security. I led them to our bank of elevators, trying to make slick conversation such as “I love your show” (which by the way I don’t exactly watch- my mom loves it but I feel like it’s weird to say “oh by the way my mom loves your show”), and also trying not to trip because for some reason I always over-think things when I’m trying to be cool (this includes walking). I get Christina up to our office studio to do her interview. While Christina was walking out I bulked up the courage and asked her for one (unprofessional I know, but her publicist said I could)! I also couldn’t help but tell her how much I admire her work with “The Make A Wish Foundation.” I told her how my brother wished for a puppy when he was ill and they got it for him (we still have her today she’s really cute - the puppy not Christina). I gave her one of our foundation’s bracelets (which can be purchased at thomaspeterpaul.org), and she happily took it! That was definitely the highlight of my week. I can't wait for what's to come! Thank you for reading:)

Top Of the Rock

A Day of Firsts

Today marked crucial firsts in my Marist in Manhattan experience. To start, it was my first day interning with The Brooks Group, a lifestyle public relations firm. I could not have asked to be placed with a better company for the semester. With a staff of less then 10, as an intern, I can already tell I am going to have a real-life experience in the world of pr. Everyone was extremely welcoming; it felt more like my first day back after vacation rather than my first day as an intern. Today was also the first day I experienced Manhattan in the rain. Lets just say, my rain boots that I debated bringing came to great use today.

After a long, but great day interning I met up with the rest of the Marist in Manhattan Crew and experienced my very first Broadway play. When I learned that we were given the chance to see Memphis, a Tony award winning musical, I must say, I was not the most interested. Musicals have never really been my thing. I could not be happier to say that I judged a book by its, well... playbill. I absolutely loved it, the music was fantastic, the dancing was incredible, I really do not have a bad thing to say about my first Broadway show. In fact, I am already looking into seeing another. Needless to say, today was a successful day of firsts, the first of many more.

What is Marist in Manhattan?

Marist in Manhattan gives students, both Marist and non-Marist who study in the area of either Fashion or Communications, the opportunity to combine real-life field experience with Internet based coursework. Not only will students engage in an internship and take classes online, they will get the chance to experience New York City, one of the world’s capitals for both industries. Sounds pretty amazing doesn’t?

For more information about the program visit: http://www.marist.edu/commarts/maristinmanhattan/index.html

Meet Alex!

Name: Alex Viscusi
Assumption College class of 2013
English Mass Communications with a minor in theatre
Interning at Rachel Ray
Decided to do the NYMEP because I wanted to get out and live and work in the real world to gain experience. New York is the best city in the US and to come here and work in the trenches of media and be in the center of the universe is an experience you can't really pass up.
Fun Fact: I've been involved in theatre, community and school, since I was in kindergarten and another draw of NYC for me is to be so close to Broadway