a love note to Nora

I was in my narrative journalism class my sophomore year of college. We were given a sheet of paper, and were told we had to do a project on a famous journalist, not just any journalist but one related to narrative journalism. That told stories, that were factual, fictional and anything in between, the list had people such as Hunter S. Thompson, Julia Powell and a name I was not yet familiar with, but was to soon fall in love with, and that was one, Nora Ephron. As people had their names called in the class, they responded back with which writer they wanted. I really had no idea who to choose, and of course, all the big flashy names were chosen first. My name was called, and I just went with it, "Nora Ephron," I called out.

I don't remember the assignment to a T, but I know we had to write some sort of paper on this person, and do a powerpoint presentation for the class on their life and highlight their major works. As I began my research, I was pleasantly surprised to find she had written such cult classics like When Harry Met Sally and wrote and directed Sleepless in Seattle, Julie&Julia, among so many others. This was also upon countless essays & articles she also had to her name. Who was this woman and why have I not discovered her before now? I kept thinking to myself. She was also, by the way, hilarious, and so truthfully hilarious. And she did it in such a way that made you feel like she's been your best friend your whole life, like someone who really knows you. That, is a sign of a fantastic writer. 

Needless to say, I became a huge fan of her after this project, so I was saddened to hear of her death only a few days ago. The writing world, had really lost an icon, and women especially had lost a pioneer. She not only broadened my idea of what a writer could be, but she truly inspired me, and brought me back to my high school self, that came alive in my first journalism class at the idea that I could write, report and do it for a living. Relate and connect to all kinds of people with the simple power of words. That is something I will forever be grateful to Nora Ephron for.

I leave you with some of my favorite quotes from her:

“I don't think any day is worth living without thinking about what you're going to eat next at all times.” 

“Whatever you choose, however many roads you travel, I hope that you choose not to be a lady. I hope you will find some way to break the rules and make a little trouble out there. And I also hope that you will choose to make some of that trouble on behalf of women.”

“So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn't it be the other way around?” 

"I try to write parts for women that are as interesting and complicated as women actually are."

"all the news that's fit to print."

Except the thing is, hardly anyone is "printing" anymore. Okay, maybe that is an exaggeration, there are (believe it or not, folks!) actual, real live newspapers out there. The kind that even have ink rub off on your fingers. I grew up surrounded by newspapers. For as long as I can remember my parents have been subscribed to our smaller local paper as well as The Washington Post. As a commuter now, I pick up the Express (a small mash-up of all the big stories of the day) and read it every morning. I always see people with actual newspapers on the way to and from work as well, it isn't just me! Why am I on this rant? I saw the semi-devastating news today that my college newspaper, The Circle is going to be mainly on the web now and will only have five paper issues for the whole semester. Now, I must admit The Circle's web site has come a LONG way, and it does look absolutely fabulous. Also, I get it. I get technology, that it's important to adapt, to know your audience, etc, etc. I just think that something should be said for the hard copy.

Personally, it was newspapers that fueled my interest in journalism. In high school, I took Journalism I and that class was about the only class throughout high school that sparked any sort of passion in me, so I kept with it and by senior year I was the Feature section editor. When deciding what to major in in college, I thought to myself, what is the one thing you are truly passionate about and want to follow for the next 4 years and beyond? Journalism, writing. So I did. I also joined the Circle staff as a copy-editor with my friend Jenn. I also got involved with writing, mainly for the news or feature section and by junior year I became co-news editor, first with Kristen and upon her graduation I shared the duty with Alyssa (my journalism soul-mate). The nights could be long laying out the page(s) or finishing a story but once the new issue came out every Thursday I felt such a sense of pride. I loved being able to go pick it up and look at the work of me and my fellow students. I loved getting extra copies so I could cut out a story I had written and add it to my portfolio. Needless to say, Jenn and I were a little more than disappointed to hear that the Circle would be cutting back their hard copies so much.

While I do understand the need to grow and change, I'm still always going to love having that newspaper ink on my fingers as I read the stories of the day.

the power of words.

On my train ride back in March from Virginia back to school in New York I sat down eagerly delving into the April issue of Vogue. As I flipped through the ads I came across their "Up Front" section and began to skim through the first paragraph to see if it was worth me reading the whole way through. Little did I know that this article would do much more for me than kill time on a 4 hour train ride, it was going to stay with me for a long time (one month and counting) and give me a reality check on where I want to go in life.

The piece was entitled, "Keeping the Faith" and was written by 32-year-old journalist Marisa Mazria Katz. Here was a woman who was truly making a difference in people's lives via journalism. It was about Katz's journey to the slums of Casablanca, Morocco and as one woman, Boubker Mazoz, took her around and showed Katz first hand all of the political injustice, rough living conditions and all around poor quality of life plaguing the city, Katz knew that she needed to do something to help the women there. She then created Idmaj which is an association to give power to women, give them a voice. She also conducted a month long journalism course in which she helped women of all ages write personal accounts of what they were experiencing in Casablanca, what they wanted, what they hated or were frustrated with. For the first time in their lives these women felt they had some sort of control and it was Katz who helped them to get there and eventually led to the creation of Words for Change. As I have said time and time again, I'm a graduating senior and don't really know what direction to take my life after May 21st. But this article was a bit of an epiphany for me; it brought me back to my original passion. Writing. Journalism. That's what I love to do. Talk to people, find out things from them, hear someone else's story, impact people with my words. That's what I want to do. How will I get there? I don't really know but I truly aspire to do as Katz has done and be able to travel, write, and help even just one person find their voice.

the job search.

Yeah, you heard me, the job search. Myself, along with millions of other graduating college students throughout America are sitting down to our laptops and sending out our resumes to companies near and far hoping to strike a fancy with at least one to hear those words, "You're hired!" Or to at least see them in an email. However all we usually get, or at least all that I usually get is an automated response that says something along the lines of; "Thank you for your interest in Company X. We will review your application and contact you should your qualifications meet our needs." Awesome. Great. I take that as there is a one in a million chance I will ever hear back from you! But I just keep plugging away anyways because what else am I supposed to do? Yes, I can network but I only know so many people that I can reach out to and who knows if they will follow through or even have an opening or anything at all? But I have continued to do that anyways as well.

However, yesterday I was filling out another one of these monotonous applications, submitting my resume and cover letter as usual. but when I progressed to the next page I immediately was taken aback. The company asked me to respond to two questions which were: 'What is one of your accomplishments in PR/Communications that makes you proud?' And 'What inspires you?' I was thinking to myself, wow, for the firs time I am really going to be able to showcase a more personal side of me rather than just my bland resume and cover letter combination.  I was actually excited to respond to the questions; now I know that someone might not ever look at this application either but I still felt elated knowing that I could give them a better vision of who I am and why I would be a fit for their company. So below, I will list the answer to the first question which was 'What is one of your accomplishments in PR/Communications that makes you proud?'

"As a senior at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York, every major is required to take a capstone course. Although it does vary by every major, the Communications department is unique in that you get to cater your capstone project to exactly what you want it to be; whether it be start a blog, plan an event or film a documentary. For my capstone project, I formed a group with two classmates of mine and we started with the idea that we wanted to plan an event for a non-profit organization. We then were able to continue brainstorming and decided that we wanted to help the Alzheimer's Association since myself and one other girl each have family members with the disease and my third group member had interned the previous summer with the Connecticut chapter. It took a lot of hard work but we were able to put on the event in early November at our college. Our aim was to educate people our age about the disease and steps they could take now to prevent it later in life. We received support from local businesses and organizations such as Saint Francis Hospital, Alzheimer's Association Hudson Valley Chapter, Hudson Valley West Coast Swing Dancing and a local yoga instructor. We were able to drive home the idea to our fellow students that you could keep your brain healthy by doing easy activities such as yoga, dancing and simply eating the right types of food.

In addition, since all three of us were both dual concentrations of journalism and public relations, we decided to create a pamphlet that includes six intimate interviews we each conducted with people who either have relatives or close friends with Alzheimer's. It was inspiring for us to be able to conduct these interviews but also to share the pamphlet with our classmates as we did at our event.

Overall the event was a success even though it was small and we had evaluation sheets for students to fill out on their way out. One person wrote "my grandmother has Alzheimer's and I'm so happy you did this so I can learn more about it." That truly hit home for all three of us and really made all our hard work worth it and it has definitely been my proudest moment as a PR/Communications student."

Like I said this has been the one and only bright spot to the job search process so far and I hope to see more like this! In the mean time, anyone want to hire me? ;)