TNS New York bound

BY REESE KEELING / Art Director

Over spring break Texan News Service staff members, Jolee Skinner, Copeland Welch, Kiley Morgan and I took a trip to New York City (NYC) for the College Media Association Convention (CMA) held March 13-16.

We left on March 13 and landed in NYC around 5 p.m. We were taken to our hotel right on Times Square where we checked in and headed to Bond 45 Italian Kitchen and Bar.

“Bond 54 Italian Kitchen and Bar was a great, classic Italian restaurant that encapsulated the authentic New York atmosphere,” Skinner said. “The food was very good, I ordered their famous spaghetti dish and it definitely lived up to its praise.”

We spent the rest of the night on Wednesday, exploring Times Square, getting donuts from Krispy Kreme and getting ready for our first day of sessions at CMA.

“The Krispy Kreme in Times Square is like none other,” Kiley Morgan said. ”Of course, the line was out the door, but the atmosphere was great. We tried to get there in time to get the fresh ones, but that was nearly impossible.”

Our first morning we woke up super early to check in and get our badges for the conference. We all split up and went to different sessions throughout the morning.

“The sessions were informative, yet engaging,” Welch said. “I walked away from the session feeling inspired, motivated and eager to bring what I learned at the conference home to our newsroom.”

That night we explored Brooklyn and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. The view was like nothing I’ve ever seen before, I even got a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty. We ended the night eating dinner at Gatsby’s Landing and getting dessert at Carlo’s Bakery on Times Square.

Our second and last day of sessions began the next morning at 8 a.m and we all split up again. I went to a few sports sessions about bettering our newspaper’s sports page. I also caught a session where I learned how to start a freelance journey.

After our class, our advisor, Austin Lewter set up a a tour for us at The New York Times.

“The tour of the New York Times was nothing short of amazing,” Welch said. “It was really awesome to see how a newsroom operates on a large scale and understand everything that goers on behind the scenes of a powerhouse operation like the Times.”

We spent our last day eating pizza, riding bikes in Central Park and having dinner at the Pink Taco on Times Square.

Getting to go to New York was such an amazing experience and I learned so many different things not only from the CMA sessions but also from New York City itself. I would definitely visit again