autumntrent

I Can Do It

autumntrent — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 22:28:10 +0000

Just 24 hours ago I was in an airport waiting for the flight that would take me to Atlanta and eventually back to California. When I got to the Atlanta airport i had come Popeyes which was actually pretty good. A little greasier than normal but still good. After that I then heard that my flight had an hour delay for some reason. It looked a little foggy outside so maybe because of the visibility? But an hour later we got another hour delay and they told us our plane was coming from Orlando and they were having some thunder storm problems.

The plane eventually took off from Orlando, but they got anther plane before that which came about an hour earlier than expected. The plane ride was about 4 hours, but I slept during most of it so it didn’t seem that long. I found my dad at LAX then we decided to drive the four hour drive home. During that time I mostly talked about my trip and whatever I missed during that time.

Where did those 5 days go? They vanished before my very eyes. Just a blink of an eye. I am now at home at my own computer trying to understand why I am here right now. I feel like I am meant to be in Washington DC. Literally nothing has changed at home. This experience really showed me how much I love to be around action and excitement. I don’t want to waste my life sitting around and doing nothing in a dinky little town. I want to be in the action RIGHT NOW! But, you know, unfortunately I have one more year of high school left. I will appreciate it for all that it is worth, but will keep this trip in mind because I went across the country by myself, survived for 5 days, met so many interesting people, and learned that I can do anything that I want. I am silently crying to myself because I never thought it was possible. Some things have held me back, but this one experience showed me I can do it if I put my mind to it.

Night to Remember

autumntrent — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 04:15:37 +0000

So this was the final full day at George Mason University. This morning I got up and prepared for a relatively down day because all of our other days were so jam packed that in comparison this day seemed like nothing. First in the morning we all got up, had breakfast, and headed down to watch a panel on the SPLC and internships in our future. The panels were pretty cool and taught me that I should be careful about what I would put in our school newspaper and that internships are vital in your career in journalism. We then got on a bus and drove down to Capitol Hill, had lunch in Union Station, and did a tour of the Capitol building. The tour was fun and we went to the house of Representatives where we saw a vote of a bill. It was fun to see all the congress peoples votes.

After that we went back to our dorms and prepared for the gala at the Mason Inn. It was basically a prom. Everyone got dressed, had dinner, and danced until their feet were sore. But instead of dancing I decided to hang out with one group in a game room that they prepared in a room across the hall. I have never had more fun in my life socializing with real people and not doing dirty dancing while grinding with the only 20 or so guys that decided to join the conference no matter how nerdy they are. I have decided that no matter how much I believe this group are all nerds our true colors came out tonight showing that it is just high school all over again. The cliques, the popular kids, and the rejects. How wonderful.

Obsess

autumntrent — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 03:39:02 +0000

I am finally comfortable in the dorms and getting use to the surroundings at George Mason. Bad part is tomorrow is our last full day at the campus which I find kind of sad. Yesterday our group went to the National Press Club. Keep in mind everyday we have been going to bed around midnight and getting up at six am, so we are all pretty tired. First we had lunch at the food court where I ate a Five Guy’s burger and fries which I had never eaten or heard of before. This NPC building is right in the middle of the city where everyone is moving so fast and everyine is going everywhere. We go up to the 13th floor of the building and as we walk down the hall we are surrounded by pictures and autographs of every famous person you could ever think of. That scene is the whole vibe of the building.

At the National Press Club we first see a panel which includes Chuck Todd one of the most prominent moderators on television. They are talking of course about politics. Every word and phrase goes right over our heads. They had a debate in front of a bunch of highschoolers. There has got to be something wrong with that picture, right? But, of course we are all saved by Hoda Kotb, the cohost of the fourth hour of the Today show. She instantly is funny, open, and sincere to the whole audience in every definition of all of those words. She told us deep stories in an unforgettable manner and made us laugh so hard when she put her earphones to the microphone and played the song ”Black and Yellow”. Why can’t every speaker be like Hoda Kotb?

But none-the-less we had to go and see another panel of journalists at the Mason Arlington Campus. This panel was more light hearted and really talked about ways to pursuing our future. After that we went on a moonlit monument tour which sounds awesome, but didn’t turn out to be. They gave us only 20 minutes to go see the Lincoln memorial, Vietnam Memorial, and Korean memorial. How did they calculate that? So I just ended up taking a bunch of pictures that turned out all right but were still pretty blurry.

Now comes today. We had to wake up at around 5:00 am to get breakfast at 6:00 am and to be ready to go to a taping of C-SPAN at 7:00 am. It was pretty intense but ended up being a really good experience. I have never been in an audience before so it was all new and different to me which I loved. Cameras surrounding us, lights being violently shone on your face, and politics being shoved down your throat. It sounds awful, but it was an interesting and informative experience. But, it came with its challenges when everybody only got 5 hours of sleep. This guy next to me ended up falling asleep about 3 times, but luckily I woke him up one time before anything horrible broke out. Several other people’s head were bobbing throughout the taping and a couple successfully got a two minute nap. But we were great and now they are offering us intern jobs if any of us would like to be an intern at C-SPAN. But who really watchs C-SPAN anyway? Only about 7 people. Just an approximate guess.

After that we got the opportunity to go to the Smithsonian Musuems. But we got there late and realistically only had about 2 hours to go around the National Mall. Hopefully next year they will have some better planning. Our group decided to joyfully walk through a sculpture garden, but the world decided to rebel and it started to down pour before our very eyes. Now I had looked at the weather and found out it was suppose to rain, but I had forgotten to pack my umbrella in my bag so I got stuck in a pancho. I had never really tried out a poncho before, but found out they were really effective and fashionable (I got a green one from a vendor for $3 and it was surprisingly cute!). We decided to go back to our meeting place and wait for the buses.

And just a few hours ago I was worrying about a thank you speech I had to make for two of our guest speakers who wrote the book Finding Chandra. I got all worried but I did just fine up there. That happens to me a lot. My mind just needs to obsess about something.

The Beautiful, Wonderful Sky

autumntrent — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 02:34:36 +0000

So I have finally arrived at the conference and it is the second day! Yesterday was very nervracking, but ultimately a very fun and rewarding day. I took my flight from LA to Atlanta which went well because I got about 2 hours of sleep which is better than I previously had planned. The three layover in Atlanta was very grueling because I was tired and had a headache for about an hour. My final flight was good because I slept about the whole time.

Then we got to the campus to check in which was quite overwhelming. I have three good room mates and a very spacious dorm. It could literally be a hotelroom. We then got introduced to our color groups who were a wild bunch of kids which chant the word “PURPLE!!!” when traveling around campus. I know I will enjoy their company throughout the week. The opening speaker was pretty interesting, but I thought he just skimmed the top of all the subjects. The dinner was excellent though will very delicious cake!

Today is Monday which was a lot of fun because went to the Newseum which had wide variety of photos, videos, and exhibits on 911, Katrina, and the Berlin Wall. The Pullitzer Prize winning potos were so good because they evoked so much emotion from every photo. One of the most influental ones was a picture of a baby dying and being tracked by a vulture. You would probably cry in this exhibit. Tonight we all had different speakers depending on what we were interested in. I had a speaker who is a photo-journalist for the Washington Post. He was very interesting and showed us many of his incredible photos! He came across these photos by pure chance which makes everyine think we can all be able to achieve what he has achieved! Any one of these correspondents can be a huge journalist in the US in five years. The sky can literally be the limit.

Judgement Day

autumntrent — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 17:14:25 +0000

The day has come! It seemed like it just snuck up on me. But I shouldn’t be surprised. Anyway I am mentally preparing for a very long day driving up to LA, having dinner at a really nice restaurant, and then getting onto a red-eye flight at midnight. This should be a really, really, really long day. I am not a big fan of sleeping on planes, but today I have my handy dandy neck pillow with me so I am armed and ready to go to sleep as much as my body may allow. But if my body may allow no sleep I am prepared to energize in Atlanta with coffee and energy drinks.

I am just about done with packing which of course I had to do with plastic bags so everything was in the right spot. Cue Mr. OCD again. I actually enjoy packing like this with everything looking nice and proper in a gallon sized bag. I am not as nervous as I thought I would be, but I have gotten over the fact that I am only going for 5 days and not my whole life. For some time it felt like I was going off to college which really scared me. But everything will be fine.

My Uncle Craig lives up in LA so my mom will be driving with me on the way up which helps with the nervousness. She will be staying there and then drive back home the next day once I am safely at the airport. I am not scared of going on an airplane by myself because I have done my fare share of flight with my parents going to Amsterdam, Spain, London, and Paris. But the nervous energy from this whole trip comes from Mr. OCD. So right now I am going to dismiss that nervous energy because I know it is only natural.

When I go on my blog again I will be in Washington DC!!!!!! Yay!

Me and Mr. OCD

autumntrent — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 17:12:34 +0000

It has been a long time since I have posted something because I am getting kind of nervous for my conference now. Before that I had a strong sense of excitement and opportunity now all I am having is bad scary thoughts about all that can happen on this trip or potentially all that I can do wrong. Cue Mr. OCD to come in. I have seen this character in my life a lot lately and have frankly got sick of him so I am trying to let go of him.

I have been trying to get excited again and I think I have. I have been organizing all of my new, shiny clothes that I got from the Dress Barn a couple months ago to picture myself there at the conference all nice, primp, and professional.

I have also been getting frustrated as well because I contacted all of my congressional representatives and only one responded so far, but when I try to call them all I get is a busy signal. I haven’t even gone through and talked to anybody once. It is really frustrating! Cue Mr. OCD once again. Am I doing something wrong? Will I get in trouble if I don’t have an appointment with my congressional representative? But I just have to dismiss those thoughts because I am trying to get some distance between me and Mr. OCD.

Excitement!!!!!!

autumntrent — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 23:35:43 +0000

I am super excited in my life now because I just got the Washington Journalism Conference book list! This past week I have just been dragging along in school because it is finals week, but this is the sort of pick up I needed.

The book list includes authors like Hoda Kotb and Chuck Todd. Hoda Kotb is the keynote speaker at our conference which is super exciting. I am so blessed to be meeting these inspirational people who have made such a difference in the world around me. There are other books on the list that are about politics and modern journalism today.

I have no idea of what this conference is going to be like so I am thrilled that I can study up on modern journalism before going to it. The excitement is rapidly building inside of me!!!!!

Hello internet! It’s so nice to meet you.

autumntrent — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 02:01:28 +0000

This is officially my first post as a “blogger”. I guess I will just give my introduction: I am Autumn Trent and I am a junior at Arroyo Grande High School. I will soon be a senior and going to college. It is kind of scary to say that. I created this blog because I am going to a leadership conference in Washington DC this summer and it is highly recommended that you blog about your experiences. It is just about a month away before I actually go on the trip, which I am super excited about!

In preparation for my trip I am just getting all of the necessary clothes I need and trying to contact my congressional representatives, which isn’t going so well. I have emailed all of them a message saying I am interested in meeting with them, but haven’t received anything back so far. So now this week I am going to call them to try to make meetings. It is intimidating trying to make a phone call with a senator. I am procrastinating making the phone call. I am a little scared. Wish me luck with it!