I Want to Be a Housewife

Not really, but I have been missing my free days this week.

I've been going to NYU's Summer Publishing Institute for a week now, and it really is one of the neatest and best opportunities I've ever had. I was a bit naive, though, about how rigorous would be. Every day this past week, I spent about 12 hours between the time I left my apartment and the time regular class ended. I then met with my project group, came home to do homework, and had about 5 hours to sleep before I had to wake up and do it again. For those who know me, I need a whole lot more sleep than that to be at my most cheerful, if you know what I mean.

Other than that, though, I really do love the program. I've heard from some of the most powerful people in magazines in the last few days - the editors-in-chief of Glamour, In Style, Food Network Magazine, New York Magazine, and Real Simple just to name a few, plus people from Penguin, Hearst, Scholastic, Newsweek...seriously, the list goes on and on. And the next several weeks are the same. So truly amazing.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get a lot done personally for awhile. I've been wanting so badly to finish writing my thank-you cards to my wonderful family for being at my graduation and being so generous to both PJ and me. If any of you are reading this - I'm so sorry for neglecting you, but I promise you'll have a card coming your way very soon. I miss you all and appreciate everything you've done for us!

Thinking about writing those cards has made me realize how much I really really miss home. I thought my adjustment here would be much harder than it has been, but lately I've been thinking more about my family and how much I'm missing out on this summer. I'm so blessed to be so closed to almost all of my family, but it doesn't make it easy to be so far! I miss a lot of my friends too, and I can't help but feel guilty that I didn't spend more time with them when I could have.

So here's to hoping that I get to see some of you soon. As always, hugs and kisses to everyone!

Back to School!

Today was the orientation for NYU's Summer Publishing Institute.  I have no idea why it was on a Sunday, but that's New York for you. Tomorrow the actual program begins and...

I am SO excited!  The orientation was wonderful, and the directors are incredibly nice, funny, entertaining, professional, and enthusiastic. Starting tomorrow, the next three weeks will focus on magazine publishing.  The schedule is incredibly intense, and a part of me (bigger than I'd like to admit!) will be sad to see my free summer New York days end.  Many days go from 8:30 or 9 in the morning until 7 or 8 at night.  It will be hard, but I'm so excited to learn about the industry more.  Everyday features speakers from huge companies (Glamour, Elle, Rolling Stone, Hearst, Conde Nast, Real Simple...the list goes on and on).  There's also a career fair, resume workshops, programs that teach us how to use publishing software, and a major project.  I'm sooo excited for all of it!

Another drawback is that almost all of the program is held downtown, which is at least a half hour away by subway.  I'm going to be having some verrrrry long days very soon.  My apologies in advance if you don't hear from me or if I'm hard to get a hold of for awhile!  Hugs and kisses to everyone back home.

Ashley xx

Broadside

There's no real news in my planning, but I thought someone out there might be interested in what I'm doing now.

Publishing is a very city-based industry, so living in Peoria makes it very difficult to get any real experience that will help me once I get to New York. That’s the main reason why attending a Publishing Institute like the one at NYU is so important.

However, I do what I can here to at least get some experience. I work for Hilltopics, Bradley’s alumni magazine, doing copy editing, office work, and some writing. Even better than that, though, is that this year I was selected to be the Editor-in-Chief of Broadside.  Broadside is a student run organization; we are Bradley’s literary arts journal and publish two journals a year featuring student poetry, short stories, drawings, paintings, photography, and other works of art and writing. It’s a huge responsibility, but it’s reinforced completely why I want to be in publishing.

As Editor-in-Chief, I’m involved in every stage of putting the journal together, and I plan events that keep students interested in Broadside and further showcase students’ artistic endeavors.

I’m getting really excited about the things we have going on this semester. The first week of March we’ll be having an open mic night, followed by a showing of a related movie (probably Dead Poets Society). In April, just before the spring journal is released, we’ll be having a release party where people can get early copies before the rest of Bradley.

If anyone who reads this (and is a Bradley student) is interested in submitting a piece of writing or art, visit bradley.edu/campusorg/broadside or email me!