Finals Study Breaks both On and Off Campus

Despite the stress with studying for finals kicking in during this time of year, both Fordham and the city itself have been so consistent in offering great ways to take some breaks during this intense time of studying. At Fordham, we have a couple of days after our designated last day of class, which was on December 10th, that are called reading days. Basically on reading days, we spend as much time preparing and studying for the coming of finals and although I spent a majority of my time studying for finals, which was incredibly long and stressful, I still had a great weekend to look forward to in the city and on campus! On Friday, I managed to score some tickets to a taping of Live with Kelly and Michael and went with a couple of my good friends. Although we went primarily to see Idina Menzel, who was promoting her Christmas album on the show, we were surprised when they let us stay for a second show that was being pre-taped for the holidays with Nick Jonas and Sting! We even got some rehearsal footage of Sting’s performance before the actual taping, and I had some serious goosebumps from when he sang a song from his newest Broadway show “The Last Ship.” It also didn’t hurt that Idina Menzel gave us a little wave when we cheered for her during a commercial break. :) 

Some pics I took of Kelly and Michael interviewing Idina Menzel and Nick Jonas as well as a pic of Idina Menzel getting touched up before singing a song off of her new Holiday Wishes album. We had pretty great seats!

I also found it so interesting to see the behind the scenes action that goes on during these live tapings. Seeing Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan go around the studio and interact with the audience during commercial breaks was something I never realized they could do. They were incredibly gracious, took some pics with fans, and were so funny and down to earth with their interactions with us. 

Kelly Ripa at a commercial break. She was equally as charismatic off camera as she was on!

It wasn’t too much fun waiting in the cold, but with good company and a fun experience at a TV show taping, it was definitely all worth it in the end.

With two of my good friends who are also huge Idina Menzel fans. Waiting in the cold was so much better with good company!

Sunday was the beautiful celebration of Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent, and I had the honor of being able to participate in two choirs at the 11:00am and 7:00pm masses. Seeing the church filled that day made mass seem so special, everything from the way the candles were set up in the church to seeing everyone light their candles in a solemn procession was so breath-taking and made me appreciate just how despite this stressful time, we can all join together to celebrate the coming of Christmas. After mass, we celebrated the lighting of the Christmas tree, which made me so ready for Christmas to come around. It’s the little things that Fordham does to bring a community together and to lift each other’s spirits up during a stressful time in every college student’s life that make me so grateful to go here. I wish everyone else the best of luck on their finals, a Merry Christmas and safe travels back home as well!

Fordham doing Christmas right. Picture is the University Church and the Christmas tree that was lit during Gaudete Sunday.

An Internship Experience of a Lifetime

Fordham Career Services, located on the second floor of the McGinley Center on the Rose Hill campus, provides the resources and connections to help students take advantage of the countless internship and work opportunities that come with Fordham’s close proximity to New York City! Guest blogger, Brittany Batten (FCRH ’14), heard about a unique opportunity in the Career Services Office and shares her internship experience of a lifetime that followed:

I got out of the subway to see a line wrapping around ABC Studios. I immediately questioned my decision to attend the W-ABC Internship Open House. Hundreds of students stood in line for a 5-minute interview all with the same hope of obtaining an internship at Live! with Kelly and Michael. Needless to say, I was speechless when I found out that, starting in September, I would be a production intern at one of my favorite morning shows for the semester.

Michael Strahan and I started on the same day. I like to think the red carpet laid out for Michael’s debut was for me. The energy in the studio was tremendous as the entire country waited for the announcement of Kelly Ripa’s new co-host. The press filled the studio and producers ran around ensuring that everything was in place for the huge show ahead. My first task was to greet the guests on the show that day. I walked Blake Shelton to his dressing room and delivered Josh Radnor his shoes. It was only my first hour and I had already met two of my favorite celebrities and ushered in reports from TMZ and Entertainment Tonight, all while being in the midst of one of the biggest announcements in daytime entertainment.

Of course, not every aspect of my internship was this glamorous. The first two hours of my ten-hour day were always full of excitement as I helped prepare for and watch the show. The other eight hours were spent in the office where I sorted through ticket requests, organized audience feedback, delivered mail, and answered phone calls. I also worked with producers to put together various segments from time to time and steamed Michael’s suit each morning.

One day, a producer asked me and a few other interns to set up John Travolta’s dressing room for a post-tape, meaning he was coming in to pre-record a segment after the live show. As we struggled to remove the divider in the dressing room, I heard, “What kind of help do they hire here at ABC? Do you guys need a hand?” I turned around to see none other than John Travolta himself. He ended up talking to us for about ten minutes about school, our experience at Live!, and our plans for the future. He also removed the divider in his own dressing room.

I had many memorable moments like this one and was able to meet a lot of cool people while experiencing first-hand what it is like behind the scenes of a renowned morning show. While I loved my experience, it also helped me realize that TV production is not for me. Still, I will always look back fondly on my time at Live! with Kelly and Michael and I feel tremendously lucky to have had this opportunity.

Fordham Takes The Chew

"New York is my campus, Fordham is my school." This motto definitely emphasizes all that New York City has to offer and Fordham students are not afraid to take advantage of being in one of the best cities in the world. Fordham wants its students to not only excel in school but to also have fun! And what better way to have fun in New York than to sit in a live audience for a daytime talk show?

Residence halls want to make sure that the students are having a good time and resident assistants (RA) are in charge of running programs that will get the students more involved. As a senior, I want to make sure that I take advantage of these programs before I graduate, and one recent program that caught my eye was the opportunity to sit in the live audience for a taping of the ABC daytime show The Chew. The show is about lifestyle which includes everything from recipes and Do-It-Yourself crafts to etiquette tips and is hosted by Iron Chef America's Mario Batali and Michael Symon, Top Chef's Carla Hall, What Not to Wear's Clinton Kelly, and author of several wellness books Daphne Oz. RA Drew from the Residence hall Salice was able to get four free tickets to see the show, so my friends and I made sure to sign up. We all love watching the show and were extremely excited to be a part of it.

The day started off bright and early as the four of us got on a 7am Ram Van to make sure that we would make it on time. Luckily, the ABC studio for The Chew is only a couple of blocks away from Fordham's Lincoln Center campus. Once inside, we were approached to sit on the tasting row, which allowed us to get a small tasting of the recipes used on the show. A great day just got better! The show was really fun and interactive as the hosts of the show danced and talked with the audience during the breaks. Before we knew it, the show was over and it was time to head back to campus. This was definitely a great experience that I will never forget, and going to Fordham made it possible. 

If you would like to see the episode we were on make sure to watch Tuesday, October 15 at 1pm (EST) or 12pm (CST/PST). Want to learn more about how to get tickets to see The Chew? Visit ABC's website, http://abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/tickets.