Ready for the real world

I'm looking forward to getting to my internship because I'm moving to the Big Apple. I hope to get there about a week before my start date so I have the opportunity to get to know my neighborhood and the area where I'll be working.

If all goes well, I plan to live in Washington Heights, which is in the north of Manhattan. From what I've heard, the area is predominantly Dominican, so I'm excited to be able to utilize my Spanish in everyday life. Needless to say, it's hard to find fellow Spanish speakers in Athens, Ohio. Aside from the diverse neighborhood that I'll be living in, I'm looking forward to finding out about the other diverse cultures that have settled in New York.

And, of course, I'm looking forward to testing my skills during my internship at the world headquarters of The Associated Press, located in Midtown Manhattan. I've never worked in a breaking-news environment. I know from talking with my newsroom buddy that I'll have a large responsibility in the newsroom during the weekends toward the end of my internship. I won't be there alone, but I'll have an important role in handling breaking news. That's an exhilarating thought and an intimidating thought. But after this weekend, I'm ready to face those challenges and test what I can do in the real world.

-- Arian Celeste Smedley, Ohio University, The Associated Press, New York