Scraping Up Courage

I am not a shy person.
I have no problem bumping into a stranger at the grocery store line and telling them my entire life story. Ask me to do a crazy dance in the middle of the sidewalk in the city and I won't hesitate to bust a move (or a hip too probably). But when it comes to gathering up the strength to go ask someone for an interview, my stomach starts to feel like a big knot and my head begins to hurt with over-thinking.

Store signs fly by as I walk down the street and as I peek inside the windows to see if anyone is there, I decide that "I'll try the next one," for whatever reason.

People walk past me and I draw a breath to introduce myself, but it comes out instead as a sigh.
Finally, I'll muster up the courage to smile and say "Hi, my name is Kelsey and I'm an NYU journalism student. Could I ask you a few questions about such-and-such-thing?" only to be told with a glare "No" in some form. Self-esteem crushed, I usually can't manage to break out of my slump and end up going home.

But just as my dreams of winning a Pulitzer seem to be fading from my eyes, I'll have a day where I find someone who looks easy-going enough to ask for an interview about something, and that person turns out to be the nicest, funniest, cleverest, bestest (...) person ever! Quote after golden quote will flow from their lips and I will laugh politely, mostly at my own strange luck.
Those are the days that make me believe that I can do this - I can be as natural on the job as I am in reality! This is easy and fun! Look at what a great story I have! Wow, there's so much color and great human connectivity here!

That is, until this high causes me to approach the very next person I meet and excitedly ask to talk to them and would it be all right if I conducted a quick interview and oh, I'm Kelsey by the way and... oh. Yes, I understand. I'm sorry. Have a nice day.

Back to the drawing board again.

Snowstorming

NEW YORK - New Yorkers were feeling the cold pain of snow yesterday after being pummeled by a winter storm that affected most of the Northeast and even areas in the South.

According to The Weather Channel online, snowfall totals reached about 8 inches in Manhattan and up to 13 inches in some parts of Long Island, making this the biggest storm of the season so far. The weather was even bad enough for the New York Public School system to issue its first snow day in years. Teachers and students alike enjoyed a relaxing day inside their warm homes.

“I have never had a day off from work before because of the weather,” said Jill Renaud, a 23 year old high school chemistry teacher at Long Island City High School. Though she has lived in the city now for nearly two years, Ms. Renaud has never seen snow like this before, describing it as “so amazingly epic.” She talked about how she “went for a walk in the morning” and “stayed inside a lot” instead of having to give a test she was planning on for that day.

Students from East Side Community High School on East 12th St. had similar experiences on their day off.

“I just stayed home, stayed in bed. I didn’t really get out,” said Zoni Smith, a 16 year old sophomore at East Side High. “I had some hot chocolate and I sat back and watched TV.”

There were some teenagers that didn’t have quite such an easy day inside though. East Side High sophomore Kelsey “KC” Tiamfook, 15, had a “horrible” snow day. “I had to shovel it,” he said.

So despite getting an extra day on their weekend, the students would prefer not to have another snow day anytime soon. “It’s cold out here and I don’t feel like traveling through the cold,” said Zoni.

Even though those who were supposed to be in school preferred to stay indoors, there were those who ventured out onto the slippery streets. The gadget store AC Gears on 8th St. near Broadway didn’t see much of a difference in their sales. Giancarlo Dizon, a 19 year old employee and Hunter College student, has been working at the store for about six months and said: “During the morning, business was terrible. But once it got to the afternoon, late afternoon, more people decided to come in as the weather died down.”