Over the last week, WHJE and CHTV spent their days in the big apple of New York City. But this was no trip for pleasure, the greyhounds had business to do. The Intercollegiate Broadcasting System National Awards are the biggest award ceremony for us High Schoolers.
DAY 1. After a two red eye flights to LaGuardia Airport out of Indianapolis, both CHTV and WHJE arrived at the Sheraton Hotel in Manhattan. By being just a few blocks away from both Central Park and Times Square, it was time for these Midwest kids to explore the biggest city on earth. On the first day we had an amazing tour of the NBC Building at Rockefeller Center where we met Carmel High School alumni Adam Kuperstein who is enjoying his job as a host on NBC. After a gracious tour of seeing several Live Show sets and news rooms, the group split up into two groups. One group went to go see SIX a Broadway Musical Based off the six wives of Henry the VIII. While the second group took the Subway down to Madison Square Garden to see The New York Knicks take on Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors.
DAY 2. This was the day of IBS Conferences and award ceremonies. All day long WHJE and CHTV students were going to seminars from broadcasting professionals around the country. Griffin Hall had this to say about the hourly seminars, “It was fun, it was very informative to hear all about the future of Broadcasting from actual professionals.” At last it was time for the IBS Awards, the hottest ticket in town. As all of our schools lined up in the conference ballroom, students from across the country waited with baited breath for the awards to start. WHJE nearly swept the conference out of the water taking home a lot of awards, including Best Station, Best Station Show and Best Station Blog (Not to toot my own horn) The evening ended with another trip to Rockefeller Center. Some people ice skated, others shopped… Me? I provided commentary over people Ice Skating because I was too tired from walking.
DAY 3. The third day was an amass of rain. It rained all day with no breaks in between the streets. Walking down the street without an umbrella was almost certainly a sentence for a soaking. The day started with a Subway trip to The Empire State Building. That was so high up in the sky it was literally in the clouds. When we got to the top of the tower we couldn’t see anything. But at least I got to fill out my childhood dream of standing in a cloud and my consensus is, it is very windy, wet and cold. After the trip to the Empire state building a lot of people decided to split off from the group to get some shopping done. At the end of the day, we all met together in Times Square. And the consensus about Times Square was, that it was bizarre. We saw headless Elmo’s, singing Power Rangers and even a lady dancing with a Reticulated Python on her shoulders. It was at this point where I realized that I hadn’t eaten in about ten hours so I googled best food in Times Square and found a place called “Los Tacos #1.” Me, Griffin Hall and Dylan Cheever all walked through the wind and the chill and the rain to find tacos. They were delicious. Eventually we headed back to the group and everything got swept up in a New York Minute.
DAY 4. The Dawn of the Final Day. Our final day was a total beauty, with the temperatures going up into the high sixties so we decided to take a trip down to Central Park. After about an hour of walking, talking and Pokémon Going we met back up at the Sheraton where we were told we had about two hours until we had to head to the airport. Cheever looked at me dead in the eyes and said, “Can we go get Tacos again.” And I said yes. Once more I took to the streets of Times Square looking for Tacos and they were even better than the night before. However our fun was short lasted as we headed back to the Hotel and took our bus back to the airport. Leaving New York City behind. I entered New York City as a young man looking for guidance and I left as a National Award Winner. Thank You New York City, you were as hustle and bustle as we needed you to be. I <3 NY
