Go Hard, Excellence, No Excuses and Travel Challenge: Day 14--What Did You Learn from Traveling Abroad?

I'm home from Philadelphia and I am pooped!

My apologies for not updating at all this week! We had eight hour + days on deadline, then no WIFI in the hotel room ($10 per day) and even though I could go to the lobby to use the internet, it was FREEZING down there! I suffered through it once and that was enough for me.


The NABJ Student Project was amazing though. I'm incredibly grateful to them for showcasing my reporting abilities and helping me network.

I'll admit that it was extremely stressful and draining at times, but I would do it again in a heartbeat.

The city of Philadelphia in itself was wonderful. My experience was the typical "star-struck small town girl sees a big city" reaction. It's funny because I've traveled to big cities across the pond, but had yet to go to a big city in my home country! Maybe that's why I had stars in my eyes.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of my time in Philly! Also, make sure to read the articles I wrote for NABJ!

Philadelphia!

Arch St

The view from my hotel

Jade, Ariele, Ashley and I on our last day with NABJ

Ashley, Jade and I at the Student Choice Awards

My roommate Ariele and I

The mentors and mentees! (L to R Demorris, me, Michael, Ashley, Jade, Michael and Delano)

The students! Jade, myself, Michael and Ashley. Great times!

Our motto for the 2011 convention: GO HARD, EXCELLENCE, NO EXCUSES!

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Now onto day 14 of the travel challenge! What have I learned from traveling abroad?

Keep an open mind to everything.

Could I have done this close-minded? No!

When I travel, I am a blank book waiting to be filled with new words, different languages and beautiful pictures. I want to take in as much as I can when I travel and the only way to do that is to keep an open mind to EVERYTHING. Whether it's religion, politics or something that I don't necessarily agree with, I keep an open mind to everything when I travel because it ultimately makes me a better person.