As I inch closer to the halfway mark, I can’t believe how fast the time is flying. The city has been engulfed by rain these past few days, but despite the weather, we’ve been making the most of our time in New York.
Finishing Up the Sport Section
We finished Sports this week, and it was certainly my favourite section so far. One might think this section would be about reporting on “who won the game last night,” (I certainly thought it would be) but surprisingly, it was a whole lot more.
This week we focused on the relationship between politics and sport, and how the two are ultimately intertwined. As part of this, we looked at different athletes who have used sport as a platform for activism, like Australian track star, Peter Norman, who stood in solidarity with U.S sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the 1968 Mexican Olympics while they made a stance against the treatment of African Americans, but was later treated terribly by the Australians upon his return.
On Friday, we submitted our final investigative news pieces on a sporting topic of our choice. I wrote about the relationship between religion and the Australian sporting landscape, in light of the recent resignation of former Essendon CEO, Andrew Thorburn. It’s certainly been fascinating to gain insight into other countries’ sporting news via my fellow classmates, and yes, I was regularly bringing some Aussie footy to the conversation; a topic I never thought I’d be the expert in the room on…
Food, Books and the Best Seat in the House
In other news, I finally tried a slice of the famous Joe’s Pizza, which is considered to be the best in New York. Like everything here, it was almost the size of my face but it definitely lived up to its reputation. On Monday, we had a group dinner at the Fuji Japanese Hibachi Steakhouse in Times Square, where we watched the food being cooked in front of us.
On Tuesday, a few of us attended the panel discussion and book launch of previous New York Times Public Editor, Margaret Sullivan, who was the first woman to hold the position and has recently released a new book detailing her career in journalism.
On Wednesday night, we had arguably the best view in the city as we watched the sun set at the Edge Observation Deck, which is the highest outdoor sky deck in the Western Hemisphere. The viewing deck is surrounded completely by glass, and we enjoyed a warm cup of hot chocolate as we watched the city light up at night.
And Now for the Announcement!
Something I haven’t mentioned is that, in addition to our section study assignments, we have each also been working on our Synthesis Projects behind the scenes, an individual and specialised project of our choice that will be presented at the end of the program. On Thursday, we presented a draft of our concept, and as part of this, I’m very excited to announce the launch of mine, Capital A, a platform dedicated to highlighting the work of trailblazers, activists and changemakers who are instigating change.
Starting in New York, I’ll be profiling an amazing line up of incredible people over the coming weeks. From artists to actors, entrepreneurs to CEOs, Capital A is a place to tell the stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things, and will ultimately explore the question: what does it take to change the world? The website has just recently gone live and I feel very humbled by all the support. In the meantime, feel free to check out the website and Instagram page!
Until next week!
Georgie x
Subway Update
It’s official. I have done it. I have mastered the subway system. *MIC DROP*
It only took six weeks to get there…
Catch up on Georgie’s blog posts by clicking here.
This opportunity was made possible with support from the Philip Leong Youth Programme.
