Media Pitching: The “Blood Feud” Between Journalists and Practitioners

One of the most exciting aspects of working in the public relations industry, at least for me, is media relations. I LOVE media relations, and I don't know why.

I guess it has to do with the fact that much of my early professional upbringing centered on journalism and the media. I've always been a fan of the news, of sports and the media in general, and my involvement in journalism during the last few years of high school shaped my desire to come to college and dive right in to journalism. So that's what I did.

My initial shift to PR came at the end of freshman year, after taking the Introduction to Mass Media course and learning more about it. But one of the reasons I was confident about making the switch was that I would still maintain close proximity to and interaction with the journalism industry and the media, and that the door was still open to switch back later on if I wanted to.

Indeed, the former has so far been the case. I've been able to facilitate interviews and questions for news and broadcast stories, do a few interviews myself and written many, many press releases. But to me the most fascinating part of media relations is media pitching.

Pitching is basically an extension of the press release. It involves following up on the release by calling the recipient and verifying that they received it, then answering any questions or providing further information on the topic. Depending on the situation, you might also set up an interview for the media outlet with your clients.

It's all basically about generating media coverage, and sometimes the main goal behind this is publicizing your clients. But other times, your clients may not be seeking attention for themselves but a cause or issue they are supporting or opposing. And most of the time, these issues, causes or events have great news value. Otherwise they wouldn't be pitched at all.

What concerns me sometimes is the animosity with which the media sometimes responds to story pitching. The ongoing blood feud between the two industries is no secret, and while the intensity of this relationship varies depending on the people (or outlets), it is quite prevalent (I might discuss the general relationship between journalists and practitioners in further detail later on, but this is just touching on media pitching).

Having been a journalist, I know the feeling of chasing a good story and how rewarding it is to find one on your own, to dig for the real news. So I can understand sometimes the irritation that occurs when someone outside the newsroom thinks they have a good story idea. It may be that you distrust the source, that they're just trying to sell something, or it may be that you are disappointed you didn't know about the story yourself.

In response to the first item: yes, it is inherently understood that the PR agent and his/her client has some interest in having the story published. That's the nature of the job; otherwise we wouldn't be pitching. But does that detract from the potential news value of the story? It really shouldn't. What difference is there between a story you've discovered on your own and a story that has been pitched to you? There will always be interested parties who will either benefit or suffer as a result of the story you're publishing.

And there's a choice for the journalist when a story is pitched. The client on whose behalf the story is being pitched may very well be an integral part to a very good story idea, so the reporter can use their own caution in painting that picture in the article. She and her editor have the final say on the story anyway. If the client's involvement is deemed expendable, write the story without them!

I won't soon forget what former Miami Herald journalist Tyler Bridges told my international PR class this past semester when he visited from Peru. He was quite combative toward us and our profession, not budging on his 100% antagonistic policy toward PR agents. He said, "Public relations people stand in the way of us doing our jobs," or something to that effect.

Quite the opposite, Tyler! It's a symbiotic relationship between the journalist and the practitioner. We need you, and you can benefit from us. "Why can't we be friends?"

Intern Return

“He’s baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack.”

Depending on the reader, you could infer this quote serves as an announcement marking my return to Deveney Communication. Or, if you’re one of my witty friends from Ocean Springs (I have specifically two in mind), you could quip that this is a horror film-style announcement of me entering a room. Or both!

Either way, I am indeed back with Deveney Communication in New Orleans, helping the team out with their many projects as the hustle and bustle of the world returns to the office after the end of the holidays. I’m only here for a week before school starts back up at LSU, but it’s good to be back!

Lisa called me near the end of the fall semester with the offer of helping the team out—paying work with lodging provided—whenever I was available during the winter break, and I absolutely had to consider doing so. Firstly, like all college students, I could use the money, and any time a job calls you back for help, it’s a sign they appreciated and valued your work. Plus it’s more professional experience for me to learn from and build on.

What were the drawbacks, though? Once again, I’m a college student. This was my next to last major holiday break for all time, my last being this upcoming summer. Do I want to miss out on seeing my family and friends from home who I haven’t seen all semester? Some of my best friends from Ocean Springs go to schools that are far away like Texas A&M and the U.S. Naval Academy, so I rarely get to see them except when we all come home for Christmas. And my time with my family is running short; when I have a full-time job, I won’t be able to come and go as I please.

Also, my involvement with the LSU Bateman Team is very time consuming! I already lost a week of the holidays by staying in Baton Rouge to work on some things for that, and I needed to focus some of my attention on it during the rest of the break. Could I handle the workload?

It was an incredibly tough decision to make. Luckily, I’m a huge fan of compromises, so I decided to make one for myself. I would spend part of the time at home, see all of my friends and enjoy time with my family. After Christmas and New Year’s, I came to work on a Friday to refresh my Deveney memory, then spent a final weekend at home. Now I’m here in New Orleans, helping out with some exciting new projects that weren’t here in the summer.

Intriguing!

The Final Countdown

So I have one week exactly remaining in my internship here at Deveney Communication. One week left in New Orleans. One week left of what has been a great experience.

When I imagined my first internship, I figured I'd be doing a lot of note-taking, learning and "gopher" work. Ironically, as I type this, I'm about to run on my first stereotypical intern coffee run, picking up lunch for an in-office client meeting. My first such task the whole time I've been here, only in my last week of work.

I've gotten to sit in and directly participate on client calls, been given project and proposal leads, produced several pieces of original content for the firm, had my first-ever late-night office experience for a project deadline and so much more than I thought I'd be doing.

My first day of work, I was assigned the Ruth's Chris, Louisiana Office of Tourism and Starbucks accounts. Since then, I've done work on all of the following:

• Arxcel
  
• Audubon Insectarium
  
• Louisiana Office of Tourism
  
• LSU Health Care Services Division
  
• New Orleans Museum of Art
  
• Palmer, Reifler and Associates
  
• Planet Beach salons
  
• Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group
  
• Ruth's Chris
  
• Starbucks
  
• Touro Infirmary
  

I've also been involved in several business development proposals and presentations. It's a breadth of experience I'm very grateful to have and which will certain give my resume and portfolio a lift.

In the short time I have left, I'll try to update more about specific PR stuff I've done here, and I am going to continue this blog after returning to LSU later this month. Keep reading!

Louisiana Leisure

So you might get tired after several nights of barhopping, and you certainly can't go out on the boat every weekend with fuel prices being what they are, and seeing that you yourself don't own the boat! So, in the third part of this series of posts, I'll fill you in on some of the other fun things I've found to do here in New Orleans.

Coconut Beach Public Volleyball Courts

WEDNESDAYS AT THE SQUARE
The Young Leadership Council (YLC), a New Orleans nonprofit, had put on Wednesdays at the Square this spring—a series of free concerts in Lafayette Square. It was a good place for young professionals to hang out after work, listen to live music and have a good time. It was a really great event that I was able to attend two or three times, and I ran into several LSU people living in New Orleans.

The event is run completely by volunteers, looking to provide a healthy, organized fun time for the city. The event issues drink tickets and has food available, too. People make an afternoon of it, bringing dogs and lawn chairs and JUST kicking back. Afterward, people can go home or hit up one of the nearby bars or hotels like Lucy's or the W, and I've done both.

At the very beginning of the summer, the weather was just good enough to have such an outdoor event; if they were to have it now, people would have to bring two extra sets of clothes because it is sweltering outside! It's over until the fall and I already miss it! It's also fun because they're one of our clients.

COCONUT BEACH
These are public volleyball courts right by the levees on Lake Pontchartrain in northern New Orleans. It's apparently been a hotspot for young New Orleanians for years, especially during the summer. They do host tournaments, but several courts are open for public play. There's music playing, a concession stand and, if you're in the mood, a bar. It's certainly not too hot with the breeze coming off the lake, and it's a great way to unwind and get your exercise. I went one evening after work with some friends and had a great time.

CAFÉ DU MONDE
I didn't include this in my first post about New Orleans' nightlife because it's something you can do during the day too! I'm sure most of you, if not all, have at least heard of Café Du Monde, and I hope if you haven't been yet that you rush into town immediately and join me in the French Market for the best beignets and chocolate milk in existence. It's actually a short drive from work, though I've only been there once so far at night after hitting up Rock N' Bowl.

AUDUBON PARK
I hate running, and I think it's mostly because I get bored with it after too long. But at the beginning of July I discovered Audubon Park, and the track there counteracts the boredom. It's a dynamic, fluid track with a great backdrop of trees and water, and there are wide enough lanes for many runners and bikers to partake. When it's not as hellishly hot as it is in NOLA right now, this makes for a great stop after work. The track is two miles even, I've been told, so it's also a good pace-setter. It's right by the Audubon Zoo, so just watch out for any fugitive animals, but it's definitely great if you get tired of running down St. Charles.

HARRAH'S CASINO
I can't really tell you much about this one because I haven't gotten the chance to visit, though I have eaten at the new Ruth's Chris in the hotel, and I'll tell you that it was amazing. There's one in the Hard Rock Casino back home, so if any of you on the Coast are reading, keep it in mind the next time you're up for fine dining. But Harrah's is on my to-do list because I'm obsessed with casinos, especially living so near to the Beau Rivage and Hard Rock!

All these places, establishments and leisurely activities (with the exception of Harrah's) have definitely helped fill the time not spent at work. New Orleans is a great place with lots of opportunities: more than 800 restaurants and bars, plenty of outdoors activities nearby and a great gumbo of a cultural identity. If you haven't even visited, you need to!

Big Easy Boating

The boat bounced softly on the waves as we tossed out the crab nets near Southern Scrap's collection yard by Seabrook, in the shadows of the New Orleans skyline.

I accompanied my college roommate and two friends from LSU out on Lake Pontchartrain and the nearby waterways on Sunday to culminate what was my first really big weekend here in the Big Easy, which included trips to Port of Call, F & M Patio Bar and several other bars I've already told you about. But barhopping isn't the only activity for a college intern or young professional here. I've found ways to keep myself busy.

NEW ORLEANS WATERWAYS
I got an invitation one Sunday to go fishing with my roommate Brandon and friends Kyle and Paul, so I drove out to Metairie to meet them and get everything ready. I've lived on some form of coastline for 19 of my 21 years, so the presence of water is pretty crucial to my daily existence. I have missed the Coast since I've been in New Orleans, but there's plenty of water here with the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain.

Loaded with turkey necks, crab necks, rods, reels and other supplies, we dropped off the truck at Seabrook boat launch and headed out (actually, technically we headed in, toward the river down the Intercoastal Waterway. The small but durable boat wasn't much bigger than a skiff, and it bounced firmly off the wakes of other boats, but it got the job done. I'm no fan of train tracks or bridges, especially going under them by boat, but I had no choice or time to object as our suicidal captain slipped just underneath a lowered train bridge. The top of my head was literally less than two feet from a rolling train.

After surviving my brush with death, we came upon the Southern Scrap docks, maneuvering our way through small spaces between derelict casino barges and shrimp boats and laying our crab traps. It gave me my first feeling that I was indeed in a huge city, because it had as yet just seemed so small to me. But I felt like I was at the docks in some big-city crime drama as the silhouettes of New Orleans' hotels and office buildings watched silently, because it was so isolated. And it felt really great.

In keeping with the current blue crab shortage, we would be unsuccessful in our crabbing efforts. But Brandon checked some traps he had previously dropped and we had a good haul, half of which I would take home and boil myself. Blue crabs have been a mainstay in my coastal experience since my childhood in Charleston, S.C., so I have a deep appreciation for good crab cooking. As a novice, I think I did a respectable job!

We abandoned crabbing for fishing and were just as unsuccessful, though Paul brought in two HUGE flounder. I have never seen flounder so big; he caught them at the edge of a manufacturing plant further down a river outlet. Only one made it to the frying pan though, as the other snapped the line just before I could grab a net. But it was a great day of fishing. At the end of our trip, we just motored down the outlet and deep into the swamp in search of an old fort. We found it, but at what cost? The tide was low and the boat was stuck! We pushed our way out, though, and made it back alive.

I hadn't been out on the water in too long, so it was a wonderful weekend. Because I went so in-depth about this trip, I'll make this a three-part series and touch on the other fun things to do in New Orleans in my next post.

New Orleans Nightlife

I promised I'd touch on some of the fun things I've been doing in my own free time in New Orleans this summer. This will have to be a two-part entry, one touching on the city's nightlife and the spots I've visited, and the second part can go over some of the fun, adventurous things I've done. These are some of the places I've been to so far, including some of my favorites like Port of Call, F & M and Red Eye. I haven't really been to a place I haven't liked!

PORT OF CALL
One of the best places to get your happy hour or burger fix on in the city. It's one of the most famous hole-in-the-wall stops in a city full of holes-in-the-wall. Port of Call sits on the corner of Esplanade and Dauphine in the French Quarter, right near work. You can enjoy a hearty cheeseburger and baked potato and some of the biggest, stoutest drinks ($5-$9) in the city, and it's all worth it. I've had multiple experiences with Port of Call, trying the infamous Monsoon and the Huma Huma drinks. The Huma Huma was easily manageable, but the Monsoon was a different story. There's a reason it's infamous.

ROCK N' BOWL
I went once to meet some friends from LSU at Rock n' Bowl in Mid City. Now, I'd heard of Rock n' Bowl but didn't know it was in New Orleans, but it's got a history to it and very treasured. The cover was $10, somewhat high, but there's usually live entertainment there so it's worth it. Apparently Arthur Dupre works there, so I knew someone else, and ran into a friend from high school there for a USM frat party. Didn't bowl, but it was a great time! Big Sam's Funky Nation was playing there, and I definitely enjoyed them and their energetic sound. It'd be fun to bring a group there again.

RED EYE
Not our original destination, but a change for the better! My friends had come in town for the weekend and we were headed for the Bulldog on Magazine. Been there, done that. I was in more of an energetic mood, and we shifted gears and hit up the Red Eye near the river. It was very packed and very hot inside, but the music was good, service was good and we had a great time!

F & M PATIO BAR
Tchoupitoulas St. might be one of the busier streets for nightlife. F & M is pretty epic and easily my favorite spot so far. It's absolutely huge, with two stories and several rooms with different music playing in each. It's a younger crowd to be sure, but it's known as the place everyone comes to close out the night. If you're getting your late-night hungriness on, you can get the famous cheese fries downstairs by the back wall (though I haven't had them yet). Been there three times—after excursions to Balcony Bar and Red Eye—and it was always worth it.

LUCY'S RESTAURANT
Another spot on Tchoupitoulas St. We went here for happy hour on a Wednesday one week in conjunction with Wednesdays at the Square (more to come on that next time). There was a HUGE crowd of college-aged people, including some LSU friends, and they had some great happy hour specials, especially on the margaritas! They serve good food and were boiling crawfish when I went. The bar itself is small, but it's a great place to hit up for happy hour if you're in the city.

TIPITINA'S
The Tipitina's location we visited sits on the corner of Napoleon and Tchoupitoulas St. It's a fairly-large bar that hosts free live shows, I believe each Friday. We came in at the tail-end of a show, but it seemed fun. There's a large dance floor in front of the stage and a balcony area surrounding the floor. It's been voted Best Live Music Venue and Best Place to Dance to a Live Band by Gambit Weekly, so it's legit.

THE BULLDOG (MAGAZINE ST.)
There are two Bulldog bars, one on Magazine St. and one on Canal. I haven't gone to the Canal location, but the Magazine St. location was pretty cool. It's not an active bar like Red Eye, and by that I mean not a lot of moving around or dancing. Usually very packed, it's a sit-and-chill place like the Chimes in Baton Rouge. I'm not generally a sit-and-chill-seeker, but there's always a mood for it, and the Bulldog satisfied. Good prices on pitchers, but students beware: if you're under 21, you can't get in, not even with an "X" on your hand." But you can always go across the street to…

BALCONY BAR
I look for locations in NOLA where you can easily barhop, and Magazine and Tchoupitoulas St. provide that easy access. Balcony Bar is right across from the Bulldog and allows anyone over 18 (but follow the rules!). There's a downstairs area with pool tables, a sizeable bar and room to walk, and they do serve food. Upstairs, there's another bar with seating areas and TVs on all the sports channels, and again more room to walk/dance. The balcony is, clearly, the main feature of the bar, with tables outside that run along both sides of the corner that the bar sits on. We're frequent visitors, and I recommend it. They do have food, but I haven't eaten there yet.

COOTER BROWN'S
I'd actually been here before moving to the city this summer. It's down at the end of St. Charles near the railroad tracks, an expansive bar with several high-def TVs displaying more sports channels than you can imagine. They even have some weird horse-cart racing channel. There's a plethora of food choices ranging from burgers to poboys to meat pies—anything you want! Alligator? Yes, please! In the bar, you can check out the funny caricatures on the wall of people like Mao Zedong and Richard Nixon hoisting a beer they've been appropriately paired with. A fun place to hang, especially if the Saints are on and you don't have a ticket.

FRIENDLY BAR
Literally a stone's throw away from work, this was a cool place to chill for a little while at the end of the day. I wouldn't consider it as a long-term destination, but it's great for happy hour. Good music, a square room with space to move around, reasonable specials and a friendly staff. The woman working the bar even gave me discounts, which made it that much better!

d.b.a.
Another spot in the Marigny, this is a cozy joint with reasonable prices—it's a good place just to sit, talk, relax and enjoy a drink.

HOTEL MONTELEONE
My first trip to Port of Call led us into the French Quarter to Hotel Monteleone on Rue Royale (Royal St. if you don't parlez the français). The hotel has a Carousel Piano Bar & Lounge which is like an actual carousel: the seats on the bar move around the circular bar pit. It's pretty neat and served as a staging point for the rest of the night.

LAFITTE'S BLACKSMITH SHOP
This was another great spot we found on Bourbon Street after leaving the Monteleone. It's on the street corner and serves as a stopping point for several local ghost tours, some of which we encountered at the bar. We actually spent a long time here until the wee hour of 3:30 a.m. It was great interacting with other patrons. The bar had a side room with a piano in it and wasn't very packed, which made it a great place to just chill.

TUCK'S
This is a bar I've heard about from LSU folks several times and never had the opportunity to visit until this summer. It's uptown on Freret St., right near my house, and it's a nice little bar that isn't so packed. They've got pool tables and enough room to walk, and the specials are very good (Wednesday Ladies' Night, Thursday 25¢ beers). Though I've heard negative things from some New Orleanians, I think it has to do with the fact that it's predominantly either a Loyola or Tulane hangout (can't remember which), and students at the other don't enjoy it so much.

W HOTEL
There are two W Hotels in New Orleans—one on Chartres St. in the Quarter and one on Poydras near Lafayette Square. We went to the W on Poydras one Wednesday after Wednesday's at the Square for a PRSA mixer in one of the hotel's ballrooms. The hotel was really nice and had side areas to hang out before hitting up the main event. They had transformed one of the ballrooms into a dance club, and it was an older crowd but still a pretty good time.

I'm here in New Orleans to work and get valuable professional experience, and I'm definitely doing that, but I'm also finding time to have fun on the side. These are just some of the places I've gone, and I've got three weeks left to check out others. Next post I'll tell you about some of the other fun, non-bar places I've been.

Deveney Conference Room Comedy Club

Delirium has set in.

You all know the feeling. We've all had that last-minute crazy session where we've finally stopped procrastinating on that major project or assignment. It happens to the best of us.

One of our team members is a former standup comic, and so you can bet things are getting pretty crazy. Thankfully our weekly 7:30 a.m. debriefing session was pushed back, so there's a fair chance we might still get some sleep.

It's all worth it!

Down to the Wire

It's 8:30 and I'm still at work on a Monday! Insane!

We are doing final updates to a major proposal at work, and it's very exciting. I have nothing to do after I go home from work anyway but run, play video games or watch movies, so I figured I'd stick around and get some experience, and help out the rest of the Deveney team. I do have to get groceries, though, but I have enough to get by for another day.

I've been editing a couple of items, and I've also made a run to Lowe's and Port of Call, the official Deveney catrerer for this project!

It's very exciting. I worked to put together a smaller proposal last week with my fellow associates, and that was exciting as well. There's a sort of adrenaline rush when you're doing something like this, and I'm not sure but I think any of you who've worked on the editorial staff of The Daily Reveille would attest as much. This is so much bigger than the other proposal because it has the potential to be a huge account for us.

So we'll see!

Working Man

This summer's experience has marked my first true job. Granted, I've held jobs at other places before, working the lunch shift at B.B.'s Seafood and Poboy restaurant in Ocean Springs last summer, and stints with The Daily Reveille and a part-time position at the LSU Honors College, both of which have given me great experience. But those were all secondary in priority to schoolwork, and, though paying, were part-time positions.

My job at Deveney Communication is a 9-to-5 job, with those hours actually being more like 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. I'll generally leave work at around 5:30. And on Tuesdays we get to work at 7:30 a.m. for client debriefing meetings, where the whole team crowds into the DC Conference Room to go over our clientele. (I say crowded because the summer intern class of five is the largest they've ever had, and they recently hired former intern Shannon Corrigan to work full-time, so our boutique firm is not-so-tiny).

So this is a real job. No breaks in-between classes to stop by your apartment to chill, to take a nap or to play the Xbox. This is what it's really like in the working world, and though at first it was pretty tiring, I'm getting the hang of it. I'm no longer staying up till 2 a.m. on weekdays, which is shocking to me because I never thought I'd be able to break that habit. I enjoy listening to NPR on the morning and evening commutes.

Having a 9-5 job makes you feel that much more mature. In a way, I also enjoy paying bills. I certainly don't like money being taken out of my paychecks for taxes or out of my checking account for bills, but there's a sense of fulfillment when you write that check. It's verification that you're being responsible for yourself, and that's rewarding. I'm not so scared anymore of being totally on my own once the safety net of college is lifted.

And there's a difference when you're not balancing courses with work. Part of the stresses of working on campus are having to do just that, so you can excel at a job you love while also getting the good grades necessary. It can be very taxing as many of you and I can attest. But at a job, there are no real major distractions other than life's daily stresses. You can focus completely on work and get an incredible amount of stuff done.

That said, I still don't know if I'm gonna be ready to give up the university atmosphere after May 2009. I'm still considering graduate school or even continuing my undergraduate experience by picking up a minor or major, but time's running out on making those decisions. I may end up forcing myself into working, because we all know that you have to pay for things, and money doesn't grow on trees.

Living Easy in the Big Easy

All I've ever known in my 21 years is American Suburbia. I've never lived in a huge city and never near a very big one, either. My travels have taken my from Mt. Pleasant, S.C., to Montgomery, Ala., to Ocean Springs, Miss., and a couple of other brief stops before settling back in Ocean Springs. Baton Rouge is the state capital of Louisiana, but it's also a college town and not really considered a metropolitan area. This is my first experience living in one of America's big cities, even if it's not one of the biggest.

I've lived in the vicinity of New Orleans since 1998 when we moved to the Gulf Coast—Ocean Springs is just over an hour's drive away. Yet I never really ventured over, because I was younger and without a car. I did get the chance, however, to come see the Saints beat the Atlanta Falcons in 2000, which was incidentally the game that clinched the team's first division title and playoff appearance since the early 90s. People were singing, dancing and shouting in the streets, cars were honking and there was a general hysteria around the city as my family and I made our way to the Audubon Aquarium, and I wanted to join in, so I pumped my fist in the air and got acknowledgement from the crazed fans. I didn't really understand then the passion the city had for the team, or the general attitude of the city overall, but I'd come to appreciate it years later.

After graduating high school, I had much more invested in New Orleans. By then, I was a true blue Saints fan, had friends going to school in the city and was myself going to LSU, knowing I would likely make several ventures into the city for games, entertainment and my first New Orleans Mardi Gras that February. Then Hurricane Katrina hit, and I watched as the city suffered. It was somewhat uniting, because even though I and my family personally didn't suffer much, just damage to an empty house for sale on the market, my hometown and friends from both college and home were suffering. I felt a bond with New Orleanians I knew at school, and that helped me appreciate the city and its rebounding efforts that much more.

Now, while parts of the city and outlying areas are still in dire need of assistance and repair, the heart of the city is beating. This city is alive. The people are alive. There's not an overwhelming sense of doom and gloom. There's a subtle optimism here that I appreciate and enjoy. And each small part of the city is unique. In a big city, there are so many secluded spots and places that are able to retain their own individual cultures. This is evident in neighborhoods like the French Quarter, the Marigny, Mid City, etc. I love experiences these areas, the parks, the hole-in-the-wall bars and pubs, the spots that are famous to New Orleanians like Port of Call and Lafayette Square. And I also enjoy the big city life. I love the skyline as I approach on the Interstate. I love downtown's tall buildings and small streets. I love driving down Canal, going to hotel events and walking down the busy streets. The more I experience, the more I feel like I'm somewhat at home.

I think another reason I love New Orleans is because it reminds me of Charleston, S.C. I consider Ocean Springs my hometown, because much of who I am today and my best friends came from there. But Charleston is where I grew up, where I played as a child and where much of my extended family lives, and I have very fond memories of the area. That city has its own distinct Southern charm, a history that rivals most cities in America and a culture about it that is at once both inviting and mysterious. The cobblestone streets, the Battery, Rainbow Row, the beaches, the churches, the restaurants—they're all vehicles of historic expression, culture and knowledge. New Orleans is the same way, and I think it reminds me of Charleston on some level.

My initial opinion of New Orleans was negatively stereotypical and unfounded—I thought it was a dirty, dangerous city that I wouldn't mind visiting once in awhile but certainly did not want to study, work or live in. After regular visits to and experiences in the city, that all went away. I'm still glad I chose to go to LSU and absolutely love Baton Rouge, but I'm grateful for the opportunity to live and work in New Orleans for these three months and am enjoying myself thoroughly.