Author Archives: chuyun.huang

Talking pictures of my colleagues working is also a part of my job.
(photo by: Chuyun Huang)

How would you describe somebody who wakes up at eight, gets to the office promptly at ten, works eight straight hours and earns -4.50 dollars for the day? Yes! Negative 4.50 dollars! But that doesn’t even make sense! Well, it does, for an unpaid intern, like myself.  Starting last November I got an internship at a Chinese television company, SinoVision, that’s now on air on channel 73 and 63. I always wanted to learn more about the media industry so I could be more confident about my major, journalism.

The green room.
(photo by: Chuyun Huang)

The day I first visited the office, I immediately made up my mind and decided to take the job without doubts after seeing all the fancy equipment, and especially when I found out that they have their own green room.  I didn’t care if I was going to get paid or not, I just wanted to be working in that office that seemed very professional.At first, as an inexperienced intern, I was asked to do very minor office tasks, such as, research and collect information, translate English articles, file documents, and manage stationary supplies. I felt fine doing these basic office work tasks because according to friends who have done multiple internships, they all said that is how every intern starts a job. But as months passed by, I no longer felt the same way about my job and many questions started to pop up in my head: Do I still feel passionate about my job? Am I learning anything new? Is my time and effort worth it?

A corner of the office.
(photo by: Chuyun Huang)

More importantly, a job without a check started to bother me. I know that I said I didn’t care about money in the beginning, but often times I feel like I work sixteen hours per week and get nothing in return. Focus on the experiences that you could learn from the job then, you might say. I told myself the same thing over and over again, but the question is: how do you measure an experience when there is no tangible value? Experience is definitely important, but don’t you think it’s still too weak to be a motivation compared to money?  By Chuyun Huang

Take your time to look around, it’s more than a station.

Grand Central Station Ticket Booth
(photo credit: Chuyun Huang)

I once saw this commercial on the subway that said the following, “You didn’t move to New York City to stay in.” And at the bottom of the poster, in smaller fonts, it said “Don’t Go Home.”

It reminds me of many people who have traveled miles and miles to come to this city, but once they arrived, they got so caught up with their lives and works and eventually they lost their desire to really “live” in this city. Unfortunately, I happen to be one of these people who lives in New York but stays at home for most of the time.

Grand Central Station in the morning
(photo credit: Chuyun Huang)

A few days ago, I  planed a mini trip to Grand Central Station. Grand Central Station is the place where I transfer to the 6th train to go to school for the two years and I still pass this place (underground, off course) everyday  but I never bother to see what the station really looks like and never did I know how beautiful it is!

I spent an hour or so in the main lobby watching people come and go, watching people who are in a hurry, people like me taking pictures and some standing along anticipating for someone to arrive.

People come and go but some awaits for the train
(photo credit: Chuyun Huang)

The ceiling is breathtaking but have you seen it? If your answer is no, then take a pause next time when you happen to pass by Grand Central Station and look around, it‘s worth the time.