A Day in the Life from F.I.T.

Hey guys! I actually have a semi-free night for once, so I thought I’d type a little bit up about my experiences here so far in the city.

The other week I found out that 8 million people alone live on this island. And since I run a lot, I’ve found out that the island itself is really only about 12 miles by 2.5 miles, give or take. Somehow, this seemingly hectic area is managed through structure, routine, and tall buildings. There really is so much to see and do here in this small area of Manhattan, and although I’ve been here almost three months, I still have a list of places I want to go to. I’ve been fortunate to be able to give myself about a day a week to explore though, which transitions into the FIT part of this entry.

Before I came here everyone basically said, “Oh my gosh, it’s going to be so hard and you’re going to have no life.” Unfortunately, for the main part it is true. However haha – it’s really just time management. Nothing we have done so far is insanely difficult, for a lot of the first semester is review of what I’ve already learned at Purdue, except they expound on it and multiply it. For instance, basic draping is taken a step further. We learn every method of basic draping and then have to do a creative version of it. I have only made two complete garments, the rest are half muslins; but, we all have term projects that will be multiple garments per outfit. Stressful, but exciting!That last phrase basically sums up everything – I’ve had spare time to do a couple contests, go to free yoga once a week, join a small group, work out every day, and see the city – all on top of homework. Sometimes it is a lot to handle, but after last year at Purdue and my internship this summer, it’s a little easier. Plus, there really is nothing else to do here aside from school during the week, unless you want to eat out and see a show every night.

Overall my experience here has been one of growth, both educationally and individually. It’s been quite an adjustment, for I haven’t visited home at all. Luckily I’ve made good friends with my roommates, girls in the one-year program, and another girl from Purdue here for retail. I also have family in mid-New Jersey that I visit about once a month. The more I’m here, the more I get used to it. Some things I don’t think I’ll ever get used to though– like being able to jog out to the end of a pier, stretch, and see the Statue of Liberty and the New Jersey skyline. The opportunities here are endless, and somewhat surreal. For instance, we went to Fashion’s Night Out on September 10 and saw Manolo Blahnik, Roberto Cavalli, Grace Coddington, Zac Posen, Laura Bennett, and Miss J from Project Runway. My professors are all extremely knowledgeable and always helpful, and I have learned such a great amount in such a small time period. I’m very grateful that I’m able to be here and could not be more excited for what’s to come. I can’t wait to come home on December 22, visit family and friends, drive, and yes, see farmland haha. That’s the one thing lacking out here – nature. I heard about Lady Gaga coming and had someone get me tickets. Luckily we’re off for six weeks for winterim at F.I.T. so I’ll get to visit Purdue as well. To fellow ambassadors and friends/faculty at Purdue – good luck as the semester comes to a close with final projects and exams! I hope everyone’s doing well!
                    Ashley

Recruitment

Wow! I cannot believe that I am beginning my senior year at Purdue. I never imagined it really would go by so fast! I love so many things about Purdue, from football games to rides on the boilermaker special.
One of my favorite times is recruitment season. As my fourth and final Purdue formal recruitment has just ended, I look back and remember what it was like as a freshman four years ago. I cannot believe it has gone by so fast. As an eager young freshman I had no idea what sorority life would mean for me. I recall being so nervous about every step of the recruitment process, but now it feels like second nature. Last Friday and Saturday we began with open houses, where each potential new member was able to tour every house with a total of sixteen rounds. Sunday included the 11 preference rounds that included a house slide show. This past weekend began on Sunday with the 7 preference rounds, which included the house skits. Monday concluded the recruitment process with the final and most important day. This day each potential new member visited a maximum of three houses with the conclusion to the day being the selection of their new home. This has been such an exciting chapter in my life and I will greatly miss the friends and memories after I leave.

My Summer as an Intern

I am currently sitting outside, enjoying the weather that FINALLY feels like it’s the middle of July. I just drove up back home to Elkhart after concluding my internship with Anthropologie at the Keystone Fashion Mall in Indianapolis last Saturday. For those who don’t know, Apparel Design majors are required to have two internships prior to graduation – one retail for at least 140 hours and one design for at least 280 hours. I decided to do my retail internship this summer.

When applying I set my goals high, and applied at BCBG corporate in NYC, Gucci in Costa Mesa, Orange County, CA, and called multiple other stores including Burberry, Banana Republic, and Nordstrom. Unfortunately, I could not find housing in NYC for the summer, Gucci decided to take local students from FDIM, and the others weren’t offering internships. Around March of this year I was still trying to apply at local boutiques back here in South Bend and Mishawaka when I looked up stores located at the Fashion Mall. To my pleasant surprise, Anthropologie was listed. [You may be more familiar with Anthro’s parent company: Urban Outfitters --- U.O. has three sub-companies: Anthropologie, Free People, and Terrain.] I called them and BCBG both. Though BCBG wasn’t offering any store internships, Anthropologie told me to submit a resume and follow up in a week. Long story short…I got the internship!

I also knew a lot of friends from school who lived near Indy, and I ended up staying with a friend who’s also an Apparel Design major—Natasha—in Zionsville (her driveway view is the picture above). I drove about 20 min to work each day, which was on the North side of Indy close to Carmel, and I was able to visit downtown Indy, Brownsburg, Avon, Danville, and Purdue with ease. On weeks where I only worked a couple days, I also visited home, which was only a 2 ½ hour drive. To many this seems like a long time haha but I got used to driving so often, anything under an hour is nothing really now.

My internship with Anthropologie was absolutely wonderful. The first two days I worked, the entire staff showed up at 6 AM to do their yearly stock of inventory to account for losses. Loss prevention is unfortunately now a major deal with multiple retail organizations due to rises in theft, mostly attributed to the economy. During the rest of my month and a half there, I worked part time, paid, with weekly hours ranging from 10 to 32. (Hours and schedules for internship hours vary between companies–with Anthropologie I was treated like a regular retail associate.) Dress was very unrestricted, aside from no shorts, no logos aside from Anthro’s brands, and no flip flops–other than that it was just expected you dressed well and in a way that reflected the lifestyle of an Anthro girl. I was trained on inventory, censoring, re-stock in the mornings, fitting room service, loss prevention, customer care, retail procedures such as floor management and upkeep, and closing procedures in the evening.

I believe the best part of the internship came from the atmosphere. Anthropologie’s overall aims and mission as a company fit so well with my individuality and the general direction I wish to go with my career as a designer. For inspiration, corporate sends each retail outlet an “inspiration board” with themes the store is trying to represent for the season. Artistic freedom with retail display is then up to each outlet. We have five major departments: women’s apparel, women’s accessories, home, bedding, and lounge. Other sections include general green (a section geared toward environmentally-focused living,) children’s books/animals/learning objects, and multiple books throughout the store with themes ranging from recipes to the history of Valentino. I should also mention we as employees had quite a good discount, so it was all I could do to tell myself I needed to save for school haha. Of course, I did take advantage of it, though.

My co-workers were all very amiable and took the time to get to know me, while still maintaining professional attitudes. I found that one employee and two managers also had graduated from Purdue; the managers had obtained degrees in retail management. Many of my co-workers and I shared similar interests, including art, design (2 had majored in fashion design), fashion, and Starbucks haha. On the Starbucks note, during one week we had a contest for someone to win a Starbucks gift card. Whenever you added on items to a fitting room, signed someone up to for an Anthro card, etc, you put your name on a piece of paper which was then put into a drawing. I ended up winning, oddly enough, and plan on saving that card for when school commences again. :) Now I am good friends with many of them, and we’re all planning on staying in touch via good-old Facebook.

The only hard thing about my internship was the distance from home. I usually okay with my independence, but since I’m leaving for New York City in a little under 4 weeks and having been away earlier this summer for Maymester classes, I missed out on a lot of things with my friends and family back home. I did get to meet up with a friend here, and a friend there, but it was definitely a test. I grew a lot this summer, including both educational and life lessons learned from my internship. I look forward to spending the rest of my summer with friends and family back here in Elkhart, and one last stop at Purdue :) before I leave for FIT.

I’ll try and do a few posts when I can in NYC. In the meantime, I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their summer! And good luck to all the new freshmen as you embark on this journey known as college.

Oh! Ha and a plug for Anthro – if you’re interested more about Anthropologie, visit http://www.anthropologie.com/.

The burgers are calling me to grill them, so I’m gonna peace out.
*ashley