It has been said that, it takes ten thousand hours of practice to become an expert in anything.  So if you want to be an athlete or you want to play an instrument, or write, it will be a matter of constant practice; repetition, repetition, repetition.

I came to personally understand this concept when I became an intern at the Campus Clipper.  I’ve always wanted to write, but I didn’t always sit down to write.  And despite the fact that I’ve read several on writing books, I struggled with that discipline.

Among the many valuable skills I’ve learned at the Campus Clipper, this idea of constant practice is one that I have come to hone; thanks to Cassandra Fox and her genius plan.  I come into the Campus Clipper for a few hours and after I catch up on the logistics and the emails, I stare at the blank screen for ten minutes.  I remind myself that I have to blog.  So I write that first sentence.  The first few sentences are usually bad but it leads me to something.  And before I know it, I can’t stop my fingers from typing away.

After a couple of weeks I realized how much material I produced.  It triggered something in me; it unleashed the beast that was the cause of so much procrastination, fear, and lack of discipline.  Knowing that I have two hours to write when I’m here and sitting down to the task, has really been a tremendous help to me.

I’m now committed to the practice of writing; I’m committed to that daunting task of staring at the blank screen for a few minutes and writing the first bad sentence, because that’s what it takes for the rest to come.

Another important part in becoming a writer is reading, reading, reading.  Follow the Campus Clipper Bloggers and check for student discounts to bookstores, restaurants and entertainment in NYC!

Rona, Columbia University, School of General Studies

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Last summer I went home to Guyana to visit my family.  After a six hour flight from New York to Georgetown, followed by a thirty minute boat ride to the coast, then a twenty minute car ride to my village, I was ready to be embraced by my adoring aunts and cousins.

I arrived to a frenzy of activities in the village; women in fast paced action, running with pots and baskets of vegetables, and men unloading chairs and fixtures from trucks and donkey carts.  The center of this clamor was a house next to my aunt’s.  I continued to stare while walking backwards into my aunt’s house.  The door was open and as I called out I realized no one was home.

At that point I was no longer tired from my journey and I knew exactly what was happening.  There was going to be a wedding that week.  I proceeded to the house next door, and sure enough, I found my aunt and cousins.  Upon seeing me, they dropped the decorations from their hands and ran to me.  They held me in a tight embrace while apologizing profusely for not being at the house to greet me.

A typical Hindu wedding goes on for three to four days.  In a small village, it’s usually the cause for celebration for everyone.  Everyone joins in with the festivities and also with the preparations.  My favorite part is eating.  Traditionally the food is served in lotus leafs and you eat with your fingers.  This is the stuff I live for, and I can’t tell you how excited I was to be there at that time.  My other favorite part is the cooking.  The men tend to take control of the giant woks.  The women do all the prep work and the men do the cooking.  Cooking for a wedding is done outside, in the backyard; after all you are cooking to feed an entire village.

Rona, Columbia University, School of General Studies

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Click here  to download the Campus Clipper iTunes App!

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I love cake. I’m not sure if there’s anyone who doesn’t and if there is, don’t call me. Cake is the one thing we should all be able to agree on.

Apple Café Bakery, located at 24 West 8th street (between 5th avenue and Macdougal street) provides cake and so much more. I stopped by one beautiful afternoon and enjoyed a sample of their delectable menu.

What you see on my plate is an apple crisp, a red velvet cupcake, a chocolate cupcake and three cookies- oatmeal raisin, peanut butter and white chocolate. I started with the cupcakes- they were delightful. I have a lot of feelings about the frosting to cake ratio and Apple Café Bakery gets it just right. The cake is light, warm, fluffy and feels like heaven in your mouth. The cookies were warm and chewy. The white chocolate melted in my mouth and the peanut butter had peanut chunks in it to give it some crunch. The apple crisp was wonderful as well. The sweet cinnamon apples blended perfectly with the crumbly crust.

Apple Café Bakery also sells cheesecakes, pies, pudding, muffins and brownies, all of which I would have gladly tried if I had a second stomach.

The owner Alhagie Jallow (he goes by Al for the benefit of his American customers) and head baker Babu are very friendly and make each patron feel like a member of the family.

Al is originally from Gambia and is currently taking classes at Hunter College. It makes perfect sense then, that his bakery would be such a welcoming place for students looking for a study break. Located a short walk away from NYU and the New School, Apple Café Bakery is a great place to get some work done. There is free WI-FI and you can enjoy coffee, tea and the smell of freshly baked goods while you work.

Even better, there is a coupon for Apple Café Bakery in the Campus Clipper! You won’t be able to just have one cookie so go ahead and indulge. The second one is free!

Al (right) and Babu ice a freshly baked batch of mini cupcakes.

Audrey, the New School
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It’s an unusual thing, to go from being responsible for the lifes – and lives – of 30 men, to being responsible for just yourself. Initially, for everyone in that position, I think the sensation is one purely of relief, of that pilgrims burden being taken off your back as you no longer have to be aware of what others are doing, how they behave, how their lives are going and how their careers are. Whilst responsible for people – in any field, not just the military – the tension of it never leaves you, no matter where you are. At any moment, the possibility is open that one of them may get in trouble, have an accident, do something stupid or otherwise need your attention. And you are responsible, you have to drop whatever you were doing, whatever time of the day or night, and get to where you need to be to help (or scold!) that person. So when that feeling leaves you, you always feel a little like you’re floating.

Must get that Mid-Term in!

For some, it just ends there, a stressor gone. But for others, a slow creeping sense of something missing can grow in the space that tension used to live in. Partly, that sense of being needed, necessary, can be very validating.- instant meaning in your life! So for those people, when it goes, they inevitably feel somehow unnecessary. For others, it can be the significance of the responsibility, or the power it implies and contains. But for a lot of us who have had that experience and then finished, it’s simply the camaraderie; the feeling of family it brings to have these people there for you can be tremendous, because it isn’t a one way street. Just as you have to be there for them, they will always bear that debt in mind, and look out for you as well. As the leader of a group of people, they want you to be significant, successful, because they like you and because it reflects on everyone.

There’s no real way to get that feeling back without being in that situation, and really it becomes more like nostalgia over time, a thing that is always better when viewed from the far side, than it is whilst it’s occuring. But there are always ways of recapturing the feel, if only for an evening. It was always put to me that the simple test of whether someone had leadership material was whether they were the sort of person who people would go to the pub with. And I don’t mean, did they organise the evenings (organisation being merely management) but did they inspire you to get out and go out and have a good time; did you look forward to being in their company? I like to think I have that, at least when I’m on form(!) and I love the variety of places to go out in New York.

One of my absolute favourites is a place called Fat Cats down in the West Village. It’s another great example of what the US does so well, that is almost impossible to find in the UK, a great fun bar with all kinds of activities going on around. My pool has improved dramatically since getting to NYC, and I love playing at Fat Cats, with a real buzz around because it isn’t just pool; they have a band – live music is a novelty for me, and that is sad – and it’s always playing something fun and upbeat. Even if you just want to chill out, they have cards, chess drafts and Backgammon – another personal favourite. I got good at Backgammon in the Middle East, and I defy anyone to beat me best of 5 or better! As with anything, you should always try and get a student coupon discount, there are plenty to be found (there’s one below!)

Practice a little leadership yourself, rouse your friends to go do something specific, and have a good time of it. It’s great going out, it’s really better when everyone is having fun because of what you did.