The 25th Annual Emmy Awards - Heartland Chapter

      Not like I'm surprised, but it seems having relatively no life outside of homework and school has paid off. During Summer break, I received a call from one of my professors. He said he was very glad to have had me in class, and he thought I was a great student. Then, he asked me if I wanted to work at the Emmy Awards in July. My immediate answer was an ecstatic "Yes". I hung up the phone and bounced excitedly around the room a few times. I was contacted a few weeks later by the Executive Director. She provided me with a time, place, and told me to dress nice. With my excitement growing day by day, July 23rd came more quickly than I expected.
      For those who don't know, Emmy Awards are broken into different chapters across the country. The Heartland Chapter is based out of Highlands Ranch and specific to Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma. No, I did not fly to Los Angeles. No, I did not meet Conan O'Brien. No, I did not walk the "red carpet". These are answers to inquiries I have received from friends and acquaintances in the past month. The answers often leading to their disappointment. However, that did not matter. This opportunity was very exciting for me.
     Yesterday, after preparing myself for a couple hours, I headed to The Denver Center for the Performing Arts. When I entered the ballroom, I was greeted by the very amiable Coordinating Producer. Along with five other students from my school and various interns from local news stations, we got busy setting up. Everything was falling into place and running smoothly. We were even ahead of schedule. There was about an hour left before the show started, so we all visited and snapped a few pictures.

      Once everybody started to arrive, we stayed backstage and took care of last minute details. Once the award ceremony began, I stood behind the curtain and escorted the winners off stage to a table where they had to sign saying they received their award. It seemed kind of silly, considering I had never known this was protocol. Also, I helped transport and pack up awards for people who could not attend. As you can see, there were a lot of awards to hand out, as well as a few inductees to The Silver Circle Hall of Fame and a couple other honors. After standing for 6 hours in heels, my feet were growing very tired. I left at about 9:30, as they were finishing up. The Executive Director promised us all letters of recommendation, and the Coordinating Producer gave us gift certificates for Starbucks. I was happy enough just to have participated in the experience. 

    In the spirit of the Emmys, I would like to finish with this: For making it to this award show, I would like to thank my Mom. Without her, I would've walked two miles wearing my heels and nice dress in the ridiculous heat. I will not forget this when I am at the Emmys and actually winning an award one day. Love you, Mom.