SECOND CHOICES? SECOND CHANCES!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Lots of things beginning and ending this time of year. Yesterday we talked about our traditions, and our goals. How we felt like decluttering, and repurposing, and rethinking.  The pandemic hit us all, in similar ways. But it's all about where you are in your life.

 

But my brilliant and talented and dear dear friend Amy Impellizzeri (you know her books, right? Click here! But after you read this—because what’s next is fascinating) --today introduces us to a different point of view.  Someone still in the process of making traditions. Someone for whom everything is new. And someone who has a lot to teach us! 

 Second Choices/Second Chances

  A Q&A With Writer Amy Impellizzeri 

                  and her Intern, Tierney Banco

 AMY IMPELLIZZERI: In the category of “Pandemic Silver Linings,” some of my entries continue to be a stretch. Invention of a Bolognese sauce recipe sans red meat. Discovery of 23 new online shopping retailers (and counting). A color-coded chart of every wine retailer that ships to my puritanical state. 

 But here’s one that’s no stretch at all: Because of the pandemic, I have a fabulous intern, Tierney Banco, working with me in my rural Pennsylvania town. 

She boasts some impressive writing/research chops and a shiny new degree from Northeastern University. 

It’s no secret Tierney would rather not be my intern. 

I know she’d prefer that 2020 went a little (ok, a lot!) differently, and that she was in New York City breaking into writing or television/film. 

 But in becoming her second choice, we’ve both gotten a second chance to wrap up 2020 with some silver linings and lessons learned. I asked Tierney to fess up about her frustrations and how she’s putting her internship and her writing plans to good use. 

 

Amy: Tierney, I know because I’ve seen your resume - you’ve had an impressive educational journey that has included some unique real world writing/working experience. Can you give us a glimpse of that journey? 

 Tierney: Sure. I grew up loving movies and stories and I was always making up stuff and letting my imagination run wild. But I didn’t start writing for real until I was in high school. At the beginning of my freshman year I joined Voices, Reading Eagle’s (my hometown paper) teen section, and I wrote for them basically until the day I left for college. I was lucky enough to write, everything from opinion pieces to reviews to news pieces to sarcastic commentary on very specific teenage things. 

 Amy: I remember those pieces! I remember reading them in our shared hometown paper and admiring your writing at such a young age. 

 Tierney: It was the first time I really had a chance to consider what I had to say and how I wanted to say it, which was really important to me as far as figuring out my voice (no pun intended) and even what kind of person I am. And I learned that, no matter what I was writing, people were reading it and reacting to my work. 

 Amy: After high school, I know you headed to Northeastern University. Did you know exactly what your major would be when you started? 

 Tierney: I was undeclared until the end of my freshman year. I had a lot of different interests (theatre, film, writing, etc.) and I wasn’t quite sure which direction to head in. And then one of my advisors asked me, “Have you heard of this weird new major, Media and Screen Studies, which is all about media and film and journalism? You can combine that with Theatre,” and that was it.

 Amy: Kudos to your Advisor for helping channeling your interests into a major, which doesn’t sound all that weird to me! What about your co-op opportunities at Northeastern?

 Tierney: I did two co-ops, both within my Media and Screen major. My first co-op was in the Media Relations department at the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport), which runs Boston’s Logan Airport. 

 And my second was in the Corporate Communications department at the television company AMC Networks in New York City. Looking back now, those jobs were so informative and educational to me because they didn’t just show me how to handle a 9-5 job, but also taught me how to think and what to look for in a professional setting. 

At AMCN, I spent at least six hours a day reading the trades and paying attention to the industry I hoped to join someday. It made me feel like a cog (albeit a small one) in the wheel. But being a “lowly” intern seems a lot more important when your findings are sent to the CEO and flagged as “Must Read Press.” 

Amy: I can validate first-hand that your work as an intern is ALWAYS important. I love that you came to understand that on your own. What would you have been doing this fall if I wasn’t lucky enough to work with you as MY intern? 

 Tierney: I fell in love with New York City when I was working at AMCN. I loved the bustling city, the parks, the restaurants, and Broadway, of course. A big part of the reason I looked to New York for my second co-op was to find out if I could see myself living there, and six months confirmed to me that I could. 

But as far as what I would do when I moved to New York, that was up in the air. When you’re going to be a lawyer or a doctor or something there is a specific step-by-step plan of what you do and what order you do it in to achieve your goal career. But my fields don’t have that.

 Amy: Ah yes, this is a big lesson I learned having left the law for the publishing industry. There’s no straight-line path. It’s stressful, but also liberating in a way. 

 Tierney: Something I really liked about Northeastern’s mentality with the co-op program was that they weren’t focused solely on teaching you “I have this degree so now this is the only career I’ll ever have or look for.” 

Instead, both of my majors taught me skills that I can use to pursue something, whatever that is. Throughout college my mentality became “I don’t know what I want to do yet, but I know I’ll be capable of doing it,” which made me less concerned about the “how” and more focused on “why.”

 My hope for the Fall 2020 was to be in NYC working at a television or media company in some sort of entry-level position. I applied to all sorts of jobs within NBCUniversal, Viacom, CBS, and Buzzfeed, just to name a few. 

But then my senior year was cut short due to the pandemic, leaving me without a graduation, job prospects, or any way to move to my favorite city. 

 Amy: So, would you call the pandemic a short-term detour or has it re-routed you entirely? 

 Tierney: It definitely felt like a massive roadblock had hit me, right when my life was supposed to take off. As the summer went on and nothing changed, I realized that I needed to alter my thought process. I didn’t want to spend the entire pandemic sitting around miserable and twiddling my thumbs hoping something might happen. 

So to answer your question, I feel like it’s rerouted me entirely. And up until September, I probably would’ve told you that was a bad thing.

 But now I feel a lot better about where I am. I’ve started to write again, something I wasn’t doing during the pandemic. Since I wasn’t in a good headspace, I didn’t feel that creative inspiration necessary to put words on a page. But I’ve written more in the past two months than I have in the past few years. 

 Amy: I think your honesty and raw truth is really helpful to so many others who share your frustrations. Thanks for sharing that, Tierney. What positive steps have you taken to forge your new path? 

 Tierney: The pandemic really forced me to reevaluate my thought process regarding my career choices. In September I started taking an online Screenwriting class through the New York Film Academy. As soon as that started, I found that sense of inspiration and motivation I’d been missing since March. So now I’m applying to MFA programs in NYC. 

And I have to say, as someone who was super stressed about applying to college, I feel pretty good about grad school. 

The application for my top choice, New York University, really pushed me to succeed. Where most writing programs ask for a few short pieces to sample your work, NYU wanted a full 90-120 page screenplay. I had never written a project that long before, in any form. But having that goal in my head motivated me and I managed to complete my first draft (coming in at exactly 120 pages) a few days ago. 

 The other thing I did to further my professional path was a lot of “networking.” I say it in quotes because the pandemic doesn’t really allow for true networking in the traditional sense. But over the summer I talked to a lot of people, mostly friends of friends, who have experience in the entertainment or theatre industries. They all gave great advice and told me a little about how they got to their current career. A number of them also offered to put me in touch with some of their contacts, giving me even more people to talk to. I even got to speak to one of the professors at the NYU program I’m applying to. 

 Amy: How have you been able to focus on writing and what advice would you give other new graduates who are trying to find their focus as they navigate this challenging time? 

 Tierney: Having specific goals to work towards is what’s kept me focused. My class at NYFA meets every Tuesday and then we have an assignment, so each week I have at least one piece of writing to work on. The application due dates have also been in the back of my mind.

 My advice is to ask yourself, “What do I need to do today? What do I need to do this week? What do I need to do this month?” It makes you prioritize what to work on first. 

 If you start to feel bogged down, change your approach or thought process. Instead of trying to finish something by a certain date, set a goal (however big or small) and work towards that instead. 

 When I was writing my 120-page screenplay, I was much more motivated to work if I aimed to write one scene a day as opposed to hitting a daily page count. It helped the project feel exciting and something I wanted to continue, as opposed to a chore. 

 Another piece of advice is something I heard in a NYU info session. The director of the program was joking that they ask applicants to submit a screenplay in order to come to NYU and learn how to write a screenplay. But then he said, “We know it won’t be perfect, but we want to see what you can do. So send us what you have, and we’ll see what we’re working with.” That really resonated with me. 

 For whatever it is you are working towards, don’t worry about perfection or meeting expectations. Focus on how it excites you, or why you’re doing this. As long as that’s in the back of your head, it’s really hard to go wrong. 

 Amy: Wait. Hold please. That’s really good. I think I’ll write that down. Tierney, I’m so happy to be your second choice this year. Thanks for sharing your journey with me! 

 HANK: Well, wow. That is incredibly inspirational! Aww. I am in tears.  Reds and readers, what were you doing at Tierney’s age? Were you ever an intern? And what did YOU learn?