Catalina in Philadelphia: Starting Out as a Writer...Then Editor

TL;DR: Below is a text about moving across the world, loving movies, and living through writing. Some relevant examples of my work at 34th Street can be found at the end of this story, so please feel free to check them out! 🤗

What's a 14-hour flight like? 🛫

I'm not the kind of narrator who'll bore you with unnecessary pleasantries. I could, and you would devour every word, but that's not the point here. Let's jump straight to the part where it's 2016 and I'm 18, alone on my first trans-Atlantic flight, and ready to start a new life on a continent I'd never visited before: North America.

I had dreamed of attending an Ivy League university ever since I was 11. And ever since I was 11, people around me perpetually reiterated to me every single way in which it would be impossible.

Except it wasn't, and there I was: headed to the City of Brotherly Love to study Politics and Media for the next four years, watching Creed, and trying to imagine what cheesesteaks taste like while ignoring the bland airplane food I was being served.

Oh, and I was the most excited I'd ever been.

Wait...Politics and Media? 🤔

I guess the long way to say this is that I double–majored in Political Science and Cinema and Media Studies. Why?

One thing I have to admit is that curiosity always had the best of me. Just like I was never afraid of the leap of faith I took when I moved across the world, delving into the unknown has fascinated me to the point where I made it my mission to untangle the mysteries of our world, and to share my findings with as many people as possible.

This is how I got into this particular combination of studies that was going to change my path.

The CI in CIMS 🎥

Even as I devoured what Americans called "movies with subtitles," I didn't really understand showbiz—until I started writing about it, that is. A community I found remarkably inviting was 34th Street Magazine. It was there, at our office, that I found a home far from home, and realized I had chosen the best academic path for me: the one which taught me to write.

Though I started out as a Film & TV writer, I quickly developed a solid reputation among students and professors as a critical thinker who went beyond the ordinary limitations of film critique. As online engagement with my work grew, so did appreciation from the staff, and I was soon promoted to the role of F&TV Editor.

Now, not only was I writing—I was coordinating and guiding a team of writers, all native English speakers, who looked up to me.

So much for impossibilities... 🙃

And My 🔝 Six?

Two years at 34th Street obviously left me with some favorite pieces that I've written during my time there. Here's my personal, diversified top six, in chronological order of publication.

A Scathing Film Review 🎬 — October 10, 2017

An Interview with Woody Harrelson 📸 — January 24, 2018

An Experimental Meal-Prep How-To 🥘 — March 27, 2018

Praise for a Contemporary Documentary Filmmaker 👏🏻 — August 5, 2018

Oyster Tasting...and an Oyster History 🦪 — September 25, 2018

Book Review and Interview with Author 📖 — October 26, 2018