I have two pitches in mind–I may do both, or I may just choose whichever comes out best.

My first idea is to interview a classmate of mine, a daughter of a Trinidadian immigrant. She is in her senior year at CCNY and she is trying to figure out what she will do next…and the options that she is considering are varied and interesting. I want to talk to her about how she feels she fits into New York–especially since she loves East Asian culture and frequents Asian neighborhoods like Flushing. This would be a story mostly about the future of  making it in New York–though it may also have some elements of the present.

My second idea is to interview my Chinese professor, who is herself an immigrant (from China). Her story of immigration is interesting–for example, on the way to the United States she lived for a while in the Netherlands. I would like to interview her about what brought her to New York, and how she feels she is “making it” here, specifically in terms of her career. Would she have been better off staying in Beijing? This would be a story about making it in the present.

I also had the idea of interpreting “making it” in a literal sense–like, for example, making it to class/work on time in the subway! My first interviewee, the senior at CCNY, has collected a number of interesting subway stories. Maybe those could be examples of “making it” in NYC? Or is this interpretation of “making it” too literal, making the story stray too far from the others in terms of topic and theme?

I could use photography, video, or audio in my interviews. Probably audio would be the most interesting–particularly to capture my Chinese professor’s accent.

I appreciate all your feedback!