During my adventure to New York City, I somehow managed to break a law, constantly lose my subway metro card, eat an octopus tentacle, ride in mafia SUV’s and stuff my suitcase with so many souvenirs that it exploded at JFK and had to be duct-taped like a mummy. The only positive thing however, was the honor of receiving a national award for our online newspaper.

Journalism students received the opportunity to travel to New York and attend the CSPA convention at Columbia University, where the university bestows Crown Awards to the most prestigious yearbooks, print and online newspapers. The awards ceremony excited us because we placed as one of nine in the entire country receiving the highest honor of a Gold Crown.

However, it seems my fortune took a turn for the worst throughout the rest of the trip. On the first day, we spent time touring and shopping in Times Square. Of course, shopping at the Hard Rock Cafe, Toys R Us, Forever 21 and many other stores amazed to go into, I really wanted to buy myself a New York Yankees cap at ESPN Zone. Apparently Halle Berry appeared in there, and the store was temporarily closed.

The second day, we took a ferry to Liberty and Ellis Island, during which the rainy and cold weather seemed an inconvenience for all. Ground Zero was one of the most emotional parts of my trip, which I also enjoyed seeing. We also stopped by Trinity Church, the New York Stock Exchange and Mr. Mallett’s “to die for” bakery, Crumbs— where they sell the best cupcakes. Later that night we attended a showing of the Blue Man Group, where we learned approximately 100 new synonyms for the word “butt” in the final song. A few examples include booty, fanny, giant fluffy bears, crock pot, tweddle dee and tweddle dum, George Foreman Grill and life’s work.

On St. Patrick’s Day, we woke up bright and early to try and get on NBC’s “The Today Show.” We managed to only get a couple people on air, before later leaving to tour NBC studios, including the SNL and Dr. Oz sets. Observing the city horizon by going up 67 floors to the Top of The Rock also thrilled me. This is also the day I ate Korean Food before going to the Addams Family on Broadway. I decided to play it safe with the foreign foods, but I was presented with and ordered fried dumplings. While the rest of my group chose fried rice with some red soup on the side that reeked of fish and athletes’ foot. In the bottom of the bowl was an octopus tentacle that my best friend dared me to eat. A dare is a dare, so as soon as I stopped gagging, I chewed the rubbery fish and survived.

The next day, we took the subway to the Columbia University to attend workshop sessions. On the way there, my metro card had problems with the machine and it wouldn’t let me pass through causing me to fall behind in the group. Another student with us, Katie, also had problems getting through. When my metro card finally worked, I told Katie to quickly hop in with me through the bars, since we were already losing sight of the rest of our group.

As I started running to catch up, I hear the cops yelling, “Miss, Miss, Stop that one right there!” I turn around to see what was going on, only to realize it was me they were talking about. They stopped me, informed me I broke New York Transportation Law and asked me what I was doing. When I told them I was with my high school from Mansfield, Texas, they simply laughed and let me go. I’m not going to lie, they had me scared. The NYPD has an intimidating reputation.

Just when I thought my luck couldn’t have been any worse, on the last day when we were leaving JFK, I was called back to the check-in counter where I was in horror of seeing my luggage open because of a broken zipper. I blamed them for mishandling it, but I also blamed myself for bringing back too many souvenirs. I quickly scrambled to put all my things back and just started taping. In the end, it looked like a mummy. I called my mom to tell her what happened, and she started yelling at me in Spanish before I quickly hung up from “bad reception.” Nervous that my bag wouldn’t make it to DFW airport, I waited and watched nervously for it to come out from the planes belly underneath me. When I saw my mummified luggage, I stared laughing with joy, and the rest of the passengers joined me. Tears rolled down my face as even the flight attendant at the back of the plane was laughing and said he’d never seen anything like it.

Despite my bad luck, I will always remember this trip. I saw the most amazing things and created new memories with everyone that we will never forget. My adventures in New York were exciting and if I had the chance to do it all over again, I definitely would.