8 Accomplishments from 2024
From winning the Marshall Scholarship, reporting for WBGO, and becoming a Madrina; 2024 has been a whirlwind
Hi all! I won’t even comment on how long it has been, but I have good reason, I promise. Also, I have 83 subscribers!? It might not seem like much, but this number has steadily grown despite my lack of publications. Don’t worry; more writing is planned for the New Year.
I've never stuck to New Year's Resolutions, but this past January, I took the time to make a vision board. The collection of photographs embodied my hopes and aspirations for the year ahead, and though I had never seriously made one before, a friend suggested that it would be a good exercise to visualize what I wanted from the year ahead.
When I think back to January, I remember feeling aimless. I was haphazardly assembling my application to Columbia for a master's in African American Studies, working part-time for WBGO, and babysitting every weekday, which meant most of my socialization was with a kindergartener. Six months post-graduation, I felt like I had little direction and a half-formed plan to convince others and myself that I wasn't wasting my time.
While preparing my 2025 vision board, I looked back on last year's and realized much of what I hoped for myself had come true. 2024 was a challenging year for me, and as I ready myself for 2025, I want to take stock of my accomplishments and growth in the last 12 months.
Here are eight accomplishments from 2024
1. Took steps towards better mental health.
I won't mince words here. I was extremely depressed at the beginning of this year. I have the type of depression that keeps me tethered to bed. The kind that encourages isolation and denies all pleasure. Where all you can stand to do is be alone but hate your own company. I spent much of the years beginning sleeping, dreading, and indulging in the negative behaviors that only made things worse.
My then therapist had to call me in during our session and say “you're not okay.” It wasn't an easy thing to hear, but there was a massive sense of relief that someone else saw just how difficult things were, how serious it felt, and this different intensity I hadn't experienced before wasn't normal or sustainable.
I started taking Bupropion, an anti-depressant, in early February. I kept it a secret for a long time. I don't feel the need to do that anymore. The assumption is that if you start a medication for your mental health, you'll be on it forever. That isn't the case. Lots of situational factors contribute to depression, and having the stability to examine the situation and take steps to change it for the better made a huge difference. Prioritizing my mental health set me on the path to being kinder to myself and a better person in general. Bupropion wasn't a magical fix-all, but it has made things a lot better and was one of the best things I did to start my year.
2. Hosted a Sunday Profile on WKCR featuring the music of Ray Barretto
I've written about this fantastic experience before, which you can check out here, but I am still proud of the research and dedication I put into this show. Five hours may seem like a long time, but when you're covering a discography like Ray's and fundraising (donate to KCR!), you're in a time crunch. Many thanks to Stephen Park for having me, and thank you, Ray Barretto! Through programming, I created such a strong connection to his music and was able to put my philosophy of artist-first narratives into practice.
3. Accepted into Columbia
I never planned to go to Columbia, specifically because of the cost. Still, the application fee was covered by a program I am an alumna of, and as a recovering academic validation seeker, I couldn't pass up a possible yes. A yes that I was very confident in receiving
I told myself I would go if I received most of the funding, but I knew that wouldn't happen. Essentially, I was waiting for my yes, just to say no. So, when the yes eventually came and that plan had expired, what did I do if I didn't go to Columbia? What was the plan now?
Get a job.
4. Started a new job
In July, I started a new job as the program administrator for the Mellon Public Humanities Program at Hunter College. I was an undergraduate researcher in the program two years ago, making this a homecoming of sorts. I don't have much to say besides that I like it, especially working with students. With a graduate degree still being a goal of mine, it is great to connect with other young academics and see the university system from a different perspective.
5. Went to Puerto Rico
If you want to read about how the trip went, you can check out my last Substack post from 6 months ago (sorry about going AWOL). If you've already read it, you might wonder why it is on this list of accomplishments from this year. Despite the difficulties I encountered, being able to go back to an ancestral homeland is a privilege for which I'm incredibly grateful. Visiting the island was a dream of mine for years, and for it to be actualized is still highly significant to my development and the way I think about family and home. My first trip to Puerto Rico will forever be a defining moment and has helped me gain a greater perspective on what those who live on the island face daily. As I write this, 90% of the island is without power, and LUMA, the private energy company responsible for providing power to the entire island, has once again failed. Power outages can go on for days, and the first estimation was that it would take 72 hours to restore power to the island. Meanwhile, a part of "New Year's Rockin Eve" was broadcast live from the island with what one can only assume used massive amounts of power based on the stage shows alone. Now more than ever, I think about my relation to the island, its culture, and its struggle against colonialism, and I hope to keep exploring that part of my identity.
6. Conducted more interviews for WBGO
I always forget to share about my work as an audio journalist for WBGO on Substack, but this year, I contributed even more to the station. For those unfamiliar, WBGO is a jazz station in Newark, NJ, with a 45-year history. I grew up listening to WBGO; I had their phone number memorized before my own. Being at WBGO has given me incredible opportunities to interview some of the most excellent jazz musicians in the world, and it is still so surreal that I get to contribute to the station as a journalist. Three of my favorite interviews this year were with saxophonists Kamasi Washington, Godwin Louis, and Lakecia Benjamin, respectively. You can listen to them here. Lots more exciting stuff soon to come!
7. Became a Madrina
Being a godparent is a special honor, and one of the things that made 2024 so special was the birth of my little cousin. My brother and I were asked to be her Padrinos, and my love for that little girl is immense.
8. Won the Marshall Scholarship
I buried the lead on this one, but my biggest accomplishment this year, if not my entire life, was winning the prestigious Marshall Scholarship. I'm still getting comfortable bragging about it, but here's the breakdown.
Starting post-World War II as a thank-you for the Marshall Aid from the US government. The Marshall Scholarship began to finance "intellectually distinguished young Americans [and] their country's future leaders" to study at any university in the United Kingdom. I worked for months on my application and spent most of my summer writing, just, unfortunately, not for Substack. Four essays, three letters of recommendation, two mock interviews, and one university endorsement later…I still had to wait patiently to see if I would be invited to interview.
I received my email invitation at 6:08 pm on November 5th. I was getting ready to play tennis with a friend, and the only feeling better than getting this email was hearing on the phone that I had won.
On the day of my interview, I wasn't nearly as nervous as I expected to be. I knew my application inside out; I was completely prepared and extremely confident. The interview was held at the British Consulate in Manhattan and conducted by a panel of six people. Needless to say, it went very well, and like most good interviews, it felt more like a conversation than an interrogation. They let me know I would hear back by the end of the week, and after lots of googling and talking to past Marshall winners, they usually received a call the next day if selected. After, I went about my day as usual. I had plans to see a friend and attend a youth advisory council meeting in the evening. I didn't have time to stress out about it. I told myself I had at least 24 hours before I should expect a call, so I tried to put it out of my head. Well, that day at 5:03 pm, while watching "Quincy" on Netflix, I recived a phone call from a number I didn't recognize. I stared at the phone number, which looked very similar to a spam number that had been recently called me, and glanced over to my friend.
"It could be the British Consulate," I said as I buzzed in my hand
"You should pick it up then," he said excitedly
"Eh, I don't know. They said they'd call at the end of the week. It can't be them."
I placed the phone face down on the floor where it would no longer be a distraction from the movie's last 15 minutes. Unbeknownst to me, it rang again six minutes later from the same number.
After the movie, I picked up and saw I had a text from that number saying, "Hi Emily. British Consulate here. Can you return our call?" I felt like an idiot, momentarily panicked, but sat on the edge of my seat as I returned their call and received life-changing news.
From November 19th to December 16th, I had to keep this information private, which was hard! So many family members and friends asked how the interview went, and all I could say was it went well and that I had a good feeling. When I did get to tell them, their excitement was almost greater than mine.
I am the third Marshall Scholar from Hunter College and tenth in CUNY's history. It is an unimaginable honor to have won and in nine month’s time I’ll begin a two year journey in London.
If I could go back in time and talk to the January 2024 Emily, who wasn't even interested in getting dressed every day, she wouldn't believe what she would accomplish in 12 months. Then, there was constant uncertainty and an overwhelming lack of agency in my life. Now, the little things that seemed like in consiquential work that wouldn’t accomplish anything major are coming to fruition all at once. I have a greater confidence in myself that goes past the superficial standard, a confidence that others had in me before I could develop it on my own. Taking that into 2025 is sure to shake things up.
Here's to new beginnings, more writing, moving to London, and unimaginable growth.
Happy New Year!
Emily
P.S.
Here are some articles about winning the Marshall Scholarship.
https://hunter.cuny.edu/news/meet-hunters-latest-marshall-scholar-emily-springer-23/
congratulations Emily!
congrats! what a great year that started with the most important win - your mental health - and culminated in a well deserved scholarship. so excited for you!