A little over a year ago, I picked up a book and started reading it. It was "Natural Disaster" by Ginger Zee. I was on a cruise with my mom and grandmother, and as I laid out tanning on the cruise ship's pool deck, I finished reading this book in only three days. I love reading, but I don't do it often, so three days to finish a book was super fast for me. "Natural Disaster" is a memoir Ginger Zee wrote about her struggles in life and how she got to where she is now as chief meteorologist for Good Morning America. She discusses her success stories and also the failures of her career journey along with her battle against mental illness. It's truly a very inspiring and relatable story that I fell in love with. It really touched me. After spring break, I got off the cruise ship and headed back to Athens. That first night back in Athens, some friends and I went to Pauley's, of course. I could not stop talking about Ginger's book. I was thinking about it the whole time and all her stories she told in her memoir that I related too! As someone who struggles with mental illness, I found her book so inspiring that I wanted to share it with everyone around me. When I got home from Pauley's that night, I got on my computer and started doing some research. One of Ginger's stories in her memoir was about how she communicates with her viewers and fans. She shared some of the emails she receives from people daily. I thought it would be a great idea to email her then and tell her how much I loved her book! After much research, I found her email address. I sound creepy, but it was attached to her FaceBook page, so it's pretty public. It wasn't some big secret that I had to hack into a secret database to find. Around 2am, I sent Ginger a long-long email. I basically told her my whole life story and how I read her book and how it meant a lot to me. I explained how I related to her in a lot of ways and found her super inspiring as I come close to graduating from college and entering the real world. I honestly did not think I could get a reply; I just was hoping she would see it at the least. So, Email: Sent After about 2 days, my phone dinged, and I got a response! I was so shocked! I ran to my roommate, Emily, and was freaking out. Ginger responded:
Um, how nice was that? I was so shocked. As you see, she invited me to NYC! I don't know if it was an invite or just a "whenever" kind of thing. But I took it very seriously. Also, the fact she was willing to help me network with people in my field was surprising. I immediately called my parents and started planning a trip to New York City. I checked my schedule and decided to go as SOON as finals ended, and I could get home. Let me tell you, it was quite a stressful few days. I replied to let her know how grateful I was for her fantastic response and that I would be in New York on May the 13th. Ginger Zee and I emailed back and forth from March up until the day I went to NYC. She put me in touch with the audience coordinator for GMA and the head of PR (since at the time, that was my intended major). Sunday, May the 12th, my dad and I flew to NYC from Atlanta that morning. We landed and got to our hotel around noon. We spent that day exploring some of New York. Luckily for us, it was pouring rain all day Sunday and Monday. The two days we would be in New York! My dad had never been to NYC, and I had been twice before him. So, I tried to play local New Yorker (which I am the farthest thing from) and show him around. The next morning, we woke up earlier than I have in 3 years and walked 5 miles from our hotel to the Good Morning America studio. We were around an hour early, and there was already a line beside the studio entry door. Every person had a piece of paper in their hand, which I assumed was their ticket to enter. I started panicking because I didn't have one and also was never sent one. I walked up to what looked like a producer. He had on all black, a headset, and a clipboard-- producer stereotype? I told him that Ginger Zee was expecting me. He looked down at his clipboard and said, "Oh, you're Ginger's guest? Greer?" I do not know why, but I felt very important. It felt like in the movies when the characters walk up to a club, and they are like, "I'm on the list," and they are just let in automatically. I was put into a separate line than the people with the tickets. When it was time to go in and get seated, I was put before the line with tickets. My dad and I ended up being front row to the show. Jessica Alba and Gabrielle Union were guests that day, which was so cool to see. They are both such beautiful people that you kind of forget they are real people as well. So, seeing them sit 6 feet in front of me was surreal because they are just as perfect in person as they are on TV. I saw Ginger during the show, and we said hello to each other. Once the taping and show finished, everyone in the audience got to take a picture with Ginger Zee and Robin Roberts. After my dad and I took a photo with them, Ginger told a stage assistant to take me backstage to the weather room. I followed the assistant backstage. It was crazy because I saw Michael Strahan standing outside his dressing room, eating breakfast out of Tupperware. It reminded me that these people on TV are very human, just like I am. Just like everyone else!
(shout out to my untied shoes)
Soon, Ginger came back to the weather room, and I met her. We took photos, and I met everyone else as well. Ginger Zee was super kind and humble as she signed her book for me and asked me about school, among other things. It was a moment I will never forget!
The whole experience taught me to step out of my comfort zone. You usually wouldn't think to email someone as public as Ginger Zee. For some reason, I did. By taking that random leap of faith, so many doors opened for me, and I got to have an experience I'll never forget!
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