Dan The Man

For this week's assignment, I had the chance to sit down with Daniel Martin and ask him about what's going on in his life. Dan is a sophomore Journalism major at St. John's University. Being from Landenberg, a small town in Pennsylvania, Dan had an interesting take on living in New York and many other topics. When he's not in class or waiting tables, Dan occupies much of his time working for the St. John's Radio Station, WSJU, along with the fan website, Johnny Jungle. Below you'll find an excerpt from my conversation with Dan.

Q: Growing up in Pennsylvania, what's it like to be in New York City?

A: It's a really different experience because I'm used to the countryside. In my backyard, if you look out through the trees, there's a horse field and you see horses running around. There are no stoplights in my town. There is one stop sign, a few gas stations and a pizza shop. Outside of that, there's just a lot of grass and a lot of barns and stuff like that. So coming to New York where it's all concrete and so much hustle and bustle, it's a really different experience. I've enjoyed the city a lot because of the opportunities it affords to you. There's not much in Pennsylvania. You have to drive 20-25 minutes to get anywhere. The only thing is that it is quite a bit cheaper. But outside of that, there's not too much there, so I'm glad to be in the city.

Q: Do you see yourself working in a big city like New York or maybe in a small town like home?

A: Well, with the media field, as you know, we're probably going to settle down in the first place we can find a job, wherever that is, because there is so much flexibility with communication. Ideally, I'd like to stay somewhere in the city. I was born up in Boston so I might head back there. I recently visited out west so I might go out there because I really enjoyed that. It's probably just ultimately going to be where I can find my first job, but I would definitely prefer the city to a smaller town.

Q: Being a waiter is a very interesting job. So what's that like?

A: It's an interesting thing because we're on the track to graduate with a college degree and that opens up a lot of doors and opportunities. I work with a lot of people who are either immigrants or didn't have the chance to go to college, so this is their full-time job. I really prefer to be around people who are of the middle and working class rather than really rich people because I think they are infinitely interesting. It's a good contrast. I only work one day a week, but it's good to get away from it. It's good to interact with customers. There are a few people who come in now and request me to be their waiter because they enjoy what I do and that's always good. It's a relatively simple job and it's sometimes under appreciated a lot of times, but it's good to sort of, experience both sides of the coin. If you're going to school for business, you are probably going to be the owner of a business rather than the people who work there. So, to get the experience of being one of the hourly-wage employees, it's a good experience. I enjoy it.

You can hear the rest of my conversation with Dan by clicking play.

My Interview With Dan