By: Jacob Elyachar, jakes-take.com
As Hanukkah concluded, I began to reflect on 2018. This year was like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates, I did not know what I was going to get.
I could describe 2018 as a year of changes. Earlier this year, you did not see a lot of posts from me. The reason why is that I worked with Claire Entertainment and Tech Times, Inc. on a full-time basis as a reporter. That opportunity helped me grow as an author and writer as I got the chance to get quotes from the media relations departments of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, NASA, and The Wendy Williams Show. I also had the opportunity to receive commentary from international researchers and conduct interviews with two-time Emmy-nominated television personality Jedediah Bila, Big Brother alum & Breaking Homicide host Derrick Levasseur, and provocative street artist Plastic Jesus.
Sadly, the opportunity was taken away from me. While I was disappointed to leave the company, I am grateful that I grew as a journalist and that I am capable of covering topics such as health, science, and technology. Also, I am thankful that I met two lifelong friends in the forms of Elyse Johnson and Ashley Rushford, while I worked there.
While that door closed, I returned to Jake’s Take as I began the next chapter of my career. I am very grateful to people who visited Jake’sTake this year for “A Conversation” or tackled “The Five Question Challenge.” I loved learning about how Nick Uhas created excellent science content for YouTube, the challenges that Angel City Chorale overcame during their time on America’s Got Talent and the house music’s evolution from Trax Records President-Owner Rachael Cain. I also beamed with pride as I saw friends of the blog such as Mike Rosa expand the Anabolic Aliens fitness brand and Branden James took his impeccable gift of performing around the world with his husband, James Clark.
Clark Beckham Performs at Rockwood Music Hall (Photo property of Jake’s Take) 
Clark Beckham & me! (Photo property of Jake’s Take) 
Branden James (R) and James Clark (L) & me (Photo property of Jake’s Take) 
Alexander Jean (Mark Ballas & BC Jean) perform at Rockwood Music Hall. (Photo property of Jake’s Take) 
Mark Ballas and me! (Photo property of Jake’s Take) BC Jean and me! (Photo property of Jake’s Take) 
Van Alden (Paul Abrahamian) performs at Arlene’s Grocery. (Photo property of Jake’s Take) Van Alden’s Paul Abrahamian and me! (Photo property of Jake’s Take)
2018 also marked the first time that I got to meet some of the artists that I have supported in person. It was a thrill to see Branden + James, Clark Beckham, Alexander Jean’s Mark Ballas & BC Jean, Hamish Anderson, and Van Alden’s Paul Abrahamian perform in person. In addition to being impeccable artists, they are also amazing people.
It has been almost one year and six months since I moved to the Big Apple from Kansas City. I am grateful that I got to have the opportunity to do a lot of things I would not have done if I was still home. From seeing both parts HarryPotter and the Cursed Child and Leslie Jones dominate Caroline’s to watching two of my music heroes: Christina Aguilera and Sir Elton John deliver legendary performances at Radio City Music Hall and Madison Square Garden respectively, I am very blessed that I was able to do those activities.
I want to thank every person who sat down for an interview this year. I truly appreciate that you took time out of your schedules to talk with me about your careers. I also want to thank their respective public relations personnel and staff for helping me coordinate these interviews.
To my loyal readers! Thank you for continuing to come to Jake’s Take. I truly appreciate that you value my content and your support means the world to me. I also want to give a shoutout to my mentors, Joanne “Jbird” Phillips, Beatrice Kimmel, and Becky Wilson for always encouraging me as I continue on with Jake’s Take. I treasure your advice and friendship.
Also, I want to thank the UJA Federation of New York staff and the Leadership Labs 2018-19 group. Thank you for inspiring me to give back to our community and I am grateful for the relationships that we developed this year. To all of my friends and family members around the world, thank you for being a part of my life and I appreciate our relationships.
To my favorite people in the world, my parents, Gloria and Matthew Elyachar; my brother, Aaron Elyachar and his girlfriend, Whitney Dunn, and my dog nephew, Maxwell. There are no words in my vocabulary to describe how much all of you mean to me. I treasure the time that we spend as a family, and I cannot wait to see what 2019 has in store for all of us.
