For the past 17 years, [...]]]>
For the past 17 years, I have attended school. Having two months off in the summer and then for 10 months, five days a week my life has been planned out. Class, sports practice/game, home to dinner, homework bed get up and do it all again. It certainly has flown by. It seems like yesterday I was just entering freshman yeah of high school. Flaunting around my house to my mom “I’m in high school, I’m a freshman!” and she would tell me to be quiet, it’s making her feel old! haha! But I’ve almost finished four years of college. Unbelievable. I am so proud of myself. Everything that I have accomplished in four years here at Oswego. Something we “generation y’ers” forget to do for ourselves, take pride in what we’ve accomplished even when it wasn’t instant gratification or a success. Our best lessons come from learning to get off the ground when you’ve been beat down. Lord knows I’ve had my downs with where I’ve come from. But I’ll always keep it in my back pocket. A little reminder to smile because I did something, I took action to not let it bring me down. Let’s take a look back at where I’ve been…
Freshman year: My grandmother passed away on the first day of classes, that set me off on the wrong foot. I had a very hard time dealing with that. But I had a great experience with my roommate and fellow blogger, Samantha Shelton! We got along like peas and carrots from the first time we met. There were obviously quarrels here and there but it happens. I switched my major from Biology: Pre-Med to Public Relations. I became and orientation leader for freshman and transfer programs. I met a boy that went to the same high school and ended up dating him. I met some of the best friends I’ve ever had freshman year. I was really involved with intramural sports and clubs. I got out of my comfort zone of coming from a homogeneous community and this really set the pace for the rest of my college career…
Sophomore year: I was a member of the varsity track and field team: throwers represent! “TSF :)” I continued working with orientation as a mentor and teaching assistant for GST 100 and applied for the second season of orientation! I moved into Hart Hall in the spring and had a roommate from Korea who I absolutely love and adore! I learned a lot living with her:) I hope to be able to visit her some day! I experienced my first real heart break. I found my niche within my major, where I saw myself and where I wanted to head. I visited NYC at least three times and left my heart in the city…. <3
Junior Year: I finished up my second year with orientation serving as a mentor and teaching assistant. I moved off campus with my boyfriend at the time and that unfortunately did not work, learned a lot from that experience. I added a business administration minor and became a certified event planner through the Metro Center in Syracuse. I was also an intern in the Public Affairs office working with social media and writing press releases. I also served as the Director of Civic Engagement for Student Association and experienced a whole new world of politics that I learned I DO NOT ever want to get involved with. This year I also became and employee at Maurices Inc. and absolutely loved the girls I worked with. I really started becoming me and experienced one of the lowest lows I’ve ever had. I gained some basic tools to help me serve the “low moments” that comes in life’s handbook. This was also the year of my 21st birthday where I celebrated with some great friends of mine from my fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega:) I went to the Adirondak’s over the summer with my boyfriend and his family at the time.. awesome experience!
Alpha Phi Omegan: Alpha Omicron
Senior year: Here it is… I’m living it. My classes are great, I’m finally getting to put into practice all that I’ve learned. Out of my six classes I’m taking 5 of them required group work and hands on planning. Campaigns, communication seminars, press conferences, papers and research. This is why I became a PR major:) I’m currently working in the ARTSwego department on campus as the social media liason. I love it so far! I recently received an acceptance for an interview at a HUGE PR firm in NYC called 5W Public Relations… it’s on the top 20 list of PR firms in the U.S! How awesome! I have my interview Friday, Nov. 19 @ 1 PM in NYC, downtown Manhattan! ahhhhh, I’m freaking out! But this is what I’ve been waiting for. My horoscope told me that new opportunities and adventures were heading my way and that it’s recommended that I take them and run. Well I’m running and I’m not stopping!
I’ll be sure to take pictures and update you on the experience in NYC. My best friend from home is coming with me and it’s gonna be one heck of a time! I can finally say that I’m happy with where I have come from, where I am and where I’m going. It took a while but ya know what, it’s all been a journey and I wouldn’t change a single thing. I’ve met some really awesome people, had some great and no so great experiences and above all, I’m doing this all for me. To make my proud, my mom, my brother, my dad and the rest of my family and friends proud. I hope they are:)
*Funny the way it is* <— song for the day.
]]>So this summer, I didn’t get the chance to go to Italy, the financial aid didn’t come through in time so hint of advice, DON’T WAIT! I saw some pictures of a few friends who [...]]]>
I apologize for my absence on the blog scene. I have had a lot going on, but when don’t I?
So this summer, I didn’t get the chance to go to Italy, the financial aid didn’t come through in time so hint of advice, DON’T WAIT! I saw some pictures of a few friends who went and they were absolutely beautiful. I WILL be going either on Spring break for a week to Rome or I’ll go in the summer of ’11.
However, I did get the chance to camp in the Adirondacks for 5 days, let me tell you that was an experience! I have never really camped, I mean with a tent and cooking out and all that jazz. It was amazing. I woke up every day around 5 a.m because of the sunrise and Rollins Pond was as calm as could be, it was a humbling experience to say the least. I’d get up and fish with those I was camping with and I caught my first two fish ever! I was so scared to hold them. I got to visit the Olympic Village in Lake Placid and see Saranac Lake. I climbed to the top of Whiteface Mountain! That was unbelievable! I plan on going back to climb the rest of the peaks in the ADK! That was definitely the highlight of my summer experience.
So on the school side. I’VE STARTED MY SENIOR YEAR! Holy moly, where has the time gone? My co-blogger Samantha Shelton, was my roommate freshman year and we can tell you every single detail about move in week. It was so much fun! It seems like that was just yesterday.
I’m in the capstone class for Public Relations Majors, which is the final class you need for the major to graduate. I am so excited. We’re working on a PR campaign for any business of our choice and my group decided to work with The Mustard Seed, an all natural food store. We are able to put into practice everything we’ve learned from freshman year on about surveying, research methods, print layout and design and of course the writing of press releases! I am so excited to see the end result. The business has the choice of implementing our work or not but the manager seems really excited to work with us and use our materials.
In my other PR class, we’re working the United Way Kidney walk and we get to put that on ourselves. Our class is broken up into groups such as T-shirt committee, recruitment, thank you committee and others. Also in that class, we get the chance to design our own campaign for ScanDisk and send it into PR student of the year! How awesome, we’ve had 5 students in the top 5 of the competiton and last years winner was from Oswego! How awesome! He was awarded a paid internship and a cash prize!
I seem to be working in groups in all of my classes except for Math 102, which I will give you another hint of advice, don’t wait until senior year to take a 100 level course, you’ll more than likely be the only senior in there and it’s just annoying to look forward to taking “math in the real world” four years later ha! But, in my marketing class we get to design a marketing campaign for any product of our choice and we can’t decide between Dove Chocolate or Starburst. We get to create our own commercial, print ads and PSAs. The graphic design department is working with us to design our commercial, which is great because it will be other students helping us!
In management, we’re working on case studies of ethical behavior and my group is doing the case of “baseball and steroids.” Should be a very heated discussion in class! I also get to write a paper on ethics and leadership, which is a topic that really interests me!
Lastly, my interpersonal communication class is probably my favorite class. Professor Eichhorn is a great teacher and the topic is just interesting in general. I am going to be evaluating a group of people who work together and teach them ways to improve their communication skills in any area I so choose, I haven’t figured out which area quite yet but all in due time!
So, there is an overview of my classes and all that I will be doing this semester. I can’t believe it! Senior year, time sure does fly! I’ll be writing more soon updating you on the extra curricular stuff soon!
Chao 
On a lighter now, I’ve unofficially finished pledging Alpha Phi Omega, a national co-ed community service fraternity! We had 30 pledges this semester and it has been one heck of a ride! I’ve made a lot of great friends through the experience and hope the relationships will last for years to come! We cross on Sunday, April 11 and I really can’t wait! It’s going to be so excited. Next weekend, we go to sectionals. It’s a leadership conference for APO. I am running for a position on eboard next year, the leadership chair. I think it fits in with my major and minor quite well. Elections are on April 27, a little nerve wrecking but we’ll see what happens!
Also, I recently applied for an internship in Walt Disney world in Orlando, FL and I was accepted! wwoo hooo! However, I don’t think I’m going to take the opportunity. There are just more cons than pros to the experience. I would be gone for 7 months and I wouldn’t really be furthering my education here because the classes I would be enrolled in, I have already taken here at Oswego. So that means I would be a semester behind when I return. Also, I would miss out on my trip to Italy and Student Association. It also isn’t really fitting to my career choice. It’s just a confidence booster knowing that i was accepted into an extremely competitive internship I can’t complain. Speaking of internships, I was also accepted into an internship in our Development office on campus. I’m very excited about it. I start in mid-May and will continue right up until I leave for Italy.
It seems as though I talk a lot about my extra curricular activities, you’re probably thinking does this girl ever go to class? Of course I do! I really enjoy my classes this semester. My management class has really got me thinking about what I want to do in the future and only solidifying my decision to look into West Virginia University even more. For my job at Maurices, I was recently asked if I wanted to start the MBA program, is a training program to become a store manager. I was completely honored when my manager mentioned it to me. I really enjoy my job there and the people I work with. The company is so different than most other retail stores. I eventually would like to work in the corporate office in Minnesota. I’ve got a little bit more research to do on that but I’m exticed.
I’ve got a lot going on lately and it’s starting to get a little bit scary. I’m applying for graduation next week. Like REALLY?!?! I have two semesters left and so many more things I want to do! I am still in a little bit of shock from it. I can’t believe it’s almost time for me to move on with my life from undergrad to graduate school. Wow, that’s kind of depressing?! Anyway, I have class in a half an hour and I’m going to grab something to eat quick.
Have a wonderful day:)
]]>Over winter break, I stayed in Oswego all but one week. I worked at Maurices and in the point, our student involvement office. The director of off-campus affairs and myself started to plan a spring picnic on Mother’s day at Breitbeck park here in Oswego. Our vision is to give back to the community for all their support throughout the year and celebrate the youth! There will be food available, games for the younger children, recreational activities and a ‘pamper mom’ station. We’ve collaborated with many businesses in town to have their support at the picnic. I’m really excited to get this project going, I hope this will continue on for years to come! I’ll be graduating soon and so will the student I’m working with to create this event.
Secondly, the assistant director of sustainability and myself have created a “GO GREEN TEAM” as well as coordinating a green kiosk with support from campus life, the department that runs the campus center and all the events that take place within. The Kiosk is designed as a ‘learning through involvement’ tool for students. We’ve allowed this to serve as a community service project for many students a well. I’ve had a lot of students inquire and donate their time to volunteer. We have created 16 weeks of sustainable topics that students can choose from to create their own kiosk week! The actual kiosk itself is made from recycled materials and is about 9 feet long. It’s awesome! In coordination with this, I’ve worked with students for global change, who Katherine Raymond is apart of (shes a fellow blogger, check her out!) to help us with it.
I’ve also been quite busy working with our Civic Engagement coordinator on a sustainability fair we’re hosting on Quest day. Quest day is a day when one, we don’t have any classes and two, it’s a chance for students, staff and faculty to showcase what they’ve been working on! The sustainability fair will run from 4-8pm in the ice arena. There are sooo many vendors coming and the biggest one being GM and their fuel cell car! We’re hoping to draw in a large audience for this event and I’m sure we will. There is a lot of faculty working on the event and I’m excited for it. It’s actually going to be on my 21st birthday too!
My last blog I was thinking about Italy and now…. I’M GOING TO ITALY! I can’t begin to describe how excited I am! I’ll be earning 6 credits while abroad for four weeks. I’ll arrive in Rome, the city where my professor is actually from! Then, we will travel south to Altomonte, the southern part of Italy. I have heard so many great things I’m exicted! There’s a mud spa that students have bragged about and I’m actually going to get to experience it! I’ve begun to budget my money so that I’ll have plenty of spending money! I’ve also started my passport process, which is an extremely long process I’ve discovered. Financial aid will help cover the majority of the cost and I’m looking at flights. I found one for about $970 round trip which is relatively inexpensive!
Aside from all my extra curricular activities, seems like I don’t attend class huh? Well I do I promise! I really enjoy all of my classes this semester. Which is weird, because there is usually one that I’m not a huge fan of but I can honestly say, I like them all! I’ve started dipping into my business courses for my minor and I started to second guess myself as to why I didn’t major in business, but then again I really love PR! So, I can’t complain
. I’ve also been searching for some graduate schools and I’ve fallen in love with West Virginia University. I love the mountaineer football for one, two I love the mountains and three they have a great corporate communication program (should probably be the number one reason for liking the school :-p)So anyway, there’s an update on my life for now, there’s a lot more to come as it is time for the new Student Association president. I’m acting as the campaign manager for a candidate and it’s getting intense, the elections are March 10 and 11. I’ll update more about this later!
Have a wonderful day
P.S we still have snow, but it’s Oswego, we’ll have snow until about April. I really enjoy it though, it’s something to talk about 30 years from now and gives the city character
I don’t think I’m going to be overloading my last three semester here, I have since my first semester and I don’t want to get worn out by the time I’m a senior and not enjoy myself here. I’m just so happy, relieved, excited, nervous, just about every emotion thinking about how much I’ve done this semester and that I did it successfully. I’ve completed 7 classes, an internship, having a job where I work 15 hours a week off-campus, lived on my own in my own apartment, and became a part of Student Association as a director in a new position and started creating a lot of great things that I hope will continue on after I graduate from Oswego. It doesn’t sound like a lot but after being there and doing it all, it was exhausting but I’ve learned so much and know that my limits have yet to be reached. Yes I’m tired, but I’m still going strong. Not saying that I’m going to do another semester as full as this one, I think I’ve reached my peek of involvement so now it’s time to narrow it down to what I really, truly enjoy and devote my all into it.
I am working at the American Foundry in Oswego as an intern over winter break and next semester, I’m shadowing the owner and learning the ins and outs of managing a business and events. It’s the career path I’m interested in and I’m so excited. http://theamericanfoundry.com/ (check out their website!)
The people there are wonderful and great cooks to! I’ve already worked at a Wedding and I cried! I didn’t even know the family but it was so beautiful. That’s when I know that this type of work is what I like, when emotions show without being forced. That’s something I learned from a motivational speaker who came to campus last year. “Until you allow emotions to show without forcing or trying to hide them, only then will you be a success in that area.” I’m so excited to see what else the world has in store for me. I plan to go to Italy soon. I’m taking Italian 101 right now and I absolutely love it! Now, I’m not fluent but the culture is so intriguing and the professor is great!
You never know just what you’re worth until you’re put to the test. I always look at it like this, when you’re given a challenging task and you tackle it successfully, challenge yourself even more until you fail. Only then will you know and appreciate true success. Failure is what makes one strong and is the best teacher anyone could ever ask for. Once you look at failure in the face and get past it, you’ll feel on top of the world and are able to do anything. It’s such a great feeling, it’s hard to describe unless you’ve actually been there.
I suppose I’ve blurbed enough for now, off to do some studying for ancient philosophy and foundations of communication!
Arriverdeci!
]]>As you may or may not know, the congressional election for the 23rd district is quickly approaching. On November 3 voting begins. The candidates are Republican Dede Scozzafava, Conservative Doug Hoffman and Democrat Bill Owens. For the first time, in a very long time, the Democrat is ahead in the race. Not by much, but he is in the lead. I call myself a democrat but there are some republican views that I also agree with.
Here are some main points of each candidates issues and a link to more information if you wish to read more.
Dede Scozzafava campaign:
• Agriculture: a larger farming industry. Wants to reform that way that dairy is sold.
• Economy: Wants to keep 2001/2003 tax cuts permanent. Repeal death tax. Keep AMT from hitting the middle class.
• Health care: opposes cutting funding for Medicare.
More info., visit http://www.dedeforcongress.com/
Doug Hoffman campaign:
• Healthcare: spiral the costs and oppose universal health care so it is affordable to everyone.
• Immigration: make it easier for immigrants to enter the United States
• Tax pledges: Signed the “no new taxes” pledge.
More info, visit http://www.doughoffmanforcongress.com
Bill Owens campaign:
• Healthcare: more affordable health care for every American. Opposes cutting Medicare benefits
• Jobs: keep NY going green. Supporting Fort Drum. Recruit Canadian investment.
• Economy: make businesses accountable and take tax cuts away from companies that take jobs away from NY. Supports low taxes for small businesses.
• Agriculture: support subsidies and import limits to help farmers and ranchers.
More info, visit http://www.billowensforcongress.com
Whether you are 100% into politics or not, it is important to vote. EVERY VOTE COUNTS. Make sure that the right leader is chosen to run the 23rd district of NY . Make sure you make YOUR voice heard. VOTE NOVEMBER 3!
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