Blog 10

Blog # 10 Due Now that the semester is pretty much officially over and you have survived your first semester in college, write a solid paragraph or two giving advice to the next batch of freshmen. Think of it as a survival guide. 

First off, I would recommend going with a random roommate unless you meet with the person face to face before, and you know for a fact you will get along and be able to live with each other. A lot of the times its hard to get to know a person over technology and he/she is not always truthful about their actual personalities and tendencies.  Don't just live with someone because you think you would be friends because that doesn't always mean you will be able to live with each other and remain friends. Because of this, you should be completely honest with them from the start and if that doesn't appeal to people, then go the random route so you can easily set out ground rules. Also, be sure to take the roommate contract seriously because it helps to settle a lot of disputes--especially if you don't really get along with your roommate. Another thing to be sure to do is to figure out a place to study where you know you will get work done. Studying in your dorm room might not always work out because of your roommate and his/her habits, so I have found that it is helpful to have a back-up plan. Personally, I enjoy the Russel House Starbucks because it has a good atmosphere and there is easy access to caffeine. Finally, I would say that the key to a good freshman year is being open and personable to people. Most freshman don't know anyone coming to college and in order to make friends, you have to actually try to meet people and seem approachable so that people will try to meet you as well. 

Blog 8

Blog # 8 Due If you could study abroad anywhere in the world, where would that be? Why? What would you want to study? Have you looked into studying abroad yet? Do you plan/want to? 

If I could study abroad anywhere in the world, I would probably choose to study in Spain. Anywhere in Europe would be amazing to study in but as a public relations major, I realize it is important to be able to communicate in an alternate language, and Spanish is one of the most affluent languages besides English. I have already taken several years of Spanish classes, but I really can't speak it that well because the classes focus more on learning grammar instead of actually speaking it in the manner fluent people do. So in order to become somewhat fluent in the language, I believe the best way to do that would be to live in Spain and learn it through actual experiences. Furthermore, I think Spain would be a great place to study because it has such a rich culture and history and it would be amazing to learn more about it. I would probably just take general classes I need to graduate while in Spain, but I would use this time overseas as a chance to also explore Europe and other cultures. I have been outside the US before, but it has never been farther than the Dominican Republic and Mexico. So for this reason, I think it is important for me to travel and live in other countries so that I get a sense of life outside the US and I become more cultured. I would also love to take advantage of being in Europe to see some family members I have never met and possibly visit Poland to find out more about my family that used to be very prominent there. Also, I think it is important for me to see the world and learn more about the way other countries and cultures function in order to have a better understanding of people in general. I haven't really looked into studying abroad yet but I think it would be something I might consider in the future. I don't thin traveling to Europe would exactly benefit my major directly, but I think the opportunities it allows to become more knowledgeable in the world would definitely benefit me in the future. 

Blog 7

The advertising industry turned out to be a lot more complicated than I expected. Being in advertising is not just simply promoting a product with a billboard or commercial, but rather creating a reputation or name for an item, service, company, exc. Each part of an ad campaign is meticulously thought out and each little detail no matter how small is always considered by an advertiser. Advertising companies have a tough job because any mistake or careless decision with a campaign could be a disaster because of the fact ads are available to so many people and they can make or break how the public perceives something. Furthermore, the advertising business has the power to influence and shape the public based on what is presented. Not many people may notice this fact, but ads are everywhere and each one of them are designed a certain way so that people get the desired reaction that the company and advertiser wanted. 

I kind of already knew that the advertising industry was one that had a lot of influence on the public and also on how a product or company does. I really have never given any thought about going into the advertising business because of the fact I am currently a public relations major, but after my research, advertising doesn't sound like a bad career path. There is a lot of opportunity for growth within the industry and there is always going to be a need for advertising. The only challenge I could really for see in this career path is how technology will continue to affect the advertising business. There has already been a lot of change and adaptation as a result of technology, and I am not sure what will happen in the future. 

Blog 6

I think one of the toughest things about college is learning to balance your time. It's so different not having to be at school all day and I must say it's pretty nice, however college is a lot more self-directed. Nobody is there telling me to do my homework or constantly reminding me about on-going assignments, so for this reason, it's really easy to get off track or forget about something. I have quickly figured out that I constantly need to be writing myself reminders and have everything that I need to do written down because otherwise something else will come up and I will forget all about what else I need to do. Even though this is a problem I had in high school because of my ADHD, I could still do well in school because if I forgot to do one assignment, I knew there were going to be a bunch of others to boost my grade back up. But now in college, I can't really do that because of the way my classes are set up.

That issue brings me to another thing that is seriously stressing me out: the fact that there are so few tests and assignments in my classes. Knowing that one missed assignment or bad test grade could significantly bring down my grade in a class makes each test and assignment much more stressful and anxiety-inducing than anything I ever had to do in high school. But because of this, I have turned into a complete study freak and I am that much more motivated to do well on each assignment. I can honestly say that I turned procrastination into an art form over the years, but now I have found myself becoming more and more focused and doing things ahead of time because I know that I can't produce the work needed for a good grade in college if I put it off until the last minute. 

Blog #5

Although I have a lot of quotes that I would consider my favorite, right now one that I seem to be drawing a lot of inspiration from is "We can't change the world unless we change ourselves" by none other than Christopher George Latore Wallace aka The Notorious B.I.G. I know this might seem like a very odd choice, but I find his life story to not only be interesting but also very inspirational. 

Biggie Smalls had a dream, and he went after it even though there was a pretty good chance he was going to fail miserably, which in my opinion is admirable. He did not come from a good background, and he was on track to fall into the typical drug and violence ring that so many of peers were wrapped up in, but instead, he chose to change his ways and follow his passion. Although he was still not the best role model during his career, he certainly did do exactly what he is saying in this quote. He changed his ways in order to become one of the most influential musicians of all time and to this day his music still speaks to many people. Furthermore, in a way Biggie also did the change the world because he gave people something to believe in and he showed the world that a kid from Brooklyn could work hard and make something of his/her life as long as he/she realized that their choices and attitude was the only thing preventing them to do so. 

In my life I use this quote as a reminder that the only way I can make a difference in the world is if I make a difference in how I lead my life. I can't just make a change unless I first look at myself and figure out what I need to do to make that possible. I have learned that in order to make things happen in your world or your life, you have to be the one to do it and you have to first make a change before you can expect others to do the same. I never expect things to just go my way and I understand that the only way things will go your way in life is if you make them happen. 

Blog 4

Hopefully by the time I graduate, I will know what I want to do with my life. As of right now I have no idea what I want to do or how I plan to get to where my "future self" is, so therefore writing a letter to my future self would be pretty difficult to do. All I know right now is that I am majoring in Public Relations, but I really don't know what I am going to do with this major. Not to mention, I have no clue what one actually even does with a Public Relations major. 

I know it is a very common major to have and that there are a bunch of opportunities that go along with it because it is such a broad topic. However, I really haven't looked that much into what one can do with a PR degree. I know I like to be interacting with people and I can't bear the thought of a 9-5 desk job, so  I think Public Relations would be a good field for me. But honestly, I could be wrong. I am only a freshman and I don't think I need to have my whole life planned out after only a little over a month of college. I feel like college is a time to figure out what you love and I think going into college with your whole life planned out is kind of dumb and not to mention boring. There's so much that can change over the course of four years so I really have no clue what my future self would be doing right now. But if I absolutely had to write to my future self, I would probably say something like this...

Dear Jacquelyn,

I hope you have your life together and you're not still living at home. Maybe you're traveling the world, maybe you're in law school or grad school, or maybe you've already found your dream job. Whatever it is you're doing, though, I hope it is something you love. I hope you didn't settle in life and I hope you're in a place in your life where you are happy. 

Sincerely,

Jacquelyn

Blog #3

Adjusting to college life has been more difficult than I expected. I thought it was going to be much different and a lot easier to do. To be honest, I really wanted to transfer my first few weeks here and I still haven't decided on whether or not I want to stay in South Carolina. The culture and people here are so different than what I am used to back home and as much as I wanted to get away and try something new, I kind of regret going so far away and to a school were I knew all of one person upon arriving. Thankfully, my roommate and I get along pretty well and it helped that we had been talking since the spring time. She also has been kind of on the fence about staying here, but now that she is in a sorority I think she is liking it a lot better. 

Since I came from a really academically competitive high school, the transition to college classes and the workload hasn't been too difficult. For the most part I feel like many of my classes are easier than the ones I took in high school and they are also less work. However, I really don't know how to fill my time when I am not at class because I am not in a sorority and I am not sure what clubs I would like to get involved in. Other than that, I really don't think I have any struggles other than the fact that I can't decide to stay here after this year. Hopefully  getting involved in something will make me like it here more.