The recent tragedy in Boston has brought my attention to the undercover heroes.

 

I think as Americans we share a united respect for members of the military, doctors, police officers, nurses and all other people who have made the sacrifice and decision to dedicate their lives to serve the public.

 

While many people focus on picking a career that will  benefit them the most financially or give them the most influential power in a community, these men and women choose to give of their talents and services to better a nation.

 

It is at trying times such as the time our nation is currently facing that these service men and women take a lead role in restoring the public and the public’s interest.

 

I think it is important to recognize these peoples admirable work not only in times of tragedy, but be thankful for what they do every day. It is the people who are underpaid and underappreciated who keep our nation in the condition we love and have come to expect it to be in.

This week I interviewed the nursing students at my school and as a result ended up learning a life lesson from a middle aged student, father, and full time worker.

By asking a few simple questions he revealed to me the struggles he’s faced trying to juggle doing it all. He explained how his wife has been a single mother for the past couple years while he’s been pursuing a nursing degree and working a full time job. It was truly heartbreaking to hear him confess his desire to be with his six kids while they are growing up. He said its one thing to show up to a soccer game and say hi, but another to be there with them when they are upset and talk to them about their day at school.

 

I asked him why he was pursuing a degree in nursing because he already had a degree and a full time job. That’s when he revealed his passion for helping others. He said he could work in the business field for the rest of his life but there’s no fulfillment in that. He saw that field as being all about earning as much money as you can and he didn’t see any long term happiness in spending his life doing that.

I think this is one of the biggest life lessons I can learn. While growing up society tells us that your aren’t successful in life unless you earn the maximum amount of profit and money that you can. I truly admire this nursing student for leaving the comfort of a well paying full time job to pursue something that he felt a calling to do.

In risk management Tuesday I learned that I shouldn't expect to retire until at least the age of 67. This means that I should expect to invest approximately 45 years into my chosen career path.

Reading further into my textbooks for school I'm realizing how innovative workers need to be in order to keep up with changing fields in today’s working world.

The internet is only about 25 to 30 years old. This means that when the older generation entered the work force they didn’t have anywhere near the technology that we do today. This was a huge innovation that they had to work with and adapt to. The invention of the internet and overall changes in technology are important to keep up with not only in their respective fields but in every field. Utilizing the technology we have available can only make us grow and increase the abilities of ourselves and our company.

If the internet was invented in the current working adult’s career, I can’t imagine what kind of curveball will be thrown at my generation. Being stubborn and unwilling to learn and adapt to new things simply won’t be an option for workers who want to be successful. Success will include a mandatory ability to accept new challenges that maybe we weren’t taught exactly how to handle in school.

I’m understanding that learning doesn’t stop when you walk across the stage and earn a degree. It will never stop, and that’s not a bad thing.

This week has taught me that sometimes our first instinct or first attempts are wrong. Whether it's a paper topic or a road block in life sometimes it's okay to let go and start fresh.

I know that my initial thoughts or ideas are not always the best possible plan. As much as I like to work and develop my plans, sometimes it would be better to scrap the idea and start with a new perspective.

I know that I have touched on this briefly in a couple of my previous posts, however it was recently brought to my attention and I believe it deserves elaboration.

While watching a favorite childhood television show, Boy Meets World, one of the characters gave a speech at graduation. This speech revolved aroung the idea that he could have done better. While reflecting on his time spent at high school he looked back and saw room for improvement in his behavior, grades, and friendships.

I see two important lessons to be learned from this.

One: I think that it is really important to be able to look back on an expirience and have the ability to critique yourself. Too many people are stuck on their idea of what is right that they don't take the time to reflect on themselves or the decisions they have made. I strongly believe that everyone has room for improvement whether you are just graduating high school or own a company. Through self reflection we can only grow.

Two: why wait until after the fact to critically think and examine the choices you are making? If we evaluated our decisions at the time we make them, there would be a smaller margin of error possible. We don't have to wait until we have already messed up to see that something needs to change. By taking initiative and evaluating ourselves regularly we won't have to look back as often and see that we could have done better.

"Blogs without art are lame."

This was the closing statement in the most recent chapter I read out of my media writing textbook, Journalism Next. I feel obligated to start this blog with an apology, but also with a slight disclaimer. I am sorry for being lame; however, I would like to say that I am always learning.

I have to admit I was slightly offended/ embarrassed by reading this. I don't like doing anything halfway in life. I guess I can contribute that attribute to how my parents raised me. Even with the simplest tasks we always had to "take it to the hoop." For example, after eating we always had to deal with our dishes by rinsing them and putting them in the dishwasher. (I'm still confused about why these were the words chosen to drive this work ethic home seeing as no one in our family plays basketball, but I have to admit it was a good lesson.) Being called lame and stumbling upon the realization that I'm not being a good blogger was a sad truth for me to accept.

After I moved on from the initial insult I discovered that everyone is always learning. We are always evolving, and that is what keeps us at our best. If everyone was stagnant in their work there would be no improvement and frankly days would become monotonous and boring.

I feel that as a student I have miles to go and much to keep learning, even if it sometimes knocks me down. I also think that even the top CEO's and professionals can evolve and observe to continue bettering themselves. There's always more to learn, right?

I would like to close by pledging to make a serious effort not to be lame any longer.

Today in my sports marketing class we discussed the always controversial topic of if college level athletes should be paid. Don't worry; I'm not going to bore you with the details of that never ending debate. However, my teacher did bring up a case where an athlete was "busted" at a department store where he was receiving extremely discounted shoes. Turns out a reporter was in line behind him and exposed the athlete.

This was brought up with a lot of annoyance. How dare the reporter expose this athlete violating the rules of the league/college he decided to play for.

This is just ridiculous, why does the media and reporters receive such backlash from people for giving them the information they deserve?

After studying communication I have a real problem with people always blaming the media. Maybe if this athlete was not violating the regulations than this whole situation would have never happened. Hard concept, huh?

Why do reporters take the consequences for people's mistakes? They are simply exposing things to the public. The fact that people mess up should be blamed on no one other than the perpetrator. We should thank reporters for uncovering both the wrongdoings and exposing praises of people.

This afternoon I found myself on the elliptical next to the president of my college while at the gym. At the time I felt pretty uncomfortable and awkward, since then I've realized that was a missed opportunity.

Professors and working professionals talk about the importance of making connections. They are quick to inform me that it's not what you know, but who you know.

This can be pretty intimidating, I'm working hard in school to acquire the appropriate knowledge to become the best and most productive member of the work force that I can. To be told that in many situations it won't matter what I know is becoming frustrating. Why am I spending time studying if all I need to do is socialize?

This is especially frustrating  when I realize that I am pretty out of my element here at college in Kansas. I've grown up in Texas my entire life and had never lived anywhere else, so leaving what I know to be the best state ever  to come to cold and windy Kansas takes me into an unfamiliar space. If it's all about who you know then I am out of luck because I know no one.

When I step back and really think I realize that you don't have to have the small town connections (much like many students here have) to make yourself  known to people. All it takes is putting yourself out there and working hard and you will get noticed.

Today I realized that while on the elliptical I should have started up a quick conversation with the president. He doesn't know me, but I knew who he was and I should have utilized that to make a connection.

I guess it really is all about who you know, so if you know someone on the elliptical next to you strike up a conversation. You never know when you'll need them.

I've come to grow extremely jealous of other majors lately: business, sports studies, and education majors to name a few.

It's not because of the actual content which they are studying. I've taken classes for those majors previously and the content didn't always relate to or excite me, but it seems as though they kind of have it easy for one reason or another. I enjoy a challenge and I enjoy hard work, but not necessarily exhaustion. (That might have been a bit of a stretch, but really) I look around at my friends school work and wonder how the heck do you never have homework, and where do I sign up for what you're signed up for?

I get a little comfort when I hear those same friends say that they actually haven't learned anything in their time studying. The jealousy creeps back up a little when they tell me they answered 10 questions on a test right but still received a 94, until I realize that coddling won't get them far after graduation.

I think back and realize all that I have learned that actually will help me after I graduate. While I may have only gotten a B on that paper, the concepts I learned through writing the paper and through studying the subject will stick around longer than the remembrance of the grade.

Hard work always pays off in the end.

I have often found myself in a great frustration with my schoolwork. I don't know how many times I've wondered what the point of college is. I mean at the surface it seems that I'm spending thousands of dollars to basically just get a piece of paper after four years which will tell employers that I am capable of learning, yay!

I would be lying if I said I hadn't contemplated making up a school name and designing a nice looking diploma to place in an expensive frame and call it a day. However, I don't possess the computer literacy it would take to pull that off and am too much of a rule follower to actually fake a college degree. With this sad revelation I have concluded that I don't want to be working a minimum wage job that I hate for my entire life, so I'm going to stick college out. Hopefully it will pay off in the future. (I mean this both figuratively and literally)

Once I move past the annoyance with all the work I have to do I realize that I have learned more in my semesters so far at college than I did all four years of high school combined. The things I've studied in college are actual real life stuff that I can use and enjoy. For example, in media writing we are studying microblogging and how social media (twitter) can be used in journalism. This is applicable to my life and to my future unlike the monotonous never ending flow of useless information I learned in high school.

If I can make it through these next three semesters, I will be able to apply all the knowledge I have acquired for more than minimum wage. The plan is to be working a job that challenges and excites me.

The moral of this story is the cliché don't give up. But really, a legitimate degree will be more fulfilling than a photo shopped paper in an expensive frame.

"Journalism can’t be journalism until it’s published.”

So far in my college journey I have studied communication. In my studies I have taken classes on journalism, and really looked deeper into journalism than I ever thought was possible. On the surface it seems that journalism is simply the presentation of facts about an event. I mean that's what we all read in the paper, so that has to be all journalism is, right?

Wrong. Journalism, I have learned, goes so much deeper than facts. There's ethical questions to consider, biases, and much more. In many people's thinking journalism is meant to depict an event as accurately as it happened. This is the traditional print news that men and women across America read while drinking their morning coffee. This is the journalism that has been presented to consumers for the past years.

However, this kind of thinking is becoming increasingly outdated. Many news sources are converting from actual papers to being strictly an online news source. With the social media movement it seems that every post, tweet, and update is journalism. These social media sources are considered journalism under microblogging (posting content in small and concise manners, such as in a tweet).

Because these tweets, updates, and posts are published they absolutely are journalism. I don't believe that something unpublished can be considered journalism. Journalism is meant to be informative and is meant to be read. I think something that is unpublished is a collection of writings, while they may be informative they were not shared. Without being shared they have not served the purpose of journalism, therefore I believe cannot be considered as a piece of journalism.

Internships, internships, internships. That seems to be the answer to life's problems this week. We've had two separate programs/speakers on campus in the past week and both have highly encouraged getting an internship. Why are internships so important?


Amber, a business recruiter, came to campus and explained that having an internship on your resume immediately makes it stand out. Many jobs require 1-5 years of experience for applicants. Well, as a college grad just entering the job market how can you find work? Who will take a chance on you? Amber explained that having a resume under your belt will count as that one year experience. It shows that you've been in the "real business world". You understand how it works, and employers will be quicker to hire.


With all the buzz about internships I went and talked to James McEwen, internship coordinator here at the college. He explained that by having an internship on your resume, you are showing recruiters and businesses that you have made an effort to seek real business experience. He stressed that any time is a good time to get an internship, but your junior or senior year is the ideal time.


Well, I guess that means it's time to get it together. I talked with Dan Falk about internship opportunities for communication majors and he has a lot of opportunities and helpful tools for students seeking internships.


Get out there and get an internship, people!

Pressure seems to be present throughout our life. It comes in different forms with varying levels but it surrounds our schedule no matter what stage of life we are in. When I was younger it was pressure to get along with my sister and keep my room clean, in high school it was to maintain good grades while playing sports and working, and in college pressure comes in the form of facing the unknown future.

It's not only the future that seems scary but all the expectations and pressure that go along with the future. I have been in school all my life; therefore I have invested approximately fifteen years in my education. What if after these fifteen/sixteen years (I still have a little over a year left) I realize that it was all for nothing because I can't find a job. College graduates are entering one of the worst job markets in history right now due to the depression. Will I find a job? Will I find a job that I like? Will I ever be able to pay my student loans? What will I have to show for my sixteen years invested in education?

These are all unknown questions, and that's a scary reality to face. I've learned throughout my life that the only way to be successful is to give one hundred percent all the time, so even though I have no answers on what my future will hold or if I will ever be able to find a job, all I can do now is devote myself completely to the remaining three semesters I have in school. After those three semesters the scary future will become my reality and I am confident that giving one hundred percent will be enough, just like it has been so far.

Attached is a link to my latest article, enjoy!

http://scupdate.org/?p=17135

The further I progress in school, the more intimidating the future becomes. I am currently a junior in college and still have no idea what I want to do when I'm "grown up". I realize that this "grown up" time is rapidly approaching so I have decided to dedicate this blog to career exploration while in college. Basically, what on earth am I going to do with the degree I'm achieving? During this exploration I will be talking to different people gaining persepective on where they are in terms of determining a career as well as talk to professionals in careers and discuss how they came about finding their job.

I am studying communication; I have a friend who graduated from the same college I attend with a communication degree. I decided that talking to her about what to do after graduation would be a good start because we share the same major.

Korie explained to me that she started as an undergraduate with dream of being a news anchor. This somewhat shocked me because when I chose the communication field that is the dream job I had in mind. She went on to explain to me that in her college career  she became involved in organizations and activities which surrounded her interests of becoming an anchorwoman. Korie realized as a junior/senior that her passion was not in reporting news.

This is where I am on my journey of career exploration, I have come to find that I do not have the skills to edit and do things which I would have to do in order to be an anchorwoman. So, I am at this freak out stage where I feel like everything I'm doing in school will be a waste because I no longer want the traditional job as a writer or reporter that many communication majors get after graduation.

Korie's response to this was that it's ok to want something out of the box. She currently works as an admissions counselor for the college. While she does use things she learned as an undergrad on a daily basis, she isn't writing stories or reporting for a television station. She found what she loved (helping kids/youth) and applied it to the degree she had. This is what I should start doing instead of stress out about the future: I will begin to find a passion of mine and apply it to what I know and what I am learning.