If Your Dreams Don’t Scare You…

Long time, no see! As you probably haven’t noticed, my last blog post was over 2 months ago (Yikes!). Over that lapse of time a lot of big things have happened:

I survived campaigns! (Gotham Global for life) check out the team pic
I graduated! (Holla back!)
I’m moving to the NY area in June (I need a job)
Oscar’s Taco Shop still reigns supreme in the quest for the best fish tacos (I’ll miss you!)

Since graduation life has been crazy. I still don’t think the reality of me not having to attend class in August has hit me yet. I don’t know what I’m going to do when I realize I won’t have to fight for parking on UT’s construction zone to get to class on time. There are so many things I will never have to do again and while it’s relieving, it’s still somewhat sad. I will never again have to take a test. I will never again have to register for classes. I will never again pull all-nighters cramming in the library, and I’m never going to fill out a FAFSA again (thank God). Reality is becoming real and I’m still letting it all sink in. Speaking of reality checks, my student loans can no longer be avoided. Time to start consolidating and making payments… Real life is rough.

These next few weeks are going to be filled with applications, apartment hunting, goodbyes, and applications. I’m so excited to start this next chapter in my life, but the excitement is overwhelmed by nerves. While I may be petrified to make this huge leap, I have to keep reminding myself of a quote I read recently that has become my mantra: “If your dreams don’t scare you, they aren’t big enough.”

I think I speak for my fellow graduates when I say that I’m scared out of my mind… or maybe I’m just speaking for myself. Regardless, I hope this upcoming chapter will be filled with just as much happiness, excitement, and craziness as my college career. I’m officially an alumnus from the University of Tennessee. Time to get a job.

 

But he’s a headed west from the Cumberland Gap…

It has been way too long since I’ve blogged. So long, that here’s what’s happened since my last post:
Wordpress changed its layout (not pleased)
I almost forgot my login and password (almost)
February has left the building (when did that happen?)
And I have developed an obsession with fish tacos (shout-out to Oscars Taco Shop)

Since the end of the semester is coming nearer, along with my departure to New York, I’ve decided to reminisce on my adventures in Tennessee before I make the big move to the Big Apple.

It all began in a quaint little city in East Tennessee called Morristown. About 40 minutes east from Knoxville, this Southern-Baptist region hadn’t even passed liquor by the drink when I first became a resident.

After traveling so far from Massachusetts to a place like Morristown, I thought I had landed in a desolate wasteland. I went from living five minutes away from the ocean, to a house where my next door neighbor was a cow. Imagine my horror. While at the time I thought that my mother was dropping me off at a redneck boarding school as some cruel and unusual form of punishment, I soon came to learn that I could survive in the South.

After joining a speech, acting, and debate program called forensics, I found my niche in high school. Through this 
extracurricular activity I was able to travel to various places around the country like Chicago, Texas, and even my home state to Boston (and thank God for traveling, because I would have lost my ever-loving mind without some form of diversity.)

The program gave me confidence in speaking in front of large crowds and allowed me to be myself at a point in life where people can be most judgmental. Because of this program and the people I met because of it, I came to appreciate my stay in Morristown.

While I did earn an appreciation for that little city, I was still happy to make my departure to college. Shortly after my acceptance to the University of Tennessee, my mom packed it up and moved to Knoxville. Though I am slowly severing ties to Morristown, I still find time to make it back to visit friends. Morristown may not ever be a part of my future, but I’m proud to say that it’s a part of my past. (even though it took me a while to realize this)

Oh, and in case you were wondering, they eventually passed liquor by the drink.

Keep Calm and…

This semester was supposed to be easy. Relaxing. Calm. You want to know how easy it was SUPPOSED to be? I am only taking one class to finish out my undergraduate degree. That’s how easy.  While my three-hour class course was supposed to result in a stress-free semester, it resulted in me not even having time to stress.

Internship, work, and my advertising campaigns course have taken up all the time I imagined having this semester and replaced it with branding, research, writing, editing, posting, social media…. the list goes on and on.. On top of all of these tasks, I still have to find time to apply for jobs. I have missed the past two episodes of American Horror Story. I am not pleased.

While all of my time is pretty much reserved for anything other than Bravo watching, binge eating, lounge fest; I still have found time to write a blog post. No matter how much is going on in my life, it is still very important to find time to sit down and write. The job market is filled to the brim with graduates desperate to find work, so you must always find time to improve your brand and stand out.

Speaking of branding, remember that campaigns class I was talking about earlier? I am currently working in a group of eight to create a brand image for the School of Advertising and Public Relations at the University of Tennessee. For a school that is centered around brand image, it unfortunately seems to lack one. Because of this lack of brand, our program has seen a decrease in applications to the majors. See how important branding yourself is?

This branding process, while still in the early stages, has taught me so much about social media, advertising, sales and marketing. Brand recognition is one of the most important developments in selling your product. In my case, I’m hoping my brand is enough to help me land a job.

Keep Calm and Brand On.

Big Things Have Small Beginnings

Another year has come and gone, and so many exciting happenings have occurred since my last post. Since it has been so long since I have updated my blog, I feel as though it is only right to post another Monday Mash-Up.

First up on the list: I’m engaged. I never thought I would be saying such a thing before I graduated college, but I couldn’t be happier about it. I have no idea when I will be getting married due to graduation, jobs, and other engagements; but I will certainly have fun in the process. I thought I knew what a black hole of time wasting Pinterest was, but then I got engaged. All these months of planning a fake wedding pales in comparison to planning a real one. Be prepared: this blog may contain many wedding crafts in the future.

The job application process has begun! Literally, I just sent in two applications prior to writing this. It is a small start, but I’m glad I finally broke the seal and begun the process. My two first real world job prospects are two sales oriented positions based in New York that have the potential to be future employers. I’m keeping my options open and fingers crossed, so we will see how things develop.

The spring semester has almost begun, and my campaigns group has been formed. I could not be happier with the people I will be working with for my last advertising group ever at the University of Tennessee. Our client is the School of Advertising within the College of Communication and our campaign is geared towards enticing students to apply. With a new semester comes a new internship and I will be working with Morris Creative Group, This will be a great experience within a small advertising agency that will allow me to broaden my scope of advertising while learning as much as I possibly can before I graduate.

So much excitement in the world of Shannon and hopefully it will continue. I’ll make sure my next post will be more relevant to those other than myself, but I just couldn’t contain all the good news. Oh, and I also got addicted to American Horror Story Asylum over the break (best. show. ever.)  so there pardon the references if they happen to pop up in the near future (I can’t wait till Wednesday!).

Since this post is all about me, here is my most recent song obsession. Enjoy!

Silent Night

I haven’t blogged for a while since I finished finals and traveled North for Christmas break. Every day I would tell myself that today would be the day I published a new post, but I would always be sidetracked by something better to do (not really). Even now, as I’m typing this trying to come up with something to write,  I can’t help to revert back to the recent tragedies that have clouded our minds and weighed on our hearts. Yes, I’m talking about Sandy Hook. Yes, I’m sure millions of others have blogged about this subject. While it may be “just another tragedy post” I still hope to share a story that I recently read.

You all may have stumbled upon this article recently, and I hope you have. I think that this mother’s story epitomizes one of the many downfalls in our country. I couldn’t help but notice on the night of the shootings that Twitter was trending “NRA” tweets. Yes, gun control is something to be placed on the table and discussed, but it shouldn’t be the main concern.

Our nation hasn’t yet discovered how to deal with children like Adam Lanza.  People suffering from mental ailments like him are either sent away to prison and forgotten, or drugged with prescriptions until they forget who they are. These children who can’t control their tempers are then labeled as outcasts when we try to integrate them into our school systems. Their parents await the day that someone will find a cure while they are forced to stifle a temper tantrum that their child can’t help to fight.

These children do not belong in prison with “clinically sane” criminals, but where do you place someone who kills 26 people due to a mental condition that no one has found a suitable cure for? If Adam Lanza not killed himself, what would be his sentence?

I’m in no way trying to lessen the damage that his horrible crime created. I’m in no way claiming that Lanza was innocent in his actions. What he did was heartless, sickening, and sad; but did he even understand the repercussions of his actions?

I hope Liza Long’s story makes its way to Congress. I hope that in the midst of gun control reform that the care for mental illness is discussed as well. In the mean time, we must inform ourselves on this issue to fight the ignorance that has plagued all of us on this subject.

This tragedy occurred during my favorite time of the year. This holiday season my heart goes out to the families involved. Whether or not you are religious either pray for these people or send some positive vibes to Connecticut. Happy Holidays to all of you, and if you were affected by Liza’s story as much as I was, then pass it along and share it.

I really need to… Oh Hey! Look at the picture of the puppy

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… and I can’t seem to focus on anything else right now.

The last day of the fall semester has finally arrived! My group, Crashtag8, presented our social media campaign this morning for a Doritos representative as well as The Tombras Group (You can check out our Crash the Super Bowl campaign in my Campaigns page). It was such a nerve-racking process, however, it is finally over and I am ready for Christmas break. Four days from now and I will be shipping out to Boston for a one-month stay with my family.

Currently, I am doing everything I can think of to avoid my last assignment before I can finally check out of the school mindset. One paper stands in the way between me and freedom, and procrastination is getting in the way. In the battle between this paper and everything else, the internet is conquering all. Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, and memes are calling my name every time I open my textbook. Someone please send me some motivation! The completion of this paper is eminent, I just need to buckle down and actually start it (My WordPress page is snowing right now).

While I continue to stress about this looming burden, I will entertain you all with one of my favorite things. Bad Lip Readings! The next time you hear from me I will hopefully be in Massachusetts enjoying my down time. If you hear from me before then: someone send me an email/text/tweet telling me to stop procrastinating and get to writing (if that doesn’t work, proceed to brute force). Until next time!

I’m in a New York State of Mind

Thanksgiving break is over and my binge-eating break came to a close at the hands of the ultimate purge: the flu. While my health has taken a turn for the worst, I also got some good news concerning my life after graduation…

It’s official, I finally have a direction to follow after my impending graduation date. Upon leaving the University of Tennessee with a BS in Advertising I will be traveling to the New York/Jersey area. Though I am not quite sure what I will be doing once I get there, this is a start that will guide my job search. (Hire me!)

Less than two weeks till the end of the semester! Once I’m done with all my school work I will  be directing me efforts toward applications to various agencies within the New York and Jersey area. If all else fails, I can always fist pump my way onto a new season of Jersey shore. (GTL)

While it is scary knowing that the future is coming fast, I am excited for the possibilities. I am ready to start anew in an area I have yet to conquer. Let’s hope my hopes and dreams don’t fizzle out in a New York minute. I’m far to pale to be on Jersey Shore anyway.

In a desperate attempt to gain attention from professionals reading this blog, here is a link to Mark Schaefer’s blog that I, along with my other classmates, were featured in.