Category: Classes

Will: Advice from the COM Doctor

Alright, kids, why don’t you all take a seat and listen up to the COM Doctor. That’s me – I’m the COM Doctor. It’s about time somebody taught you all some lessons- lessons that I had to learn the hard way. Ya see, back in my day we had to learn how to Internet from scratch. We didn’t have elders like me to teach us how Google, Bing, and Yahoo. In fact, back in the one-room schoolhouse where I earned my GED, just saying any single one of those words would get you sent outside to chop wood, even in -50 degree weather. So stab those straws into your CapriSuns as fast as you can, make sure your light-up Spiderman Skechers are velcroed up, and find a square to sit in on that colorful rug of yours, ‘cause you’re gonna want to pay attention.

NUMBER ONE! If you receive a direct message on Twitter from one of your “acquaintances” that reads something like, “Luk @ dis vid sumbody juz posted of u,” and also has a link attached… DON’T CLICK THE LINK. If you click that link, I can promise you that you will lose a significant amount of your followers on Twitter, that recent friend of yours on Facebook will block you in an instant, and your grandma will be under the impression that you want to sell her Viagra via email.

NUMBER TWO! Clean up that Facebook of yours. Imagine you’re eight years old, it’s your birthday, and you just chowed down on some food from the heavens (a.k.a. some store-bought chocolate cake your mom picked up 17 minutes ago because she forgot to bake you one even though you asked her to a month in advance BUT NEVERMIND THAT), and what happens next? That’s right, your mom comes in with a napkin to wipe away the mountains of chocolate frosting you left on your face. But guess what? There ain’t no magic napkin for Facebook, kids. That’s up to you. So go ahead and delete those Green Day lyrics from your About Me section and let’s call it a day, shall we?

NUMBER THREE! Know your audience! Before you do anything, stick Grandma and Grandpa on that list of people who can’t see your photos ‘cause we both know that any picture of something besides macramé or a heated game of Solitaire could very easily bring on a heart attack. Also, if you’ve got places of future employment and/or internships following you on Twitter, don’t be droppin’ the “f-bomb” like it’s a cat on fire! We’re all guilty of this, let’s be honest. But try to save it for the moments that need it like when you forget which channel Nickelodeon is on.

SO, kids, can anybody tell me one thing they learned from this? No? Nobody? Great. Just don’t be stupid.

Love,

Will “The COM Doctor” Dowsett

Lauren: You Gotta Get LinkedIn!

Hi guys!  Anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that I’m a social media fanatic.  I’m constantly tweeting, checking in, and pining anything and everything I find.  But, when it comes to getting an internship or preparing for the workforce, it’s all about LinkedIn.  Every college student should create an account.  Even if you don’t have a ton of experience to include in your profile, it’s definitely worth having one, and here’s why:

1. You’ll make a great first impression when applying for an internship

Employers do Google search potential employees during the hiring process.  Trust me.  And nothing looks more professional than having a LinkedIn profile.  It’s a great way to show that you’re serious, and it gives you the chance to show off all the experiences that you’ve had in the past.  Plus, LinkedIn has great features that allow you to add links to different projects you’ve completed.  How cool!

2. You’ll be totally prepared for interviews.

Knowing about a company and asking interesting questions during the interview will definitely put you ahead of the competition.  That’s where LinkedIn comes in.  You can search companies on LinkedIn and learn more about their mission and services.  Plus, you can get the chance to see the type of people who work there.  You can even find people who’ve previously had the position that you’re applying for, and look at their job description to get a better grasp on the responsibilities of the position.  It’s like Facebook stalking, but a lot less creepy.

3. You’ll have networking down to an art.

LinkedIn is a great place to connect with people in the industry!  You never know who may have a job lead, or who could connect you with someone who has your dream job.  You can join groups, follow companies and stay up-to-date on what you’re connections are doing.

4. All your hard work will finally pay off!

Remember that job you had where you worked countless hours and really gave it all you’ve got?  Well, you can have something concrete to show for it by asking for a recommendation or endorsement from past employer or colleagues.  If you ever feel awkward about bragging about yourself, let someone else do it for you!  Potential employees will love it!

So, what are you waiting for!  Go ahead and create your account here:

Kaitlin: COM is a Buffet

I’m sitting here, scratching my head, trying to decide what to write about for this blog post, and it hit me.  COM is a freaking buffet table.

And no, I’m not talking about those late night Chinese all you can eat buffets, I’m talking about a real classy, high end buffet table with all kinds of exotic foods.

Where am I going with this?

Okay, okay.  So opposed to a sit down dinner, where a server brings you what you want until you tell him to stop, a buffet table is spread nicely in a convenient spot in the room, ready for people to take what they need or want, when they need or want it.  Both options can leave you stuffing your face until you’re required to loosen your belt, but there’s a very vital difference between the first and the second:  for the second option, you’ve gotta help yourself.

So often, we look externally for some sort of perfect opportunity or divine inspiration.  We have mentors and idols and friends and family (the waiters in my metaphor) who we hope will guide us to where we want to be (they bring us the seared duck and caviar), when all along, we have the capacity to get there on our own.

What we constantly forget is our own serving skills.  We’ve gone through that training that teaches you how to correctly set a table or pour a glass of wine without spilling it.  Try to take some time and realize that you have the potential to be your own greatest motivator.  Create those chances of a lifetime for yourself, instead of waiting for them to be served to you on a silver platter.

As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve really been enjoying my junior year at BU, especially because I’ve began to really find myself among all of the craziness that the city delivers.  COM especially offers out so many appetizing chances to succeed that, at times, can be a bit overwhelming.  What I’ve learned recently is to not miss the tasty treats that sit right under your nose.  I’ve quit complaining and wondering when my chance to shine was going to come, and I got the hell up and chased it myself.

Take whatever you care for from that table, but see if you can get up and walk there with the help of your own two feet.

 

Richie: Approaching Graduation

As a senior, the reality of graduation being just around the corner has definitely began to hit me. I know many of you may still be in you sophomore or junior years, or even better, freshman year. But, graduation is something we’re all going to have to face at one point. The fears and the excitement that come from it are very much a reality.

A few weeks ago I started to experience a mini-crisis about post-graduation life. Where would I live? Would I have to return back home, would I even be able to afford going anywhere else? Where would I work? Would I hate my job? Would I even get a job? Should I try staying in school longer to avoid any of these real questions?

After about a week of this, I somehow came to a point where everything felt good. I’ve started to become extremely excited about my graduation. I started to think that although I may not be completely positive about everything that’ll happen once I’m done at BU, I’m excited for it.

I guess we have to see it as not the end of something, but the beginning of something else. I remember in high school hearing from people the tired and cliche line “these are the best years of your life.” I didn’t know why but I used to hate hearing that so much. It was so fatalistic to me. So absolutely tragic. Like we were all doomed to a hopeless life the minute we left high school. Seemed like a self-fulfilling prophecy if I had ever one (props to COM 101 for that term). But I got to college, and had an incredible time. Made amazing friends, challenged myself in filmmaking, and took classes completely out of my comfort level. I learned about things like sailing, acting, and was able to sharpen my directing skills.  I traveled to Europe for the first time and got to intern at the world’s largest film festival.

High school was incredible, but it wasn’t the best years of my life. And I’ve come to realize college won’t be either. Make every year you live the best year of your life. There’s no reason to look ahead with fear thinking, “I’ve already experienced the best, so there’s nothing else to do now.” Reinvent the way you look at life everyday. Challenge yourself and bask in the glory of falling down or failing at something. I realized, I’m not exactly sure what the future holds for me, but something about that excites me. Because it can be absolutely anything. And whatever it is, it excites me to frustrated at times, but it will be my job that I earned by myself, and my job that I use to learn more from. It’ll be my loans I pay off every month and nobody else’s. Something about that excites me. I feel almost grateful to have these as all mine. It’ll be just another experience for me to learn from, for me to become myself again.

Don’t we all have to be a little lost so that we can find ourselves? Weren’t we all a little lost when we got into college? Wasn’t it exciting to settle into that life, find your routine and rhythm, and then sometimes shake it up a bit? Besides, I’m graduating from a great university, learned an enormous amount about film since I first came here, and have taken some amazing internship experiences from the whole process. Wherever I end up can’t be that bad.

Wherever you guys are in you education, enjoy every moment of it. I know I’ve been guilty of living a certain year and thinking, “man last year was so much better.” We all seem to look back and think of how good we had it, but if we took the time to realize how good we have it right now, then we would never have to look back in the first place. Maybe all the points I’m making are clearly understood by most of us already. But I guess we all need to have it reiterated from time to time. We’ve all got to be told every once in a while, “It’s alright.” I’ve finally come to a good place in viewing my graduation, and look back at my time here extremely fondly. I hope when you all reach this point, you can all feel the same, and be excited on what comes next.

 

Kate: Welcome COM Class of 2017!

Can you believe it is almost April?! I don't hate it. It means it's getting warmer (though the snow on the ground would beg to disagree) and most people's midterms are over.  And it also means that admissions decisions have gone out! I want to congratulate all of you who have been admitted to BU and the College of Communication! I have already gotten to meet a few of you this week but I hope I can meet a few more as you come for tours (Monday-Friday at 11am, 1pm, and 3pm!) and our Open Houses on the 13th and 20th.  You will probably be getting a letter from me this week but I just wanted to share a little bit more today.

I sincerely encourage you to check out the BU COM 2017 Facebook page, the BU COM Student Services Facebook page, the BU COM 2017 Twitter, the COM Student Services Twitter, the #BU2017 hashtag, and our YouTube channel.  And if you don't have Twitter or heaven forbid Facebook, get one.  Now. We like social media in this school and it will be the best way to keep up-to-date with information about everything.

I also hope you'll look around this site and our blog to answer a lot of questions.  The best information is coming from people who are living it, right? Well at least that's what a parent told me today and I think it is right on the money.  Get to know COM through us, your COM Ambassadors.  Reach out, ask questions.  That's what we're here for.

Like I said, congratulations.  Welcome to COM!

Hannah: The Balancing Act

As one quickly learns, college is primarily a balancing act. Suddenly you are expected to maintain your grades, stay healthy, and make a new life for yourself. There will never be enough hours in the day, but hopefully these quick tips can ease the time crunch.

First, find a system that helps you keep track of anything important going on from breaks to assignments to midterms. I recommend making a calendar. By keeping all of my important dates and assignments in one place, there is less room for mistakes. I carry a day planner with me at all times and each morning, I write my schedule for the day on a big dry erase board. Somehow I still miss the occasional Spanish worksheet, but for the most part, this has been fool proof for me. My roommate on the other hand uses color coded sticky notes; green for homework assignments; pink for projects; orange for important dates. Then she papers her desk with them. Everybody has a different way to go about it, but organization is a key component to maintaining balance.

Next, take advantage of office hours. They are an asset. It may seem counter productive to cut extra time out of your day to go ramble on with a professor, but in reality talking over upcoming essays and assignments with him or her will only expedite the completion process. Not to mention, professors like to see that you’re invested in the class! A little extra attention can go a long way. If you build a nice repertoire, those relationships can be great connections and recommendations for future internships and job opportunities.

Next is the issue of making time to keep in shape while keeping on top of classwork. Everybody loves FitRec, but sometimes there just isn’t time to make it to the gym (especially for those east campus residents.) But instead of skipping a workout altogether, find some dorm room workouts on sites like Pinterest or Tumblr. For me personally, the Undressed Skeleton blog has become my college fitness bible. Not to mention, this blogger includes dorm room recipes that never require anything more than a microfridge. This leads to my next tip. Everyone has the occasional late night snack binge, but keep healthy food rather than your typical junk food. It will at least curve your appetite and you don’t have to feel so guilty.

Finally don’t procrastinate. This is a dangerous custom that many fall under, but fight the urge! If you get your work done now rather than later, you will only have more time later. So enough procrastinating by reading this blog post, go get to work!

 

Jon: SXSW Interactive – Celebrating the Future of Advertising and Technology

Hello again! BU got back from break on Monday, and everyone will be catching up on their adventures over the past week. While many students departed for popular collegiate destinations such as Cancun, Miami, and California, a group of digital media students and professionals gathered in Austin, Texas for the South-by-Southwest (SXSW) Interactive festival. When it first began, SXSW Interactive was relatively unknown, and was easily dwarfed by its big brother SXSW Music and Film festivals. However, Interactive’s popularity has risen in recent years as digital media continues to dominate everyday life, and now the festival sees a massive turnout every year. Part conference, part trade show, and part spring break party, topics stretch the limits of the (broad) realm of digital media. I was lucky enough to attend this year with two other BU students, and while I could spend this whole post talking about the full size model of NASA’s new Hubble replacement, the James Webb telescope that was on display there (it is SO COOL), I’m going to share the top three predictions for the future of marketing that I took away from SXSW Interactive.

 

1)    Ad agencies and tech companies are going to become closer partners than ever before – Google’s ArtCopyCode initiative that they were promoting made this more than clear. On display were a pair of talking shoes that gave the wearer feedback on their actions, a road trip app developed in partnership with Volkswagen, and an effort Google is making to help filmmakers re-imagine their work for new web canvases. Each project was interesting, but the bigger message was clear: digital technology is here to stay, and marketers better start thinking about how they can create compelling interactive experiences.

2)    Physical products and experience are the new digital – Records, CDs, personal letters – these Mesozoic objects could make a comeback as a response to the increasingly digital world. Flourishing record sales could be written off as a trendy cultural phenomenon, but many see this as a symptom of a deeper human demand for physical experiences. Watch for brands looking to create new physical materials and events over the next few years, as consumers begin to taper their computer usage.

3)    Be diverse – If SXSW drove one point home for me, it was this one. From the attendees, who quite literally came from all over the world, to the range of topics (I attended a talk on voice acting for video games and Al Gore’s keynote on the future in the same weekend), SXSW Interactive is an incredibly diverse event. Even though SXSW is just a microcosm of humanity, it reflects and shapes the larger world. Borders, both digital and physical, are crumbling. At the end of the day, those who embrace and celebrate diversity are the ones who will flourish.

And now you have my two cents on SXSW! Thanks for reading, and good luck with the last push before Summer!

Until Next Time,

Jon

 

Maria: How to Spend your Summer

Unfortunately, spring break is coming to an end. But that means that you’re halfway done with the semester, and only 8 weeks away from the summer! That’s probably a lot sooner than you thought, huh? If you’re still not sure about how you should spend your summer, here are some ideas:

Get an Internship

Many of us, especially in the communication field, know that internships are not only great resume boosters, but are amazing real world experiences. You get to learn so much about your field and you’re able to take what you learn in your classes and apply it to actual companies.

It’s definitely not too late to still apply to summer internships! Some places don’t close their applications until April, but at the same time there are lots of places that have closed their applications or will soon. Make sure you get a list of places you would be interested in interning, check out when the deadline is to apply, and get your documents in as soon as you can.

Study Abroad

Taking classes abroad through BU’s programs over the summer is great for two reasons: one is because well… you get to live in a new city, country, or continent! You can still fit in educational time abroad that won’t interrupt your normal fall and spring semesters on campus. Another reason is because you can still get class credit and that can help you take fewer classes when you get back to campus.

One thing that some people forget is that studying abroad doesn’t mean you have to fly across the world to get the abroad experience. BU offers domestic programs in LA and DC, and those are two awesome programs to take advantage of. If you don’t feel like spending the summer out of the country, those are great options.

Work at Home

Sometimes, it’s nice to just get out of the Boston area, head home, and simply take on a seasonal summer job, like working at an ice cream store, a summer day camp, or at a pool as a lifeguard. It’s a great way to make money (side note: there are still many internships that do not pay their interns, so this is another reason to consider this idea!). Summertime is always known as a relaxing time, so why not take on a more laid back job, make some money, and enjoy the warm weather?

My spring break trip to Mexico has made me way too excited for the summer’s warm weather and relaxation as you can probably tell from this post… Hope you all had a great break!

 

Will: COMmunity

I don’t know about everybody else, but in the months preceding freshman year I was most anticipating living in an atmosphere where everybody is as enthusiastic about knowledge and education as I am. Not long after beginning my first year I realized how naïve I truly was. Wherever you go you’ll find that nobody is completely the same. It won’t take long to discover the kid who couldn’t care less about skipping class or the kid who spends every waking hour in the library. However, that is the beauty about college: you have a population of tens of thousands of people of whom you can pick and choose from (to an extent, of course).

COM, on the other hand, is an exception to the stigma. I have found that everybody in the College of Communication shares a passion. They don’t all share a passion for the same thing necessarily, but every student in COM is in COM because they want to be. Whether they want to be the next big Hollywood director or a columnist for the New York Times, they have all come to COM to get them there.

The students of COM provide a COMmunity for one another where one can be creative and experimental while having the rest of the student body, professors, and student resources to fall back on. The beautiful thing about this COMmunity is that it extends outside of the COM Building and into the rest of the BU Campus.

The event that inspired this post occurred last night: I was performing in my first Liquid Fun show. Liquid Fun is an improv comedy group on campus and some students had decided to focus on us for a Production class project, a documentary I believe. Another photojournalism student also asked if she could take pictures of us. And after the show, a journalist for the Daily Free Press wanted to ask us questions for an article she was writing. In the matter of an hour or so, BU Central was the location of not only a Liquid Fun show but also an intersection of three different branches of COM: Film/TV, Photojournalism, Journalism.

As I came into contact with all of the people conducting the interviews and documentations, I could tell that they were there because they wanted to be. The picture taking and question asking wasn’t an assignment but a pleasure. COM isn’t a school, it’s a COMmunity.

Alexa: The Pitfalls of Procrastination

I am in denial of being a procrastinator. I would like to think that I listened to my mom when she told me to buy a calendar for the school year and keep important due dates on there and I’d like to think I listened to my dad when he called on the weekends and told me to study ahead of time; but I didn’t. Instead I rationalize with myself that I work better under deadline and thrive under pressure.

Do I really? Maybe.

Is this a good excuse for waiting until the last minute to do things? Nope.

The two big examples of my most recent procrastination are happening right now

  • My blog post.

Time to complete: 1 week

When I started it: 5 minutes ago

Due: in 30 minutes

  • 10 page paper for my history class

Time to complete: 2 weeks

When I started it: 2 hours ag0

Due: in 6 hours

While both these things will get done before their deadlines, this is not an encouragement to wait until the last minute to do things because it is SO STRESSFUL and gets my heart beating unnecessarily fast.

Instead try this:

  1. Write the due date for an assignment somewhere you can see it everyday, that way it will always be in the back of your mind to start when you have an extra moment.
  2. Start it early. For example, if you have to write a paper, try writing your beginning paragraph one night and your first body paragraph the next.
  3. Make sure to go into your professor’s office hours to make sure your paper is on the right track and use the COM writing center because it’s a wonderful resource.

In short, or in long, since I stopped half way through this blog to watch this video about 10 times

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc_W1_d2g2g&feature=youtu.be

…Don’t procrastinate.