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This past week, due to multiple projects including the successful #COMinaday endeavor, I was closer than I’ve ever been to actually living in COM.  Here’s why living in COM was kind of awesome:

NUMBER ONE! Over the course of a week 3 celebrity alumni graced COM with their presence as well as incredibly informative presentations. Stephanie McMahon, a senior executive at WWE, gave a presentation on Wednesday and Jay Roewe along with Michael Gunn gave a cooperative presentation about HBO and The Newsroom.

NUMBER TWO! It’s literally 30 feet away from Starbucks, Subway and the Warren Towers dining hall. Not to mention the numerous vending machines in the building. That means I can get coffee for breakfast, Subway for lunch, and Warren for dinner and never have to be gone from whatever I’m working on for more than 20 minutes at most.

NUMBER THREE! You have no choice but to be productive. With a full-blown radio station, fully-functional multi-room television studio, and hundreds of computers equipped with all types of software, it’s easy to have fun and work on your projects.

NUMBER THREE AND HALF!

-The chairs in the student lounge are pretty comfy

-And multiple newspapers are delivered to COM every single morning!

-You can shower in the fountain…

 

Before coming to BU, software like Final Cut, the Adobe platforms, Avid, and ProTools were all foreign. Editing was not something that I would have immediately volunteered as tribute for. Writing for online and broadcast are skills that completely contradict my pre-college learnings. One of most valuable in-house tools that COM offers daily is the assistance of graduate students. Here are top ways to spot a Grad student (not creepy):

1. The COM Writing center, located in the basement, has nearly a dozen tutors awaiting the arrival of students interested in perfecting their writing craft. Whether you are working on a film script, press release, or a news article the room has someone happily ready to offer assistance.

2.  COM has tons of applications installed on the computers located in labs throughout the building.  Tip: It would behoove you to checkout the tutorial times of graduate students and other TA’s that are available for guidance.

COM offers a lot of opportunities for students to connect with peers, faculty, alumni, and graduate students…MAKE USE OF THE RESOURCES AVAILABLE!

 

- Taylor

 

This past weekend, my COM Ambassador group and I spent the afternoon in the Boston Public Garden. I hadn't been in a while, and it reminded of me of just how awesome that place really is. With the weather slowly starting to get colder, now is the perfect time to go and check out one of the most beautiful spots in Boston!

• Have a picnic! My group and I grabbed some sandwiches from Subway and set up camp next to the beautiful lake. It was so nice to just hang out, eat, listen to music, and enjoy the beautiful scenery.
• Prime People Watching! In a four hour period, we witnessed 3 wedding photoshoots. 3!! It was so fun to watch, and now I know where I want my wedding pictures taken...Also, so many cute dogs and little kids running around. A couple of terriers came by to say hello, as well as this adorable little boy with a spaceship backpack.
• Swan Boats! I've never done this myself, but it looks like so much fun! Its pretty much a Boston staple. Take a nice little ride on a swan boat on the lake!

I hope this inspires you guys to go explore what the city has to offer!

 

You’re probably telling yourself it’s too early to already be falling behind. You’re wrong. I’ve basically been running around Boston like a chicken with my head cut off since I stepped foot back in Boston. Yes, believe it or not, I even forgot to write my COM blog until the night before it’s due.

Coming back to school this semester, I seem to have forgotten that school and work and other obligations comes along with moving back to Boston. Now that I’m nearly two weeks in to school, I’m making a mad dash to get organized before it’s too late.

Here’s some options for keeping everything in check:

1. Make a planner. There are so many different types of planners that you can really mold it to your own personal preference. It’s just so nice to have everything compiled in one place. Otherwise things get lost or forgotten. If you don’t feel like lugging a planner around to all your classes just bring a little notepad or sheet of paper where you can keep track of all your new obligations for that day then you can transfer them to your planner when you get home. The only flaw with a planner is actually remembering to check it. If you’re like me, I can write everything down and two minutes later I’ll forget what I’ve written. This is where you have to put some emphasis on actually remembering to look at your planner.
2. Another thing I’ve found to be helpful is setting reminders on my phone. Sometimes it just helps to have a second reminder even if you have a planner. I set alarms all the time and it makes it so much easier for me to remember tiny details.
3. Team up. In the past my roommate and I have taken some of the same classes so we would try to reminder each other if we had an upcoming assignment due or an approaching deadline. Without her, I probably would have missed more than a few nights of homework. Work with your classmates to keep each other on top of everything.
4. Finally, learn to say no. I have a tendency to spread myself too thin and I know I’m not the only one. Unfortunately you can’t always do everything. There just aren’t enough hours in a day. Instead of signing up for a million little things that make you crazy trying to remember all of the short meetings that go along with them, commit to a few big organizations. It may seem like a bigger time commitment, but by the time you factor in all the back and forth time you waste on commuting between a hundred different small clubs, it probably evens itself out.

So maybe I haven’t found the perfect organizational system, but I’m working on it and so should you. This is just the beginning of the semester so although you may already feel like you’re falling behind there’s still time to catch back up. Figure out what works for you and take control of this semester.

 

I never believed in love at first sight...and then I landed in Dublin. Even though I’ve only been here for a little less than a week I already know it’s going to be hard to say goodbye to this beautiful place. The first couple of days we were here it was incredibly sunny, 75-degree weather, which I’m told I will never see again in Ireland so I’m glad I was able to experience it! Through BU Study Abroad I am attending Dublin City University, which is about 4 miles from the city center. I’m living in a single with my own shower and the kitchen is two doors down from me. (PS. I haven’t burned anything yet but stay tuned).  There’s a gym downstairs, a park right outside my door and the public transport system is located right outside of campus so it’s very easy to get in and out of the city.

I chose to come to Ireland mainly because of my Irish background and I wanted to go to a program where I could explore the countryside a lot which I’m really excited to do in these next couple of weeks! This past week I have been going through orientation to get familiar with the school, went on a scavenger hunt through Dublin to get acquainted with the city and I start class tomorrow! The first part of the program is taking classes and the second part is the internship. I still haven’t been assigned placement yet but I should find out within the next couple of weeks and I’m really excited to find out what I’ll be doing!

Since we had the weekend off my friends and I decided to head out to Bray in County Wicklow to go walk the Cliff walk. We took the DART there in the morning, which is one of the trains in Ireland. Of course, instead of taking a left onto the cliff walk we took a right and started climbing up this huge mountain. This turned out to not be the worst idea because we went to the top of the mountain and even though I rolled my ankle about seven times, we had absolutely gorgeous views of the seaside and the village down below so it was all worth it. A swollen ankle will heal in time anyway right? I absolutely loved Bray and can’t wait to go back on a weekend.

Like I said it’s been about a week so I’m excited to have so many more experiences in the Green Emerald Isle. Maybe it’s all a part of the assimilation process but I’ve noticed I’ve been thinking in an Irish accent and yesterday I said the word “grand” when referring to something good and asked for takeaway at a restaurant instead of take-out. So maybe the next time you’ll see me I’ll be speaking in an Irish accent (here’s hoping because they are my favorite).

Until next time,

-Alexa

Hey COM people! I hope you’re all enjoying your summer breaks before heading up to Boston for the school year!

For me, this summer has been great so far – a major part being because of my internship. I’m interning at News 12 Long Island for the summer (you may be familiar with the station if you’re from the island or the tri-state area). Working at a TV station isn’t as glamorous as you may think, like getting up at 2:45 AM for an 8-hour workday. But nonetheless, it’s been such an amazing experience. Even though I’m only interning three days a week for ten weeks, I’m still learning and doing more than I could have imagined.

Here’s what my work week consists of: On Tuesdays I get up nice and early at 2:45 AM to be at the studios by 3:45 AM. I work with a morning reporter, Erin Colton, on whatever the big story on the island may be that day. We’re out of the studios by 4:15 AM to go on site to wherever she’s live-reporting, which she does on the half hour between 5 AM – 8:30 AM, and then again at 11 AM. Wednesdays are my shorter workdays, and during that time I work under producers and production assistants doing anything necessary to have the live shows at 3 PM, 5 PM, 7 PM and 10 PM ready. That includes pulling tape, teleprompting, working with the news station’s program ENPS (hey you broadcast journalism students – you’ll be getting your fair share of ENPS in your broadcast classes later on!), and anything else I can do. I also get to sit in on the live show at 5 PM, which is really cool to see! Another full workday on Thursdays (but with normal work hours of 9-5), and I work with another reporter, Ken Grimball. My days with him are very different than my days with Erin, since Ken does more feature stories and creates news packages. With him I’ve been able to practice stand ups on camera and get camera and writing experience, which I really appreciate doing.

As you may know, COM students are strongly recommended, if not required, to partake in at least one internship while in college. The benefit from interning at more than one location, aside from the obvious advantages interning has to offer, is that it shows you how different companies in the same industry run. Last summer I interned at Fox News, which is one of the most well known cable channels in the country. Now I’m interning at News 12 Long Island, a regional news station. As you can imagine, the two are very different in almost every way. But having both of these experiences under my belt makes me more well rounded in my future industry, and I’ve truly learned so much by trying these two different places to intern.

I’m really glad I’ve been able to spend part of my summer working and learning all about this exciting industry. Maybe you’ll wind up interning at a News 12 Network too one day! Enjoy the rest of your summer vacation!

 

Follow me…two words that would make me cringe at first sight on non-related communication accounts. I must admit that I should now be classified as a hypocrite due to my recent bandwagon membership. I am now like the flock of people that dare to compose posts soliciting this “following” fellowship but for good reason: it gravely helps me in the field.

This semester I enrolled in a journalism class that required constant communication with individuals within a particular Boston neighborhood.  At times emailing people can be tricky. I found personally seeking a “Friend Request” to work more in my favor when calling and emailing fails. Using social media is a great tool for finding the story and charting trends.

Twitter posts, in particular, can also be a great way of stalking (properly known as tracking) celebrities.

“We are best friends at this point,” said Jonathan Reyes, who recently ventured to see Anderson Cooper multiple times.

“In Copley Sq. pretty sure Anderson Cooper is across the St., what do I do? Give him my boloco, do I get down on one knee? JUST LOVE ME ANDY”  - tweeted one student.

The recent Patriot’s Day tragedy made it ever more apparent how important social media can be for communicating to family, calling attention to your thoughts, and getting a direct update on the situation. I must admit this advantage heavily influenced me to use social media more often.

Words of advice: Please beware that posts can be deceiving. Double check everything! Be careful of what you post but have fun along the way.  Use social media to network.  I have finally caved in and given more care. COM sponsors tons social media based events, in fact, Professor Stephen Quigley teaches an incredible course about new media and public relations that you should all enroll in at some point!

Tweet & Follow,

@TaylorReports

 

Wow this past month has been crazy! Just to give you guys a quick update on some things I’ve been doing lately…

Still working on the documentary! You might be thinking, “well of course you are. There’s no way it could be done already.” But I meant that in the sense that the whole project hasn’t blown up in my face yet. In fact it’s actually going really well! The facebook page and website are up and running so check it out!

https://www.facebook.com/AnotherTakeFilm?fref=ts

I’m really excited to tell you guys about what’s going on later today. This afternoon in my producing class, two classmates and I will be pitching a new competition reality show to Andy Cohen from Bravo! You know, Top Chef, Rachel Zoe? Yeah, that Bravo. We’ve been working real hard the last couple weeks so it’s pretty nerve wrecking--it’s all come down to this. But let me just say, creating everything for this show (finding contestants, a host, judges, locations) was a lot harder than we thought it was going to be. But hey, if Andy likes our pitch and wants to put us on the air it’ll all be worth it. I can’t tell you what our idea is yet in case you might steal it so I’ll have to tell you about how it goes in the next post!

I’m producing our Production 2 film so I’ve started to look for actors, break down the script, and think about other cool pre production things. More to come on that later though…

And internships! Still waiting to hear back but I should be in Boston for my third summer in a row!

Congrats to anyone who’s reading this and was recently admitted in to the College of Communication! We’re really excited to have you  and look forward to meeting you.

I hope you all enjoyed this months installment of my blog. If there’s anything else you guys would like to hear about let me know!

 

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful winter break!

While all of you were relaxing and spending some time at home, we added some new COM Ambassadors to our roster! All of our new CAs are involved in different things around campus, and we know they will be super helpful to all of the incoming freshman this fall. With that being said, allow me to introduce the new CAs!

 

 

Abby Cecchine

Year: Freshman

Major: Journalism

Hometown: Lakeland, FL

 

Anneliese Scheck

Year: Sophomore

Major: Film/TV

Hometown: Hatboro, PA

 

Hannah Herman

Year: Freshman

Major: Journalism

Hometown: Lancaster, PA

 

Kevin Comeau

Year: Freshman

Major: Undecided

Hometown: Belchertown, MA

 

Maria Martinolich

Year: Junior

Major: Journalism

Hometown: Port Washington, NY

 

Morgan Perry

Year: Junior Transfer Student

Major: Advertising

Hometown: Garnet Valley, PA

 

Sara Engelsman

Year: Sophomore Transfer Student

Major: Public Relations

Hometown: Merrimack, NH

 

Will Dowsett

Year: Freshman

Major: Film/TV

Hometown: Milwaukee, WI

 

Look out for their blog posts in the coming weeks!

Best,

Steph