Jason: Madrid!

¡Hola! In case you haven´t been following COMlife, Kate and I are both abroad this semester so this blog is coming all the way from Madrid en España!

Normally my blogs are more or less stream of consciousness but I´ll try to organize this one a bit because I have a lot to say. Also sorry if my English sounds funny but I´m at my internship now and it´s sometimes hard to switch between 3 languages (English, Spanish, and French- because my supervisor is French so I speak with her in French from time to time)

So today marks my 13th day in Madrid- although I have to be honest, for both my friends and me, it feels like we´ve been here for much longer than that; all for the better of course. It´s crazy thinking about how much my Spanish has improved in barely two weeks; to the effect that I can understand almost everything. And although I don´t speak perfectly, I´ve got the confidence to try now and thats 50%!

I have three classes and one internship. My classes are Spain and the EU, Advance Spanish Language, and a documentary class. All of my professors are beyond incredible and are so passionate about what they teach. Of course my favorite class is the documentary class because it´s a mix of European/ Spanish history and sociology with technical documentary through out.

My internship is with Lopez- Li Films, located only one block away from the Instituto Internacinal where we take classes. It´s a documentary company of about 8 people and just happens to be one of the most well respected documentary production houses in Spain. I´ve been working here less than 10 days and I´ve already been working with Photoshop and After Effects on real projects for the company. Yesterday I got to help out with a set of interviews for a new documentary that the company is making about professional story tellers- actors who recount fables that have been passed down through out the generations. We heard from someone from Galacia, el Pais Basco, and Madrid- three places in Spain that speak very different languages. My official title was auxiliary camera man (I think.)

But yeah, everything has been going extremely well so far! I´ll post some photos from the interview below. If you guys have any questions about my experience so far feel free to send me an e-mail or a message on Facebook!

¨Ta logo!

Tom: Reasons Why You Should Live in StuVi

Hey all! Hope you are all off to a wonderful start to the fall semester – I know my junior year went off with a bang of new activities, new faces and new responsibilities. Just in the past three weeks, I cast my BU On Broadway production of All Shook Up (more to come on this in future blog posts!), we held the first annual #COMGames for freshmen, I started classes, and I applied to go abroad to London next semester. Lots of exciting things to begin – I’m slightly overwhelmed but overall ecstatic and thrilled with an exciting semester.

But easily the best part of moving in this semester was that I got to live at 33 Harry Agganis Way in Student Village (StuVi2, as we call it). I’m living in a double with my friend Shane in an eight person suite on the 7th floor (overlooking the Charles River). While the thought of an eight person suite may seem daunting, StuVi2 is definitely the best living situation I’ve been in yet.

Here are my top reasons you should live in StuVi if you get the chance:

1)      Appearance

You always hear “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” You 100% should judge StuVi by what it looks like because it is beautiful. My parents were awestruck by the lobby that makes you feel like you walked into a Marriott Hotel. When you get into the rooms, the good looks don’t stop there. And like I mentioned earlier, the glorious view of the Charles through the large windows is certainly an amazing sight to wake up to in the morning.

2)      The Air-Conditioning

While campus never gets too hot in the fall, there is absolutely nothing like retreating under a blanket after a long day of classes and activities. And with the air conditioning, your room will always be cool to do so.

3)      Space

The space in the rooms in StuVi is not to be believed. I’m in a double room in StuVi but the amount of space we have makes us feel like we have two separate rooms and are just missing the wall that divides them. As they say in Step Brothers, “So much room for activities!”

4)      The BU Bus Stop

This is probably the greatest of the reasons. Picture Me: First day of class, dressed all nice, new shoes. And I walk outside, and it’s raining. Obviously I was immediately distressed, but then when the BU Bus pulled up RIGHT IN FRONT of StuVi I was instantly relieved. I made it all the way to class without even getting a drop of rain on me. Talk about a wonderful place for a BU Bus Stop.

I can go on and on with reasons, but I think you get the point. If you want to see more, definitely check out what BU Housing put together on StuVi and check it out yourself! http://www.bu.edu/housing/residences/stuv/

Mike: LA Living

Hey guys!

Greetings from Los Angeles! I've been here three weeks now and I'm finally settling in and getting adjusted to the whole west coast lifestyle. I must say, I really do miss September time in Boston. Yesterday it was 102 degrees here! I would do anything for a cool fall day on Bay State right about now!

The BU in LA program puts us up in Park La Brea, an apartment complex located in West Hollywood, right in the center of everything. We are walking distance from The Grove, the giant outdoor shopping center, as well as Whole Foods, Trader Joes and an awesome Farmer's Market. It's really convenient! Those are about the only places I can really walk to though... Unfortunately, the public transportation system out here is not nearly as efficient as in Boston or New York, so I rented a car and find myself driving everywhere, often stuck in painfully long traffic jams!

But I am certainly keeping busy out here. I am interning five days a week, 3 days at Paramount Pictures and 2 days at The Weinstein Company. Paramount is awesome because I get to be on the lot every day where they are shooting shows like American Horror Story, Glee, and Happy Endings. It's so awesome to be right next door to the very sound stages where Hollywood classics like Rear Window and Sunset Boulevard were shot so many years ago! Over at Weinstein, I am doing lots of script coverage for their development and production departments. It's cool to be able to see film from the studio side as well as from the side of an independent company like Weinstein, which has had success with hits like Inglorious Bastards and The King's Speech. So far it has been an amazing experience just being out here and meeting different people in the entertainment industry.

I think I'm going to graduate after this semester in December so I can start the job hunt early and take advantage of the connections I made out here and the ones I have back home in New York. It's really weird and hard to grasp the idea that I'm done with BU though!

I hope all of you are enjoying the starts of your semesters as much as I am! For all you film and TV kids, the LA program is definitely something to consider, what an awesome opportunity this is! I can't stress that enough. If you guys have any questions at all about the program or about Los Angeles in general, please feel free to shoot me an email!

Best of luck this semester,

Mike

Julianna: How to Stay Sane

Now that it's the middle of September I'm sure you're already on your way to becoming a pro at this thing called college. Getting aimlessly lost in CAS and misjudging when to stop in Starbucks before class...that was so last week. Calenders begin to fill up as clubs and organizations reconvene for the school year and professors announce important test dates. As the semester rolls on your time management skills will most likely be put to the test. Speaking for myself I dove into my junior year with a full (maybe overflowing) plate: classes, part-time job and an internship. Here are three tips on how to stay sane and manage your time wisely when you are at your busiest:

1. Planner = Life

A little organization goes a long way. Go all out with different colored pens to represent all your priorities, highlighters and sticky notes. Thumb through those syllabi and mark down future deadlines and exam dates. I refer to my planner at least 2-3 times a day to see that I am accomplishing everything I need to, and to remind myself what I have in store for the next day.

2. Try your hardest to not fall victim to procrastination

We all do it. We've all been there. You've got a paper due in t-minus 12 hours, endless reading, but you can't seem to pry your eyes away from social media or the TV. Install Self Control on your computer and turn off your phone. If the latter is just to difficult to imagine then try this: I like to set 1-2 hour increments solely fixated on doing work, and when the time is up, I reward myself with 10-15 minute breaks. Another great way to avoid procrastination is to try to get work done in between classes and at awkward off-hours rather than saving everything for nighttime. Scope out some study spaces on and off campus like Marciano Commons and Espresso Royale Cafe.

3. Find one thing that calms you

Do yourself a huge favor and carve out the time to do something that brings you inner peace, such as taking a run a long the Charles, reading a magazine rather than a textbook or meditating. For me I've found unexpected pleasure in walking to and from 1019 and East Campus, especially in the mornings when I put Drake on full blast.

Steph: COM- Truly Interdisciplinary

COM: Truly Interdisciplinary

Hey guys! For you new Terriers out there, I hope all of you have had a great first week of school! I know I have. So far, one of my favorite things about my classes is that they all seem to overlap—the things that I’m learning in one class inform the things I’m learning in another. For me, that’s awesome. One of the best things about COM is that everything is related, which shows what a truly well rounded education it provides.

For example, I’m currently taking a history class called American Pop Culture, which spans the Victorian Era to the present day, or in other words, Vaudeville to “Jersey Shore.” Right now we’re talking about the early 1900’s, and how the Industrial Revolution created the concept of leisure time. One thing that people in the 1920s and 30s would do for leisure is listen to the radio. Approximately 4 hours later, I’m sitting in my Understanding Television class, learning all about the birth of the radio and how it served to unify the nation in times of hardship. We also learn about how at a certain point, advertising agencies really dominated radio by creating product-sponsored shows. The next morning at 8 am, I listen to my professor talk about the early days of product integration in my Intro to Advertising class.

And then there’s my wildcard class, called Magic, Science, and Religion. Our last lecture we talked about ancient Egyptian spells. I’m still waiting to see how it will connect to my other classes. 😉

Hope all of you guys are enjoying your classes as much as I am!

Kate: Three Tips to Picking Classes Abroad

I cannot believe I am finally in London! After a six month long countdown, I finally made it over The Pond and have been living the abroad life for the past 10 days. So far it has been everything I had hoped for and more and I am so excited to everything to come. In fact, I just booked my fall break to, wait for it... ITALY! Five days of eating pizza, drinking wine and sight seeing until I can't walk anymore is just a mere four weeks away (I'll be sure to catch all of you up on that in my next post)!

However, study abroad is not all about traveling the world, there are courses involved too. So here are my tips to getting the most out of your classroom experience:

Find the Program you will get the most out of. You don't necessarily have to do the same program as your major. Do something that interests you or that you have always wanted to try because that is what your core class will be in and the field in which you will do your internship. For me, I live and breath PR so that decision was a no-brainer. However, I know a fellow COM student who is majoring in Journalism, however he chose to do the Pre-Law program because he has aspirations of attending law school when he graduates. The Study Abroad office offers hundreds of options (there are at least 15 just in London!) so you will definitely something that works for you.

2. Take one class that takes care of a requirement. Whether it be a liberal arts requirement or a class towards your minor, find something will check another class off your list. All your major specific classes must be taken at BU so don't spend all your time taking electives here and then stress about getting all your requirements done in Boston. There are a lot of options for CAS courses and you will easily be able to fulfill at least one required course.

3. Take something fun! Again, as someone who dreams about PR in her sleep, I took a COM-related course for this one. Its called International Brand Management and I am literally jumping out of my pants excited. BUT, my best friend is taking a British Pop Culture class. Hello, Beatles! Also, every class in the London program has at least one field trip (and I am sure this applies to other locations too) so a fun class equals an interesting field trip!

The first word in Study Abroad is study so make sure to work hard in your classes and get good grades. But, have fun and learn a lot because most people will never have this experience again. I have already learned so much about British culture and daily life from my professors (who also happen to have fantastic accents). And if I have any other advice it is to STUDY ABROAD. Go. Do it. I've been here a week and I already never want to leave.

 

I'll be sure to update y'all later in the semester (be sure to follow me on The Twitter @KateScott10) and I hope you are loving BU so far!

Cheers!

 

Richie: Back to Bay State Road!

Welcome back to Boston everyone! I hope you all had a great summer, I know I definitely had one of my best experiences this past summer! Interning at the Cannes Film Festival, traveling Europe and visiting Los Angeles for the first time in August all made for an incredible time! However, I’m even more excited for everything in this upcoming semester. I moved back to my on-campus apartment on Bay State Rd and am loving it even more than last year. The new Student Center on 100 Bay State is directly across from my building and I have to say it’s absolutely amazing. Obviously my lack of a dining plan make my visits seldom, yet having such a modern and incredible building nearby changes the atmosphere of my area for the best from when it was just a construction site.

I’m also extremely excited for all the classes I’m taking! Advanced Directing and Acting for Writers and Directors already seem to be my two favorite classes. Being primarily interested in directing, learning acting will be a huge benefit. Not only being able to communicate with actors, but gaining a stronger appreciation of the vulnerable position they put themselves in will definitely be a huge help in my directing.

I was also recently selected to help in recruiting more interns for the Creative Mind Group which brought me out to the Cannes Film Festival. I’m starting to reach out to students in the Boston area, and I’ve been getting some good responses.

Probably the project I’m most exited for this semester though is the short film my friends and I will be shooting outside of class. We’re working off a script I wrote during the summer and have been in intense pre-production meetings since we got back.  It’s still in the early stages but I’m happy to say we have a crew set, our budget finalized, shooting schedule and even some of the main actors. It’s going to be a very ambitious film close to twenty minutes in length, but we’re all psyched to get started!

Kaitlin: If Not for the Education, then for the Eggplant

Well folks, this week I think I found my absolute favorite thing about BU.

For a while I thought it was my state of the art room in StuVi2; then I considered it being the top notch instructors; of course, the convenience of being in one of the coolest cities in the country was a plus.

All of these features are incredible, and really add to the uniqueness and perfection that is Boston University, but no. The number one reason why I love my school is simple:  the Farmer's Market.

Since I've been a student here for two years, I knew about the weekly Farmer's Market for quite some time, but because I lived in a dorm, I saw no reason to visit it.  After luckily landing a spot in an apartment  I decided to check it out, since I had some space in my refrigerator to fill- And boyyy was my vegan, health conscious heart smiling.

As soon as I walked in front of the GSU this Thursday afternoon, the sight and smell of all of the fresh fruits, vegetables, and baked goods made me feel like I was in heaven.  Farmers with friendly faces stood by their locally grown and made foods, talking to students about their products and even giving away free samples.

Ward's Berry Farm, one of the many small businesses at the Market,  give students the opportunity to purchase a box of deliciousness for $22 a week. This box is filled with a random assortment of fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables and is more than enough to last you the week, if not two.

But if you're not into the whole foods-from-the-earth thing, the Farmer's Market definitely offers some choices that will satisfy your sweet tooth.

Taza Chocolate, which in my opinion is some of the best chocolate around, is represented, informing students about its delicious, rich product, and even giving away some samples of different favors.

The Market also features AKA Marvelicious, a vegan cookie company based in Jamaica Plain that has treats to die for. Seriously. Even if you're not a vegan, you'll fall in love with the Almond  Carrotoons or Orange Chocolate Chip cookies. I'm drooling just thinking of them.

You can also buy different flavored nuts, local honey, maple syrup, or yummy baked breads.

Be sure to catch the Farmer's Market-whether you have a kitchen or not- every Thursday until October 25th from 11am- 3pm. I can almost guarantee you'll see me there.

Visit http://www.bu.edu/dining/about-us/sustainability/farmers-market/ for more information.

Dany: The First Week

Well, it’s official. You guys are officially college students! I hope your first week has been going fantastic and you’re enjoying all your classes and meeting a ton of people and just having an awesome time.

I can’t believe I’ve only been back in Boston for a few days. So much has been going on that it feels like I’ve been back for weeks. Before I even got back to campus, I was already busy getting things ready for PC’s first events. I hope some of you were able to come out to our Drive-In Movie event on Saturday night! We played “The Avengers” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and it was a great success. I landed on Saturday morning, spent half of the afternoon semi-unpacking and then went straight to work on setting everything up. Time is definitely not wasted at BU!

Sunday was SPLASH and I had lovely chats with a lot of you at the PC table. As secretary, I now have a stack of sign-up sheets to go through and get our listserv going for the new year. It’s a lot of work but I’m so excited for our first general interest meeting coming up soon. Definitely hope to see some of you there!

We have so many awesome events this semester for you guys. Our next big one is of course Childish Gambino this Friday at Metcalf! It’s going to be an awesome show and it’s only $15 with your BU ID! Tickets are online and they’re going pretty fast which is good news for us. We always want to make sure that we’re giving students the best events we possibly can and when a response is so overwhelmingly positive, we know we’re doing the right thing!

Anyway, my schedule has been nonstop since I got here and I really wouldn’t have it any other way. Life has just been a blur of PC, COM, Admissions, classes, catching up with friends, completing my study abroad application, checking out the new dining hall, and revisiting my favorite Boston locales. It’s a miracle I have time to breathe, honestly. I hope you all have a chance to get involved with everything you signed up for at SPLASH. Take advantage this year and go to as many meetings as you can! Find out what really interests you and stick with it. There’s no reason to ever be bored in Boston. Trust me.

As always, feel free to reach out to me if you have questions about anything I’m involved in or just general classes, life, etc. Good luck these next few weeks! And have fun!

Alexa: First Day of School

I’ve come to realize that the first day of school will always have its similarities. However in college, I might prepare for my first day a little differently, since I’m living in a dorm room and not my house, oh also I am 3,000 miles away from home.

First, I will try going to bed at nine o’clock. Instead, I will stay up until midnight or more just laying in my bed thinking, “Why? Why is this happening?”

Next, I will continuously wake up through the night in a state of panic that I might have missed my alarm, only to be reassured that it’s 3:11 AM. I always wake up at something: 11, it’s strange but that’s a whole different conversation.

Finally, when I realize I can sleep in no more, I will put on the outfit that, I’ll admit, I have picked out weeks ahead of time. First impressions count! I will also try to straighten my hair. However, this will probably not work out as well as I would like since my hair has a mind of its own and will only look nice right before I get in the shower.

Next, I will gather all of my things hoping that I don’t forget anything important, more than likely I will. Last year it was my dorm key and I’m really sure my roommate enjoyed that.

Before college, right before I headed out the door, my dad would always give me a few words of encouragement. He has now shortened it down to a simple text stating, “It only matters if you win.” Obviously words to live by. Thanks dad.

I will try to take the BUS (the BU Shuttle) to class but since obviously everyone has the same idea that I have, it will be full unless you shove your way in, normally I like to avoid shoving people and convince myself that a walk is exactly what I need. After taking a nice fifteen minute stroll to class I will continuously debate in my head whether or not I should stop for Starbucks before class in Warren. While my heart says yes, my brain is begging me not to because no one wants to be the person that comes in late to class clutching an iced white mocha, trust me. The argument in my head will continue until I see the long line that is Starbucks and will suffice to getting to class a little early.

Once I get to class, I will again debate between myself and the voice in my head of where I should sit. Should I be attentive and sit and the front? Should I just blend in and sit in the back? Middle it is. Life is all about compromise people.

My point is, don’t take the first day of college too seriously. In all likelihood, you’re going to have a lot of first days and you should enjoy them, not stress about them.  With that being said, have fun in COM101!