Mike: Advice for the Class of 2016

Hey guys!

So I’m currently writing this from the beautiful island of Martha’s Vineyard. My family and I vacation here every summer and it has become one of my favorite places on earth. If you haven’t been, make a trip! It’s just a quick ferry trip off the coast of Massachusetts.

Can you believe it’s already August 3rd? This summer has really flown by. Anyways, I know all of you incoming freshmen must be getting nervous/anxious to start BU in just a couple of weeks. By now, I’m sure you’ve all been in contact with your respective roommates. Make sure to talk to each other about what to bring for the room—I highly recommend a fan(s) for your room. Despite the freezing winter in Boston, it was brutally hot the first couple of weeks up in my room freshman year, (albeit I was on the top floor in Claflin) but a fan was definitely my savior.

My biggest piece of advice for you guys is to get involved. Don’t worry if you don’t become best friends with your floor mates (in fact, I barely keep in touch with anyone from my floor freshman year), instead, go to SPLASH, and find an activity or group that you are interested in. I met my closest friends at school through the student groups that I was part of on campus. Whether it be Greek life, student government, theater, intramural sports, BUTV, or even a club devoted to people watching, BU has something for everybody! It is your job to put yourself out there and find something that you like. You will find that you have a lot of free time in college. Your schedule is completely different from high school. Fill your time with fun activities and meet people who share your similar interests!

I’m jealous that I won’t be around this semester to experience the brand new Marciano Commons dining facility (click here to check it out!) All of you will get to enjoy this mega dining hall along with Warren and West. Other new additions to Comm Ave? Pinkberry right in the GSU! With Jamba Juice, Starbucks, and now Pinkberry, you guys really do have it made. If you are craving some Thai, I suggest heading down to West campus to grab some Brown Sugar (In my opinion, it trumps Noodle Street and Nud Pob!)

Even though I’ll be across the country in Los Angeles this semester, it doesn’t mean I’m not available to answer any of your questions or concerns. Feel free to shoot me an email if you have any doubts or questions about your first semester. Good luck to you all and I’ll be sure to keep you posted on my LA adventures!

Taylor: Convenience Pointers

Before your departure to the wonderful Terrier Nation here are a few convenience pointers for your consideration:

1. Touch Up Your Laundry Skills:

I admit, my parents pampered me when it came to laundry. Understanding separating delicates and darks never struck my mind. I like to blame the Rugrats for this mindset. With complete honesty, it wasn’t until my week of departure that I coughed up courage and spent hours learning the ropes of the washer and dryer from my mom. I am forever grateful for that sacrifice of time. The most embarrassing thing to watch in a packed laundry room is a soap overflow, or a guy who mixes all of his white shirts with his girlfriends red socks. Learn the ropes with professionals while you are still under their wings.

2. Figure out your Banking Arrangements ahead of time:

Banks within one region of the country may lack availability in another. Unfortunately, I discovered this the hard way. But no fear! There are tons of banks within the BU parameters and they are very accessible. The following link will direct you to a list of local banking options available near/on campus http://www.bu.edu/students/finances/accounts-banking/. I would suggest selecting a banking service that is the same as a close relative - this makes transferring funds easier and less expensive.

3. Double check with your roommate on rooming necessities:

Some items such as fans, refrigerators, microwaves, televisions, etc. should not be duplicated within a small room. Share the love and save some pennies!

4. Buy an academic calendar:

From the moment your step on campus and receive your first syllabus deadlines immediately become a part of your life. Take a moment while you can to find an organizer that suits you.

5. Don’t be afraid to contact your COM Ambassador prior to school starting:

This is not a promo for the amazing Ambassador program but we are here to help. I couldn't have made it through my freshman year without the help and humor of my COM Ambassador (shameless plug).

Looking forward to seeing you guys in a few weeks. Follow me on twitter @twalksbu.

Taylor

Alexa: A Summer of Interning

Hope everyone is enjoying their last few weeks of summer. This summer I hadn't really planned on interning anywhere but when I was offered an opportunity to do so I was really excited. I am interning for a company called, SmileSimplicity. The company focuses on enhancing a person's smile without eliminating any tooth structure (unlike regular veneers which contour teeth and can never be reversed). I am still interning there and feel lucky to have the opportunity to work with such innovative, hardworking people.

You're probably thinking: what does this have to do with journalism?

Well, a part of my job is interviewing patients before and after their SmileSimplicity procedure, creating marketing tools and writing press releases. The positive thing about working for a small company was that I wasn't just doing things to keep busy but I am able to be  involved with important components, like being a part of conference calls and having the opportunity to contribute to advertisement ideas. I didn't feel like an intern, I felt like an employee. I was also able to learn more about the business side of journalism. Even though I still would like to pursue a sports journalism career, I'm glad I have had the opportunity to branch out and see a different side of journalism.

I am so excited to meet all of you come fall and hope you are looking forward to being a Terrier!

Tom: August, the Month of Intense Packing

Hey guys! The month of July is shortly coming to a close which only means one thing... August is right around the corner. Before you know it, you guys will be new freshmen here in the fall moving in to Warren Towers, using your dining points for the first time at the GSU, and pulling all-nighters to push yourself through finals.

While spending the end of my summer in Boston, I'm using most of August prepping for when I direct my first show, All Shook Up, in the fall. But for all you new terriers, I know you will be spending August trying to decide what to pack for what will become your new home for the next year.

Regardless of if you live in Warren, West, or some random brownstone on campus, all college freshmen need the same things. Here's a tip guide to walk you step by step through the packing process so grab your nearest parent and their wallet and get ready to shop! Most of the things below can either be bought at Bed, Bath & Beyond or similar retailer (Target can be super helpful as well), or can be bought at BU Barnes & Noble on campus for those of you far away.

1) Outfitting Your New Room - The most important place to start is to fix up your new bedroom. You'll need all the necessities: pillows, comforter (Extra-Long Twin!) and sheets. You should definitely invest in getting a good mattress pad - you can use it all four years and it will keep you super comfortable for all those times when you just need a good night's sleep. Pick a color and design that you like for your bedspread and match it with wall decorations that will make your new room as much like home as you can.

2) All the Extras - In addition to the necessities, a few small things throughout the room will really make your room perfect. A fan, alarm clock, and trash basket will go a long way. A fan will help you stay cool throughout some hot days in September. Although most people use their phone, I would invest in an alarm clock for all those times you drop your phone and are helpless until the apple store has an available appointment. A trash basket for... well trash.

3) Bathroom Essentials - Chances are, most of you will be sharing a common bathroom with your floor. As horrifying as it may sound for you clean freaks out there, trust me you'll be fine. Invest in a shower caddy, a bunch of big bath towels, and some shower shoes (cheap Old Navy $2 flip flops go a long way) and you'll survive sharing your first bathroom just fine.

4) Noms, Noms, Noms - What food to pack!? A key question for every freshmen coming in. Really - it's up to you. It's hard to advise students here because everyone is so different. Personally, I try not to fill my room with food since I spend most of my time heading to the dining hall to eat. If you think you're someone who likes to stay home and have your own time, I'd definitely get some food for your room. But if you think you'll be out and about most of the day, I'd say keep the snacks to a minimum. Tip: Ramen Noodles are a great purchase to break out for when you are stuck inside with a cold. Also - a brita filter goes a long way to keep you hydrated late at night.

I hope you found this guide helpful. Feel free to tweet me up (@tschrank) or shoot me an email throughout August and I'll help you on the packing hunt, or any other things that may come up. Have a great end to another wonderful summer!

Kate: 5 Boston Hot Spots to Hit in Your First Week

I know your first week at school is going to be insane so maybe tackle these in your first month but here are some of my favorite Boston places:

1. Shop on Newbury. One of the best shopping strips in the country, Newbury Street is just a 15 minute walk from campus.  With everything from Forever 21 to Burberry, more fro-yo places than I can count and some of Boston’s best restaurants, it’s a great place for a little retail therapy and some delicious food.

2. Hang out in Boston Common. You may have heard that Boston gets a little chilly in the winter so the Common should be one of your first stops.  I’m the kind of person who could spend a whole day on a bench people watching but if you’re not into that, you can also take a Swan Boat tour, wander the Public Garden or walk the Freedom Trail, which begins in the Common (however, that’s a favorite of Mom and Dad so maybe wait until Parent’s Weekend to take that 3 mile trek).

3. Explore Faneuil Hall. A historic marketplace near the waterfront, Faneuil Hall is an outdoor marketplace with tourist-y stores and lots of restaurants.  More shopping and eating, seeing a trend here?  They do have one of my favorite stores in the city though- Christmas in Boston where you can buy cheesy holiday decorations all year round.

4. Hit the Beach at Revere. Who knew there was a beach only a short T ride away? Not this girl until it was too late so I am letting you know now.  Take the Blue Line to the end and its less than a five minute walk to a day of fun in the sun.

5. Dinner in the North End. New York has Little Italy.  Where I’m from in St. Louis, we have The Hill.  In Boston, we have the North End. It even smells like Italian when you walk onto Hanover Street.  One of my favorites is The Daily Catch where they serve your pasta in the pan it was cooked in and you drink your water out of paper Dixie cup.  And of course, a cannoli from Mike’s Pastry is to. die. for.

Since I won’t be in Boston to welcome you all to college, I hope you have a FANTASTIC first semester and I will see y’all in the spring!

 

 

 

Tiffany: My Summer at Digitas – Mad Men In Real Life

Greetings from one of those big, tall, fancy buildings in downtown Boston!

This week marks my 7th week interning at Digitas, a leading global advertising agency that pioneered the digital age in advertising. I along with 24 other interns from all sorts of different backgrounds, universities, and interests are working across the many different capabilities within the agency such as marketing, project management, account planning, art direction, copy writing, user experience, media, technology, and more.

I’m specifically interning in marketing, or what some other agencies might refer to as account management, on a Fortune 100 financial services client. In particular, my team works on corporate social responsibility for the client, meaning we tell their story as a brand and manage their overall brand image through our work.

For those who are die-hard Mad Men fans out there, I hate to break your hearts, but agency life isn’t quite how Don Draper lives it out. In many ways, the hit TV show has portrayed agency life spot on in that sometimes in order to be productive, one has to be unproductive first and let the creative juices naturally flow. My team in particular, has set up a nerf gun battlefield throughout the floor to help each other through those frustrating times and just have a little fun. It’s not quite like how the agency in Mad Men likes to be unproductive with their 2 hour oyster lunches, cigarette breaks, and excessive alcohol consumption, but we take breaks as often as necessary and look to each other to join in on the unproductivity to ultimately help each other be productive.

Which brings me to one of the aspects of agency life that Mad Men doesn’t quite portray as well as it maybe should, which is the importance of teamwork. Throughout the 7 weeks I’ve been interning here, I’ve been blown away by how fluidly the different capabilities work together towards a common goal. They all genuinely look out for each other and not only have the client, but also each other’s best interest in mind. With this, the work is just that much better and everyone walks away a little saner and with a bigger smile on their face at the end of each day. Despite their differences in specialties, the Photoshop genius of an art director, the organized marketing manager, and the number savvy analyst all work together to help give the client the best recommendation possible by pulling together their strengths and trusting each other to fill in the holes on their own capability’s weaknesses. So whether its providing the client with our point of view on a certain campaign move or participating in a floor-wide nerf gun fight, everyone is part of the team and looks out for each other no matter how big or small the task/problem at hand.

I’m honestly quite sad for the internship to be more than half way over, because I’ve become an integral part of this hard-working yet silly, nerf-gun playing team. However, I eagerly am looking forward to the remainder of my time with Digitas as I still have much to learn! More updates on my insights in advertising life in a few weeks!

Happy summer, everyone!

Steph: From the Humidity, to the Beach, to the Mountains

Hey there Class of 2016! I hope all of you have been relaxing and getting excited for the fall during these summer months! I’m sure some of you are feeling some anxiety, nerves, and maybe even dread at the prospect of leaving for college in a couple of months…I know I was just a year ago. But don’t worry, this summer, all I can think about is how awesome my freshman year was, and how excited I am to get back to Boston!

This summer I’ve been experiencing some change in the scenery. For one thing, coming home to Miami after spending the Spring semester in Boston was quite a change. Those who have never experienced summer in Miami might believe it’s the perfect summer destination, with the sunshine, the beaches, and the tropical landscape. At those people, I laugh. Most of the time during the summer, temperatures reach close to 90 degrees, with 90-100% humidity, overcast skies, and scattered thunderstorms. Almost every day my friends and I wanted to work on our tans on South Beach, go for a bike ride in the Everglades, or have a nice day at the pool. The on-and-off rainstorms kinda put a damper on those plans. So, to be totally honest with you guys, I spent most of my time in Miami watching a lot of movies with my friends. Which, of course, I did not mind one bit.

My summer has also taken me to Panama to visit my mom’s side of the family. Being half Panamanian, I absolutely LOVE going to the place where my mom grew up, spending time with my aunts, uncles, and cousins, and going to our family’s weekend home in the beach community of Coronado. To me, our house in Coronado is paradise. My grandparents built our small house right on a cliff that slopes down to the beach, complete with a pool, a hut overlooking the ocean, and lots of room outside for the kids to run around. While in Coronado, I get to spend quality time with my family as we take walks on the beach, visit our horses and other animals on our farm, and tell hilarious family stories in hammocks under the stars. Doesn’t that sound perfect?! Spoiler alert: it is.

Finally, my last change of scenery for the summer before heading back to Miami is my current location: Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Blowing Rock is a quaint mountain town where my parents and I have been vacationing almost every summer since I was two. While I’m here, I transform into the definition of outdoorsy. If you know me well, that last sentence would make you laugh out loud. But hey, something about the mountain air just brings out the hiker, biker, and kayaker in me! My favorite outdoor activity that we do every year is the 17-mile bike ride down the Virginia Creeper Trail. The trail used to be home to an old railroad track, and travels through the woods near Damascus, Virginia. It’s absolutely gorgeous, flying by on your bike past creeks and woodland creatures and crossing over beautiful bridges. When I’m not outside, becoming at one with nature, I’ve been eating absurd amounts of Kilwins ice cream, reading Game of Thrones, watching House Hunters International marathons, and anxiously awaiting my flight back to Boston in September.

Kaitlin: My Favorite Summer Yet

Well hellooooo my friends!

This summer has been absolutely insane, and I feel as though it’s just getting started.  First of all, I hope the past few weeks or months off of school have been as amazing for you as they have been for me.  Actually, as I’m sitting here writing this, recalling everything that’s happened since the middle of May, I can predict that this may be my favorite summer yet.

The biggest event that I was able to cross off of my list of to-dos was Air Force ROTC Field Training.  On May 17th, I left for a 28 day “trip” to Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama- but it was far from a vacation.  Over that month, I learned tactics and information that will be vital to me becoming an Air Force officer.  We did a whole lot of running, climbing, falling, listening, sweating, shooting, and bug-spray-applying all in the hot Alabama sun.  While it was extremely tiring and often times almost unbearable, I learned so much and have never been more motivated to serve my country after I graduate BU.  But my absolute favorite part of being there was also the most unusual.

I taught a yoga class to over 75 cadets.

My supervisors found out that I was a yoga instructor, and allowed me to teach a class as part of one of my Leadership Competency Evaluations.  It was so incredible and I felt so grateful to be able to share my greatest passion with a whole new group of people.

Which leads me into the rest of my summer. For now, I’ve been able to pack away my fatigues and roll out my yoga mat instead.  I teach at least one yoga class per day on Long Island, NY, and was actually just asked to be the Manager of my home studio, The Giving Room!  One of the best parts of my new job is being able to use what I’ve learned in all of my PR classes at COM to attract more customers and ultimately better the studio.  Needless to say, I’m busy as a bee.

So my yoga teaching life hasn’t been as relaxing as I’ve imagined, but nonetheless I feel as though I’m living the life.

What have you all been up to? Please feel free to tweet at me @itskaitdaddona (especially if you live on Long Island and want a private yoga class…) follow me on Tumblr, whatever.  I can’t wait to see you all in the fall!

Mike: A Summer Back in the US

Hey guys!

Wow, it's been a crazy couple of months since I've been back from Madrid. It definitely took a few weeks to adjust back to the American lifestyle. I miss Spain so much! I still keep in touch with my host mom and email her every couple of weeks. She sends me recipes for some of my favorite Spanish dishes. I hope I can go back to visit sometime soon. I'm so mad I wasn't there to see them win the world cup. I heard there were parades in the streets, must have been crazy!

Anyways, I got back from Spain at the end of May and then headed on a road trip in early June to Bonnaroo, the annual music festival down in Tennessee. It was so awesome! Red Hot Chili Peppers, Radiohead, and Bon Iver were a few of some of the amazing headliners. Everyone was so friendly and it was a really cool environment. Probably the closest experience to Woodstock I'll ever get!

After Bonnaroo, I managed to squeeze in a nice and relaxing weekend trip to the Hamptons, and then I started my internship. I was lucky enough to get a summer internship so late in the game! I'm interning in the acquisitions department of IFC films which has been really cool so far. IFC is a huge name and a major contender in the world of indie film. Acquisitions is in charge of evaluating the thousands of incoming scripts/ films that are submitted to IFC and deciding which should be acquired and distributed by the company. I have seen some really interesting films so far and it has been a really good learning experience being exposed to world of independent filmmaking.

I'm actually heading up to Boston this weekend to visit friends who I haven't seen since before I went abroad. I can't wait to get back to Beantown, it's been too long. I’m looking forward to walking down Comm Ave for the first time in over six months!

I'm also busy applying to internships for LA in the fall. Madrid, New York, and now LA, I can’t seem to stay in one place! But I can’t wait to go out there through BU’s study abroad internship program. It is going to be much different from Spain but it will be a great introduction into the business. I’m heading out there at the end of August and will keep you all updated on my internship hunt and my experiences out there!

I hope you guys are all enjoying your summers. Stay cool!
Mike

 

Jason: Life of a Producer

As I write this blog I’m listening to calm Hawaiian music because it feels like I have been working non stop since the summer began.. well not really; but I have been very busy.

So first on my list is my internship at WGBH. As you guys know I’m a production intern at the PBS show, American Experience we are still in the pre production phase but I’ve enjoyed getting to partake fully in the process.

But what’s really been taking over my life is the film I’m producing. This Saturday we’ll begin production for a graduate student thesis film called Flesh Eaters. It’s about a boy who thinks his first communion is actually a zombie initiation rite and that he’ll turn into a zombie when he takes communion. Pretty funny stuff if you ask me. Anyway, my role has been pretty much all of the administrative work. That means finding the actors, extras, locations, budget, and the list goes on and on. It’s definitely a lot bigger of a monster than I had expected but I’m so excited and thankful I’ve been able to tackle such an important role so early on in my college career.

My piece of advice for you guys is to get an internship or a job up here if you can during the summer. It is by far the best place to be. You have such easy access to the Charles River and the endless waterfront activities, a not too far escape to mountains in New Hampshire and other parts of Massachusetts, as well as of course, the entire city of Boston minus all of the students who are usually here crowding the streets.

I’d love to hear what you guys are doing and how you’re enjoying the summer! Tweet at me @jasonkashdan to say hi or ask any questions you have. Hope you all had a great 4th of July!