COM Ambassador Blog

Emily: Emily’s Top 5 Commute Jams

This semester, I’m doing things a little differently. Because of a surgery in the spring, I was unable to come back to campus this fall. Instead of getting down, I’ve decided to make the most of my time at home; I’m interning at two amazing agencies in Philly and taking online classes. This, however, has created a new problem for me: the commute. Between my long drives and train rides, I have found myself needing the best pump up music to keep me sane. So, without further ado, I present my top 5 albums to listen to on a commute (or on the T or jamming down Comm Ave).

1) Sweetener – Ariana Grande

I don’t care what anybody says, this album is amazing! If you want to feel confident before heading into work, jamming to Ariana Grande is definitely the way. My personal favorites from the album are Borderline and Successful (but also God is a Woman is a masterpiece that makes you feel like a bad b*tch).

2) Rumours – Fleetwood Mac

If you’re feeling nostalgic and dreamy, Stevie will never steer you wrong. I refuse to choose a favorite from this album. I guess you’ll just have to listen in full ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

3) Melodrama – Lorde

Again, if you’re feeling homesick or nostalgic this one really hits me in the feels. It’s perfect for a foggy drive/walk through the city. My favorites are Supercut and Homemade Dynamite.

4) Anything by Lizzo (ik, not an album)

This technically isn’t an album, but if you’re looking for a pick me up, Lizzo is the way to go. Her upbeat hits will have you skipping down Com Ave!

5) Greatest Hits – Queen Compilation

Finally, I can’t have a music blog post without mentioning my favorite band, Queen. Literally any song you listen to will put you in a good mood. But, if you don’t have time to listen to their entire body of work, any Greatest Hits compilation will have you dancing and smiling all the way to work.

BONUS: Podcasts

I also love podcasts!! If you’re looking for a good podcast to get lost in I recommend How I Built This or Invisibilia!

HAPPY LISTENING 🙂

Carlee: Why FYSOP is the Perfect Way to Kick Off Your Fall Semester

Move-in weekend can be a lot all at once. You run into yellow carts all over campus, a ton of social interaction (which can be overwhelming for an introvert, or an ambivert like myself), the search for time to decorate your room and settle in, the task of memorizing your schedule for fall classes that will start in a couple days, hello and goodbye hugs everywhere- it’s definitely a lot at once. If you had a summer that was more on the chill side (like I did), jumping right back into the hustle and bustle of BU can be rough. If you’re looking to get acclimated to campus life a little earlier, and you have a passion for social justice, I have a solution for you…

FYSOP!!!!

For those of you who have never heard of ~FYSOP~, the acronym stands for First-Year Student Outreach Project, and the program is conducted through BU’s Community Service Center annually the weeks before the fall semester kicks off. This year was the program’s 29^th FYSOP, and as a sophomore, it was my second year participating in the program. Last year I participated as a first-year student, and this year, I volunteered as a staff leader and had a group of freshmen of my own.

FYSOP is truly everything that you could ask for from a program (if you find it’s for you); it introduces you to new friends who are just as enthusiastic and passionate as you are, it enlightens you on all of the problem areas of Boston, and it allows you to give back to our city as a thank you for welcoming us as students. The theme for FYSOP this year was: What’s your story? So basically, the theme was storytelling… how COM is that?! We love storytelling in both COM and FYSOP, so those two worlds collided for me. The program encouraged us to have conversations with the residents of Boston, learn their stories, and discover our own. FYSOP got us all thinking about our stories and experiences that we bring to BU- they’re all different and unique, and that’s what makes our student body special.

If you’re reading this as an incoming freshman, I could not emphasize the benefits of FYSOP more. The program teaches you everything that you’d wanna know about your new city and it gives you a solid group of companions to dive into your first semester with, as well as a few mentors (your staff leaders)! If you’re reading this as a continuing BU student and have ever considered getting involved with FYSOP, I highly recommend that you apply for a staff leader position this winter. If you’re interested in both leadership and community service, FYStaff is perfect for you. I had the best experience as a staff leader; my fellow co-staff were so incredible and kind, and they are truly some of the best at BU. My group of first years were so much fun, and they bonded right off the bat. The days of FYSOP are long ones, but the people you’re surrounded with make it so worthwhile.

No lie, as I am writing this in the GSU, I hear the table next to me talking about how much they loved FYSOP and how great their staff leaders were. They’re even talking about a FYSOP reunion that they’re attending this weekend. You’ll hear all over campus about how FYSOP can bring such light to students’ lives, and they aren’t wrong. I understand that FYSOP may not be for everyone, but for those who find themselves ready to devote themselves to a program of such integrity and morality, this could be a home for you.

Yes, there are a lot of obnoxious cheers to pump all of the students up, and yes, you may have to find the motivation to take on the long days, but the program truly is the best way to kick off your fall semester, and it is a ton of fun. Some even say that FYSOP is a cult on campus, but I find that it is a happy, open-minded cult. J

The program set me up for my sophomore year here at BU and in COM, as I know feel motivated to understand the stories of those around me, escape the “BU bubble” and explore Boston more, and strengthen the friendships and connections that I made from freshmen year. FYSOP could do the same for you, too!

Becca: Why My Fall Goals Matter to You

The fall semester is one of my favorite because it’s time to reset the focus on meeting goals. Even if you spent your summer working or taking class comparable to your fall semester, as I did (although in Australia), everyone is back on campus together to take classes, work part-time jobs, participate in extracurriculars, and try to strike the work-life-school-friend-extracurricular balance that’s rare. So I take time every fall to set some concrete goals for myself. However, it is hard to set goals that are really meaningful, so I am willing to share my mine with you guys so we can all have a successful semester. If you’re already inspired, this Fast Company article is my favorite guide to create an attainable plan. I encourage you to write your goals down in a visible place that you will see daily to reconnect you with your vision.

But, if you need some examples or are just really nosy about my life below are my goals. This is not only helpful for you, but for me because now everyone knows them and will keep me on my toes. Enjoy!

Read for enjoyment every day.

I don’t know about you but I grew up a reading fiend. I would read after my bedtime and risk being caught by my Mom. However, as I have gotten older reading has become something to stress over for class. Well, this semester I am determined to take back the fun in reading. Once a day, I am trying to set aside some time to read a thriller, a sci-fi mystery, or a romance novel. Even books I have to read for literature class can fall under this category if I find myself enjoying them. I can talk about the scientific studies that accompany reading novels every day, but really you just feel a little better after some good book time.

Find fun ways to move my body daily.

As you will see a majority of my goals are taking things off my chore list and making them something I look forward to. Exercise is no different. We all know we should be doing it daily and making it a habit while we are young. But no rulebook says exercise is thirty minutes on the treadmill (it actually began as torture machine) and not dancing with your roommates or participating in an intramural league. I want to recommit myself to love the body I was given and all of its talents instead of using it for my next Netflix binge. (or Hulu, because I just started Handmaid’s Tale. Amazing.)

Take personal relationships very seriously.

My friends mean the world to me. I can count on them to fulfill any role in my life, and I would do the same for them. Lately, I have been putting effort into my close relationships with my best friends, leaving acquaintances and new companions in the dust. This semester I am committing to be a better friend to those in my life. Whether that means grabbing lunch with someone in the GSU (when I’d rather watch Netflix) or just commenting something nice on new Instagram posts. We forget most people have their own lives with their own problems and can often use an extra dose of compassion from their fellow humans. And remember, when you put good in the universe, it comes back for you.

Just for fun, if I still have your attention, I’m going to list the rest of my goals that you can adapt to fit your own needs. What works for me, may not be what your focus is. Set a goal and commit to it.

Figure out job plans for the next semester
Tell people honestly how I feel
Actively listen to everyone (including professors!)
Have a conversation with one new person a day
Shut my phone down for a while (not including class!)
Learn to forgive my family, my friends, and myself

Carly: The Death and Rebirth of the Romantic Comedy (Relative to my Own Experiences)

I’m sure I speak to many film majors (and non-film major movie buffs) when I discuss the air of authority kids assume when they first discover the art of film.

When I first fell in love with movies, I became a Wes Anderson junkie. I spoke constantly of his organic storytelling and unique aesthetics, and I shamed my friends for being shallow when they insisted on seeing Divergent instead of Grand Budapest Hotel (yes, I was that much of a film snob). As a result, the more I expanded my film knowledge and discovered a community of other cinephiles, I began to scorn the conventional romantic comedy. I scoffed at girls who loved movies I believed contained no depth, and I saw myself as superior because I didn't waste time watching "feel-good movies".

There were some exceptions over the years, including Crazy, Stupid Love, Amelie, and She’s The Man. But for whatever reason, the only movies I insisted on seeing and watching had to be either dark and pervasive, quirky and experimental, or deep and provocative.

And yet...at the beginning of last year, I suddenly found myself pining for a good dose of romance. I wanted to watch two people fall in love and I wanted to watch two lovers share an emotional connection.

And thus began my secret binge - it started with trailers for rom-coms both old and new; then I found myself actually queuing up rom-coms on my own time. What was I doing, wasting my time watching What If?, a 2011 rom-com that lost close to three million dollars and starred Daniel Radcliffe and a pre-The Big Sick Zoe Kazan? Why did I repeatedly watch the trailer for Before We Go, Chris Evans’ 2014 directorial debut that received a whopping 21% on Rotten Tomatoes? Because these movies made me feel things. Even if they made me feel more lonely, even if they enabled me to quietly pine for a character in my own life (for whom, yes, I am still secretly pining), they still enveloped me in feeling. I couldn’t get enough. I rewatched classics, and I searched long and hard for indies.

All the while, however, I kept my new interest private. I didn’t feel comfortable enough asking my friends to binge rom-coms with me (how stupid and pretentious is that?), and I felt weak if I admitted in my film classes that the most recent movies that had made me cry were Moonrise Kingdom and/or Wall-E, or even worse, that I cried just watching the trailer for Mamma Mia.

But now it appears as if I wasn’t the only one who missed romantic comedies. As it turns out, quite virtually everyone wanted them back, a development that surfaced with the widespread popularity of Crazy Rich Asians.

Of course, I don’t mean to discount the fact that Crazy Rich Asians primarily served as an important piece of representation for the Asian-American community, and that it will no doubt pave the way for non-white actors who deserve to land roles other than the stereotypical best friend or sidekick. But I also think the movie was a success because it was such a damn good love story. It was so SATISFYING. It made me CRY. It made my FATHER cry. It was so enjoyable, and heartwarming, and it felt good knowing everyone around me similarly loved it.

The revival continues as well with To All The Boys I’ve Ever Loved Before, a Netflix rom-com featuring budding stars Lana Condor and Noah Centineo. I absolutely lost my mind over To All The Boys; I fell madly in love with both male characters and I never wanted Lara Jean to leave the screen. I loved the story and its characters and quirkiness and I loved watching the tale unfold (and yes, I now exclusively refer to Noah Centineo as Peter Kavinsky, and I assume he’ll live on as that character for a good majority of his career).

Yes, romantic comedies can be cheesy, and corny, and unrealistic, and they definitely hit an all-time low in the 2000s, when studios used big ticket stars to generate income on an awful script (i.e. How Do You Know circa 2010, or All About Steve circa 2009). But I finally think the industry is learning how to make them work -- with equal representation and diverse stories, and well-developed characters and plot lines, no doubt.

I’ve come to the conclusion that, as a society, we need rom-coms. We need to believe in the idea of love, and watching others experience the trials and tribulations of falling in love is a method of catharsis. We need to leave our own realities for brief periods of time to fall in line along characters as they reach their happy endings, if not for our own satisfaction then at least to hold on to the slight chance that we too might find such a love in our own lifetime. We need to share the laughs and the tears and the emotions with our friends and family, and we need universal love stories to help connect with strangers, with acquaintances, with budding friends. Rom-coms might just be the comedic relief our own society needs in order to survive this incredibly intense and upsetting time in the world. And so I eagerly saw Mamma Mia 2 its opening weekend, and I felt no shame in listening to its soundtrack for a week straight afterward. And yes, I cried after Love, Simon and The Big Sick. I saw La La Land four times. And I have tickets to see Juliet, Naked next weekend. Because I love rom-coms. I really do.

And now, I leave you with Vanity Fair’s most recent list of top 25 Rom-Coms. Invite your friends over. Bake some brownies. Enjoy.

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/08/best-romantic-comedies-list

Tyler: Legitimize your Ideas: Aly & AJ

“You need to know how to defend your ideas with confidence, even if that means digging yourself into a hole.”

It was the first day of class senior year when the Media Money Trail course instructor, Professor Jodi Luber, established this objective for the semester. She encourages debate, even if you’re aware that you are wrong, for the sake of knowing how to argue. It’s an important skill for any professional in a creative field: how do you legitimize your ideas? If you’re pitching an idea and there is an unexpected question or criticism comes, you must know how to address it.

When you think about it, this is a pretty good skill for everyday life. When you have an opinion or theory, what can you do to defend it? Let’s take this example that is my personal favorite. Are you ready?

Ex-Disney Channel stars-turned-pop duo Aly & AJ are vampires.

What?

Yep. Believe it or not, I think that they are vampires. And I’m going to defend my opinion to you, readers.

Alyson and Amanda “AJ” Michalka were practically A-List celebrities in the mid-2000s. Think: Cow Belles, Phil of the Future, some recurring roles on daytime shows like Passions and General Hospital, NOT EVEN to mention their ultimate stardom with their Insomniatic and Into the Rush albums. But, where did they go post-Insomniatic? Simple: the grave. Their retreat from the spotlight lasted years. As a ruse, they sometimes popped up in throwaway projects like Hellcats and Silicon Valley, but who really cares about that? They just wanted you to think that they weren’t dead. Truly, there is a stark contrast between who they were and who they became.

alyandajinsomiatic What a dreary album cover for what was probably the last time they were seen alive

2. In 2015, Aly returned to the small screen via the CW series iZombie. The series centers around newly-minted zombie, Olivia, who uses her eating habits to absorb the memories of murder victims and solve their deaths. Creepy? A bit. Aly plays Peyton, Olivia’s (living) best friend. The connection is just uncanny. She’s in a show about dead people, but she isn’t dead? Seems like a diversion where she can point fingers elsewhere.

alyizombie Taken from tv.com.

3. Recently, Aly & AJ have emerged from their slumber together. Their EP Ten Years reintroduces them to the music world with a rejuvenated sound. Yeah, I bop to it. It sounds nice, and I can definitely say, “We stan!” But think harder. What does “ten years” even mean? Ten years since what? Their deaths? Probably. Things get even spookier when you listen to their hit, “Take Me.” Check out these lines:

I know that you would want it

If I could sink my teeth into you

They are literally talking about biting somebody. Their music video also confirms the suspicion. Check out those sharpened teeth:

Alyfangs Taken from Vevo music video of "Take Me".

4. This summer, my friend Jess and I had the pleasure (or doomed misfortune) of seeing Aly & AJ live at the Paradise Rock Club. It was a transformative experience. Great banter, great tunes, and lots of dancing. At one point, Aly commented on their tumultuous careers: “I feel like AJ and I have lived nine lives!” Honestly, Aly, maybe that’s because you have.

jJEb7ziXSkWPSHTXDjD47w A poor quality photo of a high quality evening.

I feel as though I have some irrefutable evidence here. Try to come at me! Perhaps I have dug myself into a hole in the process of this post… but what kind of hole? Notice my obsession over Aly & AJ aligns closely with that of a vampire’s minion. I was within close proximity of these two goddesses. Maybe there is a small chance… just a tiny one… that they have turned me, too, and the hole in which I lie exists in your local cemetery. Watch out when you’re traversing Commonwealth Ave late at night, all alone…

Arianna: So You Went to Splash…Now What?

If you’re anything like I was as a freshman, your BU inbox is probably (and hopefully) cluttered with emails you signed up for during Splash this weekend. You may have signed up for a couple of them just to win a free T-shirt, and some you might’ve just put your email down because your friends or roommate did. I remember being pretty overwhelmed at my first Splash, because there are so many different clubs and organizations out there, and all of them are trying to get your attention. At the end of the day, the idea of narrowing everything down to a very small handful of clubs can be very daunting.

Unfortunately for me, I actually only ended up going to a few of the meetings, and didn’t really stick with any clubs my first semester. In the thick of everything, that actually didn’t occur to me--I signed up for BUTV10 and went to the trainings, but I only sporadically showed up to shoots after the training ended. I was afraid of over-committing my time, and ended up with such an excess of free time that I ran out of things to do almost constantly. The tricky thing is, it’s very difficult, if not impossible, to get involved with clubs after the initial buzzing of the start of the semester wears off, because most organizations are in a routine by October.

Thankfully, at the beginning of the spring semester each year, BU hosts a Winter Activities Fair. I attended by myself, being the only person in my friend group who really needed to go. I signed up for WTBU and a volunteer group with the Community Service Center, and from my initial sign-up for WTBU stemmed an opportunity to write for The Beat, WTBU’s zine. Suddenly, my semester was filled with weekly meetings and opportunities to do stuff outside of class, and meet a ton of great people. My freshman spring was leaps and bounds better than my freshman fall, and I fully attribute that to the fact that I was more involved at BU.

Starting with that semester and throughout my sophomore year, I tried out a lot of different clubs and organizations, learned so much, and felt so much more content and fulfilled at BU, then during my junior year, I fully settled into BU On Broadway, joined BUTV10’s Bay State as a writer, and have stayed involved in the Community Service Center by doing FYSOP as a staff leader and going on an ASB trip. Because of my extracurriculars, I feel so much more passionate, driven, and capable, and I bring that into the classroom, which has helped me grow academically.

Long story short, even if you somehow ended up only signing up for 3 mailing lists, make sure you get to those general meetings and ask around about what your friends, classmates, or floormates are involved in and see if you can tag alone. I promise it will make all the difference in your first year, and the sooner you get involved, the sooner you will discover your greatest passions and meet your favorite people.

Have a great semester,

Arianna <3

Kate: How to Get Through Your Finals Week

Believe it or not, the end of the school year is approaching and finals week is back. Finals come in many forms at BU and especially COM since many COM classes have final projects and papers due the week before. But, no matter when finals week occurs for you or how long it lasts, this week may be stressful. So, here are a couple tips to help you get through your finals week.

1. Find some time for yourself

It may seem like you have a lot to do in only a little bit of time, but that time will be wasted with an unfocused mindset if you don’t give yourself a short break to do something you enjoy. Whether it be going for a run or just hanging out in your dorm watching two, and only two, episodes of The Office, these nice breaks are necessarily in keeping you mentally stable during this busy time.

2. Use the study break

BU is nice enough to give us a three day study break. This is a great time to spend studying and finishing up all assignments that need to get done. It’s nice because there is really nothing else you need to worry about except for work and preparing for finals. Even if your finals are later in the week, this is a great time to get started and just start reviewing the information, even if it’s for only a few hours that day. Those few hours are so beneficial and will be extremely helpful in learning and reviewing all the information from the course.

3. Get some sleep

Every cliche movie shows college students staying up late, cramming for their exams all night. But sleep is crucial to an alert and working brain, especially during a two hour test. These days off are a great time to be able to study while still getting a full night’s sleep. There is no better feeling than waking up after a good night’s sleep, ready and motivated to take on exams.

4. Go out into the city to study

You have all day! Go out into the city to study or find a quiet coffee shop. It’s your last couple days in Boston before summer so why not enjoy it while still being productive. If it’s nice out you can find outdoor seating or go to the Boston Public Library. The little spots around Boston are calming and allow you to take advantage of the last couple days in the city.

5. Remember that you are almost done

Yes, finals week can get stressful, but you are so close and almost done. Once exams are over, you get the entire summer to enjoy yourself and not worry about a test or a paper that you have to write. Just push through these last few days and then you have a couple months to completely just enjoy yourself and do whatever you want.

So, finals week can get stressful and can feel like a lot, but the light is there at the end of the tunnel. These tips can help you push through the end of the semester while still staying ~relatively~ sane. And with that I wish you good luck on finals!

Geneve: Five Instagrammable Spots in Boston

One of the best parts about living in a city like Boston is all of the beautiful spots perfect for photographing! Here are 5 spots in bean town that you are sure to love and likely to make it on your next Instagram post.

1. Piers Park | 95 Marginal St, Boston, MA 02128

Lau. Photo 1

How to get there:

Take a Green Line train Inbound from Kenmore (C or D) to Government Center (6 stops)

At Government Center, change to the Blue Line (Wonderland) (3 stops)

Get off at Maverick stop

Walk to Piers Park, head southeast until you find Marginal Street

Piers Park was actually one of the first places I visited on my own without my parents since I got to BU! My friend Jack looked it up online before and really wanted to check it out so we did the first Saturday. It was a ton of fun, and you can get some really great photos with the city skyline in the background.

2. Acorn Street | Acorn St, Boston, MA 02108

Lau. Photo 2

How to get there:

Take a Green Line train Inbound to Boylston

Walk across the Boston Common (Away from Tremont, along Charles, towards Beacon)

Find Spruce Street after crossing Beacon Street

Turn left on Chestnut Street

Turn right on Willow Street

Turn left on Acorn Street

Acorn Street currently holds the title of “Most Photographed Street in America”. It is a stop on every Boston tour, so you’ll always see handfuls of tourists passing by, as well as senior portrait photographers and wedding photographers doing shoots. Getting the perfect photo can be hard sometimes with so many frequenters but you just have to be smart about your angle and timing!

3. Berkshire Bank Sign @ Government Center

Lau. Photo 3

Photo from Twitter

How to get there:

Take a Green Line train Inbound to Park Street

At Park Street, change to any train to take you one further stop to Government Center

Although not always up, these huge letters spelling Boston are a great way for you to show your Boston pride! If you happen to see the letters while you’re in the area, stop for a pic! They’re not always up. However, over the winter they put up a gorgeous skating rink, so if that’s more your style, all power to you!

4. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum | 25 Evans Way, Boston, MA 02115

Lau. Photo 4

How to get there:

Although accessible via the T, it takes way longer than walking

Turn away from the Charles on St. Mary’s Street

Turn left onto Mountfort Street

Follow Park Drive (slight right, and then slight left)

Turn right onto Brookline Avenue

Turn left onto Fenway

Turn right onto Evans Way

An absolutely picturesque gem, the Gardner Museum is not only free for BU students, but a great spot to enjoy both nature and art. Fun fact- the largest art theft in history is still an ongoing investigation for the 13 art pieces, worth up to $500 million, stolen from the Gardner museum in 1990. As part of Isabella Stewart Gardner’s will, none of the paintings in the museum can be replaced, so take a look into the different rooms–you’ll notice there are empty frames awaiting the stolen paintings’ return home!

5. The Boston University Bridge | Boston, MA 02215

Lau. Photo 5

How to get there:

Heading westward on Commonwealth Avenue, take a right when you hit the bridge. You’ll pass the GSU and the Boston University Academy

Unexpected, but the BU bridge actually gives you this great overall view of the skyline of Boston! On a sunny day, you can get an amazing photo with the buildings in the background. Plus, it’s so close to campus, you barely have to travel to get there!

Eliza: A Love Letter to Mugar

You guys: it is my last semester of senior year and I am JUST NOW discovering that I LOVE AND APPRECIATE Mugar.

I do not, at all, love the building, or the associations I have with it due to too many late nights on the sixth floor by myself writing some paper or another. And for many Boston University students I’m sure this admission will seem crazy and maybe even just induced by a few too many coffees.

But you guys: I love the BOOKS.

In truth I know I must be one of the literal last people who still uses actual books in research papers, but as I’ve worked over the past year on my Kilachand Honors Keystone I’ve come to have a new appreciation for the sheer volume of sources we have access to at Boston University.

I suppose this may be a good time to mention that these sort of resources haven’t really been a part of my COM experiences. As a journalism major, my sources were live on the street, not in the stacks. But through my general education classes, my English dual degree, and the pursuit of my Kilachand keystone.

The incredible thing about attending Boston University is that we have all these resources right there to use. Blessedly, my topic of choice for research is an extremely specific niche, and so I’ve been able take books home for weeks at a time, coming back to them as I need.

Books about everything from the history of the cafe in Paris to a personal recollection of the culture of Bohemia to The Joy of Cooking have informed this last major collegiate research project. In case after case, I’ve actually come across useful sources while looking for others in the same section.

But really this newfound nostalgia for the library is a smaller subset of a broader retrospective appreciation for the opportunities of four years at college. From the best classes to the most tedious projects to the latest nights up writing, it’s important to remember that the opportunity to do so can’t be underrated.

As I look out at my future as a young professional (gulp) and realize that I won’t have to spend hours pouring over books about the language of Shakespeare and the history of the papacy and the philosophy of the enlightenment, I also look forward to a chance to do it without the pressures of school work.

Caroline: My Internship at CONAN in Los Angeles

I write this post as I sit in the control room at CONAN on my last day. I leave LA on Saturday and while my time here has been a bit of a roller coaster, I’m so glad I decided to spend my final semester of college out here in California. After three and a half amazing years in Boston at BU, I felt it was time to begin my transition from college to my career. The BU Los Angeles program is designed exactly for that. We intern during the day and have class three days a week in the evening. But these aren’t your typical classes—we have mostly speakers to teach us about the industry. There isn’t really homework, there aren’t any tests. This is an industry immersion.

And immersed I was. I am the control room intern at CONAN. What that means in a nut shell is I get to sit in the control room of a late night talk show all day. It is seriously the dream. I want to work in a talk show control room one day and it doesn’t get much better than interning for the late night veteran—25 years on the air—Conan O’Brien. I perform normal intern tasks like stocking food and distributing paperwork, but I also get to time the music performances in rehearsal and work with the director and associate director. Through observation I’ve been able to learn a lot. BU prepared me to understand what I was seeing in the control room, but I learned the intricacies of a live daily production that are hard to learn in the classroom.

I would be hard-pressed to find a nicer group of people to work with. So many of them moved out here from NYC together when Conan got The Tonight Show. And they were all in it together when Conan lost the The Tonight Show. Speaking of—I decided to read Bill Carter’s The War for Late Night about the 2010 Tonight Show conflict and I was able to talk to people written about in the book to get their take on what happened. Not many people can say they’ve had the chance to ask questions directly to people they are learning about. Just another example of the incredible learning opportunities the BULA program offers students.

Not only was I working on a late night talk show, I also got to swipe in every day at Warner Brothers Studios. There is so much history here on the lot. I was lucky enough to have some free time to explore. I walked around Rosewood from Pretty Little Liars, or Stars Hollow of Gilmore Girls if you prefer (though the gazebo was gone). I biked past stages filming Ellen, Mom, The Big Bang Theory, Lethal Weapon, and so much more. I ate lunch on the streets of New York then walked through the streets of Paris. I even got to see some BU grads currently working on shows on the lot. And yes—I’ve talked to Conan and seen a bunch of celebrities.

While I am excited to head back to the East Coast, I am certainly sad to leave CONAN. I’ve made great friends with some of the interns here and I’m sure we’ll be working together again soon. And my departure marks the end of my college education. In a few weeks I’ll be walking at graduation and bidding adieu to the place I’ve called home for four years. My fellow seniors have all said their goodbyes so well. Instead, I’ll just say thank you to the institution that has offered me so much love the past four years.