Katie: “Treat yo self” for the little things

Parks and Recreation Season 4, Episode 4: Pawnee Rangers. Also known as, Treat Yo Self.

Well, first of all, if you haven’t seen this brilliant episode of television, stop what you’re doing right now, type Netflix into the search bar, and do it. You can thank me later.

Did you watch it? Great. Let me tell you why it’s so important to me.

During my time at The Daily Free Press, we referred to the weeks just before and just after Spring Break as the mid-semester “slump.” We are tired, we are taking midterms, and we are ready for some rest and relaxation.

It’s easy to fall victim to the negativity that comes with being so busy, but it’s also easy to spin things with a positive light. This is where Parks and Rec comes in. I am a firm believer in treating myself for the little things. Did you finish making the flashcards for your history midterm on Thursday? Treat yo self. Did you finish an essay that you’ve been chipping away at for a week? Treat yo self. Did you wake up on time and roll out of bed without hitting snooze? Treat yo self.

While Parks and Rec limits treating yo self to one day of the year, I say we should treat ourselves all year long. There’s nothing wrong with a little bit of extra motivation to get over that mid-semester slump.

Hanna: A Shout-out to Some Real Live Ladies

I was feeling a little insecure the other day, as we all sometimes feel, just because I was focusing so much on all of the, well, hot people everywhere. Instagram, Fit Rec, West Campus in general...I am lucky to have such access to beautiful people on a regular basis! While I have no negative feelings toward anyone because of how they look, noticing their cool outfits and flat abs and wavy hair and general awesomeness makes it easy to take those observations and use them to pinpoint all the things I think I don't have in comparison.

Thus I was having one of those moments, blah blah blah, it happens, and because I wanted a pick-me-up and I finally had a free hour, I decided to catch up on Jane the Virgin, which, critics and I agree, you all need to be watching. Then I procrastinated on a paper for another hour to watch the latest episode of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (CW, you're killing the game), but I think it was well-placed procrastination. Both shows gave me a very important reminder that I would like to share with the COM Ambassador Blog community.

Gina Rodriguez and Rachel Bloom walk around all day with hit TV shows, Golden Globes, and gorgeous, normal bodies. Their love lives and friendships are thriving on and off screen, but characters in the shows don't often describe their attraction to them in physical terms. These actors and the characters they play put an image in mainstream media that many of us need to see. “Healthy” can mean many different things for different people, and our heroes on screen should reflect that.

I believe that characters on television can influence our perspectives about any kind of person. In fact, I am planning to study “cultural others” in television comedy for my Kilachand Honors College Senior Research Project, and I want to explore how their portrayals potentially affected their acceptance in the American public at the time of their “otherness” (think homosexual people in the 1980s, for example). In my project, I plan to look at portrayals of specific ethnicities and how certain handlings of them in television can positively or negatively influence that group’s real-world reputation, but I’ll let you know more about that when the time comes.

This belief also translates into television and body image. Our perceptions of certain looks and figures can change if a certain look or figure is portrayed positively on a show we love. Gina Rodriguez in Jane the Virgin is a healthy Latina woman who does not fit the general mold of a Hollywood body type. She isn’t overweight, she just isn’t a stick, and I am constantly put at ease when I watch her form such a lovable relationship with the audience no matter what she wears or how she looks. She is objectively attractive in a realistic way, and her casting coupled with the admirable writing of her character sets us up to appreciate everything about her, both physically and internally. Every girl watching the show can be just like Jane. We can pursue our passions despite conflicting obligations. We can be selfless friends, daughters, mothers, lovers and fighters and we can attract others with our personalities, not our sex appeal.

There is an argument that Jane the Virgin is unrealistic. “No guy would wait for a girl to have sex until marriage,” they say, and I understand this idea, especially in a college environment. However, the point of the show and the positioning of Jane as a role model, to me at least, is not to inspire anyone to “wait until marriage.” It indirectly pushes the value of non-sexual aspects of ourselves and reminds us that all the things we love to find glamorous are wonderful, unnecessary bonuses. I know it sounds corny, but trying to be the very best versions of ourselves should be enough to impress everyone we hold near and dear. The people who love us should love us because of our values, behavior and personalities, not because our thigh gap is smaller than the girl on the elliptical next to us.

Rachel Bloom of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is just another example of a beautiful and successful woman who does not need a perfectly flat stomach to make an impact. I spend so much of my time worrying about how I’ll look next to other girls, and an artist like Rachel Bloom reminds me that my largest value comes in what I can create, not what I can wear. It is important to stay healthy because I feel best when I am, but comparing my “healthy” to that of others does me no good at all. In fact, it only takes time away from working on projects like those of Rodriguez and Bloom – why waste time worrying about my physical ranking when I could be focusing on all the things I have the potential to create? As long as I eat healthy enough to stay focused and sharp, exercise enough to stay energized and comfortable, and enjoy life enough to relax and trust my abilities, I’ll be the person I want to be no matter what body holds me up. If you ever forget that this is also the case for you, please head to The CW website to watch an episode about two wonderful, real women.

Tyler: Major Key: Find Your Mantra

Recently, in my FT 201 class (prospective students: this is basically your introductory film course), we launched our websites/portfolios to publish our work. After some time designing my page, I searched for an alluring title that captured the my essence. Long story short, I added the words “Armey Strong” to the banner.

Then, while critiquing sites, my professor also noted the title: Clever!! Punny!! But why? What does it mean to you or this site? I told him that it has a lot of meaning to me; in fact, it was sort of like my mantra.

A student across the table interjected, “Then that’s something I definitely want to read about!”

And, so, here it is! I’m going to kill two bird with one stone: a blog post for you and an article for my website’s bio page. Are you ready to learn the story of “Be Armey Strong?”

--

Flashback to almost five years ago. Three friends -- Carly, Jess, and myself -- sit at a table together during their study hall. In front of my is the nomination sheet for freshman class president, ready to pass in. But, before I get up to go anywhere, my friends were sure to have my back.

“You’ll need a slogan, you know,” Carly reminded me.

As if I could come up with something clever! Tyler and Armey don’t rhyme with anything fun.

Jess, quite a laconic gal, chimed in, “You don’t need a rhyme. What about a pun? What about... ‘Be Armey Strong?’”

Two weeks later, I walked out of the school as a proud representative to my class. I was ecstatic... but also a little fearful. What was I getting myself into? Was I right for the job? I resolved that those questions didn’t matter. What did matter was that I was now an important role model for these students. I planned to give 110% effort in any duty that impacted the well-being or experiences of others. After all, compassion is a main trait of any Armey.

In the years to come, my above promise and Armey Strong became synonymous. I faced a lot of struggles within high school. But I had to remember that I had work to do and that my personal problems shouldn’t affect my work because that would spread an unnecessary negativity amongst those who don’t deserve that burden. I trained myself to remain optimistic in dark times, compassionate and kind towards all, and remained a strong leader for the sake of others and my own well-being.

“Armey Strong” evolved from trivial wordplay to a guiding phrase that lead me to unbelievable opportunities and friendships that I cannot even begin to explain (we’ll save those for another blog post). I try to remember what it means as I go about my days: Positivity. Friendship. Understanding. And as Deadpool would say, “maximum effort.” And, it’s kind of cool thing to say, right? “Armey Strong” threw me into BU full-throttle. I joined clubs, met friends, and became proud of my Terrier identity.

Anyway, here’s the moral of the story for you, COM students: don’t live life aimlessly. Find your mantra. Similar to Stacy’s point in her post below, live life with meaning. You may find yourself making a huge difference in the lives of so many people, including your own.

 

Carly and I at our last student leadership conference in April 2015. Being Armey Strong lead us to this nostalgic moment, where we both were preparing to say our goodbyes as regional and state student council officers. Thank you for everything, Carly.

Hannah: When (Abroad) Life Imitates Art

Here it is -- my Abroad Com Blog. I always knew I would end up writing one, but I wasn’t sure when or from where. Now, it’s spring of my junior year and I’m blogging in (drum roll, please) London!

It’s day one of my internship, and I’m surrounded by movie posters. At Umedia, where I work as a legal intern, framed posters decorate an exposed brick wall, opposite the large arched windows that let sunlight flood the bright white workspace.  I’m the newest addition to a team of five here in the London branch of Umedia. Based in Brussels and with offices in London, Paris and LA, Umedia finances and produces films through its own fund.  Film production comes with a number of legal and business transactions, so as an assistant to the head of legal affairs, I’ll get my feet wet in media law and the entertainment industry here. (I’m so excited about it!!)

Although it’s the first day at Umedia, I’m at the start of week six in London, and I’m in no way ready to leave. Living in London has been everything I imagined: tuning my ears to charming accents, learning about British history while at historical sites, crossing streets with extra caution (they drive on the left?), being aware of my Americanness everywhere I go. Also, socializing in pubs almost every night, honing my professional skills daily, and friending BU students I never would have met.

It’s been a whirlwind in the best way.  It’s also been lots of quick flights on the weekend to parts of the world I never thought I’d see. Convinced I’d study abroad in Ecuador for the Latin American studies program, I figured I’d have to stick to watching movies to learn about European countries. For me, watching foreign films or movies featuring Americans abroad has been the closest thing to actually travelling overseas.  Great way to visit a place on a budget -- until now.  Once I chose to study British culture and law in London, I placed myself in prime real estate for accessing other cities. So far, I’ve seen Copenhagen, Paris, Florence and Rome.

As Princess Anne in Roman Holiday says: each city, in its own way, was unforgettable.  And as I spoke with locals, ate traditional food and soaked up as much culture as I could, I would compare everything to what I’d seen on the Big Screen. I couldn’t help it! My passion for entertainment has apparently travelled abroad with me.  But I think it’s something we all do. ‘It’s just like in the movies’ has crossed all our minds at some point in life. When your first encounter with a place is through a film, it’s impossible not to seek out that same experience once you’re really there.  And so life imitates art.

Before flying out to these cities, my only references to them were from cinema.  When I arrived in London, I immediately thought of Love Actually, in which intertwining storylines take the audience to landmark locations across the city.  In Copenhagen, I looked out onto the waterfront and thought of Ariel, from Disney’s The Little Mermaid, the childhood movie that first introduced me to the landscape of Denmark. At Versailles, I geeked out over the chateau, not only for the history of its royal residents, but also because it was just how I’d seen it in Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette.  My roommate and travel pal, Kelsey, quoted Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs as we sipped on Chianti, Hannibal’s drink of choice, at a vineyard in Tuscany.

The comparisons didn’t stop there.  Since I come from an Italian family, Italy was my number one destination.  But as the site of two movies crucial to my childhood, Rome in particular was about more than connecting with my ancestry.  Rome was about fulfilling my dream to be Lizzie McGuire and having a holiday like Princess Anne’s. I wish I could put into words what The Lizzie McGuire Movie and Roman Holiday mean to me. When I saw Lizzie McGuire at age 8, and then Roman Holiday shortly after, I became convinced Rome was the city where anything was possible.  An ordinary middle school graduate could try out life as a popstar, or an overscheduled princess could have a go at being a free spirit. Since Rome was never within reach, I hadn’t considered what would be possible for me there.  Visiting Rome was for me, in every cliche way, a metaphor that nothing is out of reach, and childhood dreams do come true.  

Now that I Veni Vidi Vici’ed in Rome, it’s time for some new dreams.  Right now, in my internship phase of study abroad, I’m dreaming of an interesting and influential career in media.  Whether we realize it or not, the media we consume has an undeniable impact on our lives, from our opinions of today’s social issues to our knowledge of the rest of the world. To work on the legal side of a television network or a production company would be a dream come true, and Umedia is only the beginning.  

Kreag: Spring Break in New York City

You know what’s scary?  Its almost spring break.  I remember just weeks ago I felt like this semester was going soooooo slowly, and yet suddenly, here we are, less than two weeks away from a week of freedom.  I know that we have to survive midterms first, which are going to be a pain, but the hours and hours of studying will pay off once we begin our class-free week (and hopefully get some A’s on our midterms).

This year I decided my spring break was going to be exciting.  Last year I literally did nothing for spring break.  I went home, but my friends back in Agawam all have their Spring Break the week after BU does, so it was basically me sitting alone in my house for seven days.  This year, though, I decided to try something new.  Instead of going home, I’m taking a three day trip to New York City.  For a lot of people this probably isn’t a very exciting event, but as someone who has never been to the city, I am super excited.  In reality, the only city I’ve really ever been to is Boston, and as great as it is here, I am ready to go on an adventure in the Big Apple.

Here is a list of things I am really excited to see/do in New York:

-Rockefeller Plaza- I try and make it a habit to watch the Christmas tree lighting in Rockefeller Plaza live on tv every year, and the plaza always looks beautiful.  I know I won’t be seeing the tree there in March, but maybe I’ll catch a glimpse of Liz Lemon.

-Times Square- The hotel I’m staying at is actually in Times Square, which is super exciting since I’ve always heard that it is an insanely busy place.  Staying there for three days will be a perfect way to experience the life of New York City.

-Walk the High Line.  This is basically an old railroad converted into a linear park.  I’m hoping the weather remains nice enough to take a long walk down it at some point.

-The Statue of Liberty- I don’t know know if I actually want to journey to the top of the statue since I have a terrible fear of heights, but I at least want to catch a glimpse of it.

-Grand Central Station/Take the Subway- I have always wanted to see the inside of Grand Central Station, so this will be the perfect chance to do that!  Also, I’ve heard that the New York subway is much better than the T, so I’m excited to ride it and compare.

There are plenty of other things I’m hoping to do in New York, but these are the real highlights I’m hoping to hit while I’m there.  Hit me up on twitter @kreagsheehan if you have any fun New York City suggestions! 

Zach: REVIEW OF BASHO

I know you’ve all been waiting for what I had to say, and here it is ladies and gentleman, my review of BASHO EXPRESS at 700 Commonwealth.
ORDERING EXPERIENCE: 
It’s the same style as Chipotle. You walk down a line and pick things you want in your bowl/wrap. It’s simple, it’s easy, it’s straightforward. It qualifies as “Express” as expressed in the expression (name).
DESIGN:
Hip! It’s a hip lil place! They have cool lighting fixtures and cool wooden tables! The mirrors are a nice touch so you realize how cool you are as you are eating your food.
MENU:
There are a lot of options! But sometimes too many? I have a conflict of interest with the preselected options (such as Katsu Chicken) and they create your own, I think it would make me feel better if it were JUST create your own but I understand the rationale to pick both. Also it is pretty unclear what costs more and what doesn’t.
Last but not least… THE TASTE:
IT’S SO GOOD!!!!! LIKE OMG!!!!! I REALLY DON’T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO SAY JUST GO EAT IT!!!!
9/10 POINTS!!!
(it lost points because it smells so much like basho everywhere)

Stacy: A New Perspective

Sometimes life events happen that shift your entire perspective. For me, I just had one of these shifts. I lost one of my best friends from home on Valentine’s Day, and it was, and still is, the hardest thing I’ve ever experienced. I never thought I would lose someone so close to me so young. Laura would have been a bridesmaid at my wedding, she would have been an “aunt” to my kids, and she would have been around me my entire life. To not have her anymore is truly devastating.

After Laura’s passing, something changed in me. I really stepped back and looked at my life. Who is important? What matters? From here on out… especially with one year of college to go… I want to focus on what is important. I don’t want to care too much about the little things, worry about the future excessively, or put time and effort into things that aren’t going to amount to things in the future.

Laura was someone who always did what she wanted, and cherished her time with everyone she knew. She was kind to everyone, and always focused on making others happy. She truly fulfilled her purpose in her 20 short years she had on this earth. Her spirit impacted everyone who met her, and she was unlike anyone else I’ve ever met. I’m so lucky to be able to call her a best friend.

My advice for whoever is reading this post: live life. Take life day by day. I know it’s a cliché but it’s so true… life is incredibly short. Find your true friends and treasure them. Don’t hold grudges, don’t have regrets, don’t take anyone in your life for granted, and don’t flake on plans because you want to Netflix and chill. Don’t miss out on opportunities to make memories.

This can also be implemented on a minor scale as well. Eat two dinners in the dining hall if you feel like it, spend less time on homework if it means getting out there and meeting more people and spending valuable time with friends. Be kind to everyone you meet. You may not believe it, but a smile or holding a door for a complete stranger can really make someone’s day. It’s okay to not follow your plan. Stray away from your planner, take chances and follow through on your impulses. Life is too short to not live every day like your last.

So I hope you join me and take my advice. From here on out – treat each day is a treasure. I know I want to fill my last year of college with positive memories and immersing myself in my friendships. I want to live like Laura.

 

 

Kate: Tips and tricks for LinkedIn newbies or veterans

LinkedIn becomes more and more important for young professionals as they continue their college careers. Whether you are a freshman or a senior, its never too early (or late) to build up a professional network through LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a great place to maintain connections with previous co-workers and supervisors, keep a list of your involvement and activities, and keep a living resume online. Let's get started with some tips and tricks!

Photo: You definitely need to have a photo, but make sure its appropriate and professional, not a photo from you out a party where you think you "look good." Have a friend with a good camera take some head shots of you against a plain background while wearing business clothes- that'll do the trick until you have the chance to get professional pictures taken. Make student groups in COM offer free LinkedIn head shots at events or meeting so be sure to keep an eye out for those.

URL: Make sure you change your public profile URL to something specific. LinkedIn gives you a generic link that may include your name and a bunch of numbers. Keep it short and sweet (easy to put on resumes and remember). I recommend just using your first name initial and last name.

Connections: Don't just accept anyone and everyone. Who you connect with reflects on you as a professional person. My rule of thumb is to only connect with people who I have already worked with and who would reflect positively on me by association.

Groups/Companies: Join groups and follow companies! Don't join a million but pick companies in your industry that you would like to work for or are interested in learning more about. Groups are great for networking with other students, BU alumni and professionals.

Resume: Upload your resume to LinkedIn. You can keep the document on your page, but you can also mimic the resume with the experience and education sections. I like to keep everything on my LinkedIn (in great detail) and then take that information to tailor resumes to jobs I'm applying for. Some people chose to keep less on their LinkedIn, and thats ok too!

Summary: Update your summary every few months to reflect where you are at in your career or education. If you're looking for a summer internship, be sure to include that. If you're looking for a full time job post-grad, that should definitely be in your summary. Use that to show some personality and a deeper perspective into who you are as a young professional.

Angeli: Undecided and it feels so good

"Why don't we go around the room..."
Oh no.
"And we each say our name..."
Oh okay, I can do that.
"Where we're from..."
Just remember to say "Miami, Florida, not Ohio." Someone always chuckles.
"And of course our major!"
And there it is. Just like that. Just when I thought I could get through a single introduction without the dreaded m-word or even a day without thinking about it, it's crept back into my life. As a second semester freshman, if there's one thing I've already learned at college, it's that you can't meet new people (whether they're peers, professors, fellow party attendees) without discussing degrees. You can't run. You can't hide. Major talk (dun dun dun) is truly everywhere.
And my question is: why?
Maybe I'm naive or I've watched way too many teen movies in my lifetime (...that's definitely true actually), but I've always thought the purpose of college was to discover who you are and what you're good at/passionate about. Apparently, though, we're all supposed to have these things predetermined. Even worse, we're supposed to be able to sum up our talents, interests, and aspirations with a single world, such as "advertising" or "engineering" or "philosophy."
I can't even choose one word to describe the Georgetown cupcake I ate on my nineteenth birthday last week.
I think that's the problem, though. No matter how grown up and mature I like to claim I am, I'm still just a teenager, and society loves to ignore that. At least that's how I like to justify the evidently judgmental expressions I receive whenever I dare say I'm undecided. There just seems to be a social stigma that anyone who's in college without a set plan has a one-way ticket to Loserville. People can't help thinking this way. Our world values structured education too much for them not to.
The funny thing is I also used to pity students in my current position, and I've realized I'm undeclared now because I myself value education so much. When I applied for college last year, I didn't hesitate to check public relations as my intended major. I can't say I was certain PR was the career for me, but I definitely didn't want to be the applicant who didn't know what she wanted to do. Upon starting college, though, I quickly came to realize that the only thing I truly knew I wanted to do was learn. I wanted to learn about communication, to be exact. All of the different possible career paths within this vast field. All of the skill sets needed to follow any one of them. All of the incredible things past COM students have done that I could one day do, too. I also immediately liked the idea of dabbling in other subjects. Jewish Masculinity as the topic of my WR100 course? Sure, don't mind if I do. Why don't I take a political philosophy course and Introduction to Nutrition while I'm at? One of the many beauties of COM is that it's a communication program with an emphasis on liberal arts, so not only can I take various kinds of classes, I'mrequired to. In retrospect, how can an insanely curious, curly-headed girl like myself not be undecided?
I like to compare my relationship with the m-word to that of Harry Potter with the V-word; the more afraid I am about discussing majors the more pressure I feel to choose one and the more said major defines who I am. Despite how scary and nerve-wracking it can be at times, I'm ultimately really excited about the fact that I'm undecided. I have exactly one year until I'm supposed to formally declare, and I know no better way to prepare than to be completely open to all possibilities, as opposed to limiting myself with a single world.
So here it goes.
Major. Major. Major.
Voldemort. Voldemort. Voldemort.

Donald: This Valentine’s Day, Remember to Love Yourself

It's about that time of the semester again. The rush and excitement of a new semester has gone by, the winter has finally started to feel brutal, and midterms, first papers, and group projects are all starting to pile up. In the middle of the stress and chaos of this time of year, it can be hard to remember to practice self-care.
Self-care is the act of taking time out of your day to make sure your physical, mental, and emotional needs are all being taken care of. Although this sounds simple, when we're stressed about classes or extracurriculars or internships, it can be a lot harder to remember to eat a healthy meal or take a study break. In the winter, it can be even harder to remember to self-care because you cannot simply go for a walk to calm down.
Here are a couple of tips that I've found helpful for practicing self-care in the winter:
  • Plan time in your schedule for self-care. I often book myself for hours non-stop during a day and forget to schedule time to decompress, grab a snack, and just mentally prepare for my next task.
  • Pre-plan breaks while studying. I've often get goals for myself such as taking 10 minute breaks after studying for 50 minutes straight. Whatever your time constraints allow, pre-planning when you'll take breaks can be an easy way to remind yourself to relax.
  • Keep in touch with friends and family from home. I know I never call my parents enough, but when you take a break for a phone call to check-in, you can ground yourself and distract yourself from stress for some time, while also making your family happy.
  • Find indoor activities that calm you down. Whether it's finally buying that adult coloring book you've always wanted or solving a People magazine crossword puzzle, find things that can calm you down while you stay cozy and warm inside of your bedroom.
  • Take deep breaths. It can often be really overwhelming to get stressed out with everything going on, and when stress builds up it can definitely cloud your ability to think straight. Taking a pause to inhale deeply 3 or 4 times can really ground you and help calm you down after a stressful time.