Class of 2020 – COM Ambassador Blog

Jon: Get Involved! BU’s Professional Film Fraternity

Going into the film industry is all about gaining hands-on experience as early as you can and fostering creative and collaborative connections with your peers. If you are a Film and TV major, want to work in the film industry, or join an organization of people interested and passionate about movies, check out DKA – BU’s national, professional, gender-inclusive, cinematic fraternity.

Who we are – DKA is a student organization at universities across the US in which students who aspire to work in the film industry can network and improve their industry skills. We are a professional fraternity, so professional development is at our core.

What we do – We host all kinds of events related to the film industry throughout the year. Every December we host a student film festival designed to showcase scripts and films from BU’s best filmmakers. We also do a production within the chapter each semester, usually a music video or a short film. Lastly, we also have a weekly screenwriters workshop for anyone who wants to get their scripts looked at by their peers. We also do a variety of social events that range from movie screenings to group retreats

How to join – Spring 2019 Rush starts in January so if you’re interested check us out on Facebook or on BU’s website. We will also be hosting rush events throughout the GSU all month so you can meet us there.

My professional skills and my network has grown as a part of DKA in addition to the lifelong friendships that I have fostered through the amazing people involved in this organization. If you’re interested you can also reach out to me via social media or email! We’d love to have you as a part of DKA!

Laura: So Much to Miss in Boston

Next semester, I will be traveling abroad to Sydney, Australia for Boston University’s internship program! I will be flying for approximately 21 hours to the land of beaches, kangaroos, and vegemite and saying goodbye to some American, and specifically Boston, staples. In memoriam of being away from those things for four months, I have composed a list of the things I will miss most while I am down under:

Trader Joe's
This is number one for a reason. I will miss the convenience of shopping at the Coolidge Corner store every week and the cauliflower rice!
Marathon Monday
T. Anthony’s Pizzeria
Picco pizza (I really like pizza, can you tell?)
Studying on the 3^rdor 6^thfloor of Mugar
Going to the Boston Public Library to pick up books to read
The view from the 26^thfloor of Stuvi2
American-specific content on Netflix (aka The Office)
Lemonade
Apparently ordering lemonade isn’t really a thing in Australia, the closest thing is Sprite.
Flywheel classes in the Prudential
Ketchup
If there is one thing to know about me, I put ketchup on everything. Apparently, if I want ketchup in Australia I will have to ask for “tomato sauce,” but then what am I supposed to do if I actually want tomato sauce!?
Matcha lattes from the Pavement coffeehouse on Commonwealth Ave
Walking from my dorm in West campus to class in East campus each day
FitRec
Running the COM open house in April with my fellow COM Ambassadors
The leaves changing on Bay State Road

Short list of things I will not miss: Snow and hearing everyone talk about Tom Brady.

I will miss my friends, family, and Boston University as a whole more than anything (even more than Trader Joe's). Boston University has prepared me to take a leap of faith and travel across the world and I know that I am prepared for this journey of a lifetime. I will be back soon Boston, don’t you forget about me!

Zach: 5 Best Music Venues to See Shows at in the Boston Area

For decades, Boston has been known as one of the nation’s best music city’s. From its thriving DIY scene, to the talent which flows out of Berklee College of Music, and to some of the most historically great venues around Beantown has all you can want musically. As a musician, this was obviously a huge factor in selecting Boston as my new home for four years. Living in Allston, about a mile away from BU’s Central Campus, has allowed me to become ingrained with its thriving music culture in its local bars and sweaty basements. For many, the Allston DIY lifestyle is not for them, in fact, many BU students simply want to see a concert or two every semester from some of their favorite artists. Luckily, Boston has some of the coolest spots to see live music which go above and beyond the DIY ethos of Allston Rat City.

5. House of Blues
Located right across the street from Fenway Park, the House of Blues Boston provides your standard General Admission experience. The venue is perfectly situated for those East Campus folk who don’t feel like dropping gobs of money on transportation. The House of Blues hosts some bigger names then the rest of the venues on this list—the types of artists that are right between playing TD Garden and the Royale. I have seen some excellent shows here as the sound and ambience is consistently on point.

4. Brighton Music Hall
Brighton Music Hall is a smaller, unimposing venue right down Brighton Ave. in Allston. With this being said, it’s probably the largest venue in Rat City you can go to outside of Paradise Rock Club (not a fan). Although I have only seen one show here, BMH holds a tremendous amount of real estate in my heart because it was where I saw my first concert as a BU student, in fact, it was the first show I attended in Boston, period. My memory is a little fuzzy on what the space looks like, but the sound was fantastic and plenty of local talent rolls through. This is the perfect place to go if you are looking to see an act that you have never seen before.

3. The Middle East
Amid some sexual assault allegations on one the Middle East’s promoters, I have not been to this venue in a very long time. If it weren’t for said allegations, the Cambridge restaurant and nightclub would probably occupy the #1 spot on this list. Fortunately, I believe the assailant has been removed from the venue and I have seen more and more artists that I have liked reappearing on bills there. The Middle East may be known for its great Middle Eastern fair, but it also serves as a fantastic venue by night. Three rooms designated for shows occupy the building: the Upstairs, the Downstairs, and Sonia, a newer space which is really what makes this venue so great. The Middle East Upstairs is a much tighter knit venue, but holds some pretty solid smaller acts, while Downstairs holds larger shows equivalent to that of the Sinclair. Sonia is a middle ground between the two and has the best sound and layout for some really killer shows!

2. Royale
Most know the Royale as a nightclub, but the space actually holds some of the best shows that I have been to in Boston. I have seen a number of acts at this downtown location and it never ceases to amaze me how well the venue runs its shows. The sound and lights have been perfect at every show I’ve seen at the Royale. The venue always hosts great acts, too. I’m always finding myself clicking the “Interested” button on Facebook events held at the Royale. If there is any venue that hosts mid-sized to bordering on the larger side acts, the Royale is above and beyond the best. My only gripe is that the middle of the GA section is raised due the fact that its main room is often used as a clubbing space.

The Sinclair
Finally, we have reached #1, and yes it is The Sinclair. The Sinclair is a mid-size to smaller size venue which hosts acts of all kinds. It is located right in Harvard Square, which makes it a little difficult to get to, but the venue itself is incredibly ideal. I have only seen great shows here with fantastic crowds. The lighting and sound are on par with the Royale, but the smaller size is much comfier without feeling too small. Similarly to Brighton Music Hall, plenty of local acts play here. It’s another space perfect for seeing artists that you may have never seen before, while also hosting plenty of household names.

Lilah: Our COMmunity

When I first took my tour of COM, the tour guides said, “at COM, we create friendships, because we know that in the future, we’ll all be working together.” This was one of the main reasons I came to BU. Although I can be extremely competitive at Mariokart, I wanted to be friends with the people I worked with in college. Competitive, dog-eat-dog environments did not appeal to me, and I wanted to form connections that would last me a lifetime.

Out of all the things I learned about BU before coming here, that has rung true every day. I am currently working on four team projects simultaneously. From pitches to sets, as a film and television major, I am constantly having to While that may seem daunting, working with other students at COM is not. We all are so motivated, which inspires others. We do not need to beat each other down in order to bring others up. All of us are aware of how hard people work at COM. So, the general feeling is, no one wants to let their classmates down. Collaboration is such a key element to succeeding here. Currently, I am directing for Hothouse Productions, our student-run, client-driven production company. Especially as a leader, you have to hear everyone out, and respect everyone.

It is my last year in Boston, because I am graduating early. So, below I wrote some tips and lessons I have learned while studying here.

Be patient.
If there’s anything that’s needed in a team, it’s for everyone to be understanding. People work at different paces, so figure out how to divvy up the work so everyone is comfortable!

Don’t be afraid to share your ideas.
My confidence has grown throughout the years in COM. My freshman year, I was so nervous to share my own ideas, because I didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes. Now, I have the gusto to be proud of my own creativity, while still collaborating with others.

Be kind, and find those who you work best with.

Friends work with friends. If you prove that you’re a good teammate, people will want to work with you later on. Eventually, you find the people who you get along with best. Not just the people who are the best at what they do, but who you can also can crack a joke with during breaks.

While this is all a ball of cheese, I couldn't be more thankful for the community in COM.

Morgan: November is for Food and Family

Friendsgiving- a holiday that you cannot find on official calendars, but a holiday that liters Snapchat filters and lingers in the schedule planners of college students across the country.

Thanksgiving has always been a time for family. An opportunity to see cousins that you haven’t see since last Thanksgiving. A time for your grandparents to fill you up with food after swearing that you’ve lost weight since they’ve seen you last. And a chance for your parents to catch you up with all the latest news and gossip from the family.

In college, however, friends are the ones who take on the role of your family when your blood relatives are not within reach. For many students, college is the first time that they find themselves truly fending for themselves. I heavily relied on my family to be my number one support system. Yet, when I left the comfort of Queens, New York and settled on Commonwealth Avenue in 2016, my new friends were the ones who filled the void that my family holds when I am home. Friends are the ones who are immediately there for you as you learn to clean the bathroom, they are the shoulders that you lean on when you receive a low score on the exam that you spent weeks preparing for, and the ones on the other end of your text messages when you’re looking for someone to eat dinner with.

This is why the concept of Thanksgiving has taken on a new level of importance in college settings. Friendsgiving becomes a time for us to show our friends who have become our family how much we really appreciate them. Sure, the food may not be up to par with your mom’s homemade turkey and apple pie, but the company is why we really celebrate, the food is just a bonus.

As I write this blog post I am on the bus back to Boston after four fun filled days back home. Every time I leave home I am sad. Sad to be away from my family until our next break and sad to return to the work that is sure to follow in the weeks ahead. However, this four-hour bus ride has given me the opportunity to reflect on all that I gain while at BU. The people both back home in NY and at school have provided me with a “family” in two cities. Now I know that sadness is the wrong word to describe how I feel while exiting the New York borders. Rather, I would say that I feel bittersweet. While it is always bitter to say bye for now to my loved ones at home, now I know the sweetness of having a second family in Boston to eat turkey with, to support me, and a second family to give thanks to this November.

Carly: An Ode to Home

“I hate California. I want to go to the east coast. I want to go where culture is, like New York, or Connecticut or New Hampshire.” - Lady Bird” - Carly Berke

Although I am not from Sacramento, Lady Bird’s residence of origin, nor am I even from Northern California itself, I could not have written a better line to encapsulate my senior year experience. I had pledged to flee Southern California at the beginning of my freshman year of high school. I was convinced that I wanted to travel as far away from California as possible and immerse myself in “East Coast culture” (i.e. seasons, snowfall, preppy elitists). So I left. I came to Boston, Massachusetts, one of the furthest possible locations from Los Angeles I could have chosen, save Vermont or Maine.

I was convinced that leaving home would “save me”, and I would blossom into the New Englander (or, alternatively, New Yorker) that I was born to be.

Truthfully, I was really only under the impression (as so many angsty teenagers are) that my family was the bane of my existence, and I felt stifled. In hindsight, a lot of my adolescent experience was tainted by mental illness, which is a story for another time. But nonetheless, my relationship with my family was challenging, and as a result I was eager to send a message by moving so far away. Moreover, the relentless heat in Los Angeles irked me. I was growing increasingly appalled by the Youtube/Vine/Social Media Influencer community that was growing in the city, and I convinced myself that I would never fit in anywhere (disclaimer: this is B.S. There is a place in L.A. for everyone).

Thus when college came, I tried to start over on the other side of the country. At first, I loved it. I loved meeting kids who had grown up in Mass and Jersey and Connecticut and New York, and I loved watching the seasons change. I loved engaging in a “Dunkin vs. Starbucks” debate and I loved wearing heavy winter clothing. I liked that Boston was so incredibly detached from my life at home. I liked that I felt like I was living a double life, with my old life growing increasingly faint.

But then it started to get harder. During my second year, the cold weather affected me more than it had the year prior. I was having trouble connecting with some people and felt more lost than I had on the first day of freshman year. I had a career crisis and was forced to contemplate the fact that a career I thought I wanted my entire life was no longer a path I wanted to follow. This discomfort, loneliness, and unease manifested itself in a general resentment toward Boston and the East Coast, at least for a short period of time.

Don’t get me wrong - I love Boston, and I love the relative ease with which you can travel along the East Coast. I will be looking for jobs in New York and D.C. after graduation, and my heart still very much belongs out here.

But starting my sophomore year, every time I returned home to visit, it became increasingly harder to leave. I’ve grown much closer with my family, no doubt because of the proper treatment I’ve finally sought out for my mental health. But I learned to start appreciating little niches of home - like Malibu canyon, the miles of canyon road that I spent hours exploring in high school, or East Los Angeles, where I worked this summer and got to experience a diverse melting pot of Angeleno culture that I hadn’t been exposed to before. I developed a new appreciation for the community in which I had grown up, one I had previously scorned for its wealth and privilege.

Returning home for breaks and vacations quickly turned into what felt like an illustrious love affair, with me falling a little bit more in love each time I visited. Boston enabled me to finally hang up my tough-chick-home-rebel act and find comfort and solace in my family and my home community.

Two weeks ago, an ex-marine opened fire at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, California, killing 11. Borderline is about 15 minutes away from my house. I grew up playing softball in Thousand Oaks for my entire life. My brother performed in several shows at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Center.

But before the implications of the shooting began to truly register, intense wildfires erupted across Northern and Southern California. Within hours, the fire was nearing my home and incinerating the neighborhoods of my friends and family. My parents lost power, and I was out of touch with them for four and a half hours. I didn’t know where they were or if they had evacuated.

Those ~48 hours are hazy. I crossed campus unaware of my surroundings and unable to be present in the moment. All I wanted was to be at home with my family and friends, even if my home was completely devastated. I longed for the company of someone from my community, anyone who could even remotely relate to what I was experiencing.

This past weekend, I visited my my brother in Baltimore to see him perform in the National Tour of Fiddler on the Roof, the show he first performed in as a kid that introduced him to theater and what would ultimately become his entire career. About a month and a half ago, we lost our Bubbie, who had been fighting a vicious battle against Alzheimer’s in the 3-4 years prior to her passing. We had grown up with her living right down the street, and she played an integral role in my childhood. She always fostered my brother’s love for theater and performing, and she supported us in every single endeavor. I felt her at the show with me.

Between the mass shooting, the fire, my grandmother’s passing, and my brother’s performance, I left Baltimore completely awash in intense emotion. I missed home more than I ever had before, and I was filled with an intense longing to return. I wanted to hold my parents tightly and take a walk through my neighborhood at twilight and drive along the coastline (which unfortunately will be incinerated when I return). For one of the first times since coming to college, I was truly, completely homesick.

How foolish I was to have scorned California. No one comes from a perfect home, nor a perfect childhood nor a perfect family, but I had found enough love at home to satisfy me for a lifetime. And it was only driving through Baltimore at twilight, the sky tinged with pink as night descended over the city, Ravens’ fans flooding the streets after a Sunday football victory, did I realize how immature I was to insist on leaving with such forcefulness. I might not live there anymore, and I might not be on a path that leads me back to Los Angeles, but I know I will always hold my home and my family very close to my heart. And for that, I am thankful.

Maddie: 5 Tips For Scoring Your Perfect Communications Internship

Even though it’s only November, the question of summer internships is starting to linger in the air. As deadlines approach and the anxiety thickens, our plans for next summer seem to even more important. What used to be summers working at summer camps are now summers spent working a 9 to 5—but honestly, if you’re doing something you love, it feels like you were meant to be at this internship.

There’s nothing better than scoring your dream internship, but you have to put the work in in order to do so. Whether you’re seeking your first internship ever or trying to solidify one last internship before you walk across the graduation stage (eeek!), these tips below will help you get your head on straight before you dive into the never-ending internship applications.

1. Be organized and diligent.

If you’re anything like me, lists are your first line of defense in getting your thoughts together. When preparing for internships, it’s incredibly important to have either a document or spreadsheet of all the places you would be potentially interested in applying, what the opening is, where the internship is, and when the application deadline is. If you’re detail-oriented, you can even research housing accommodations and funding provided. Going the extra mile in researching the positions that are best suited for you and then compiling them all into one file will make your life during this stressful season 100% easier.

2. Explore your options.

While you may have a specific idea of what you want out of a summer internship, it doesn’t hurt to explore other avenues to reach that end goal. A popular option for COM students seeking internships is enrolling in any of the COM-specific study abroad programs. These programs include guaranteed internships in London, Dublin, Sydney, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and New York City. I participated in a Public Relations internship through the London program, and I genuinely learned so much about working in a business setting and maintaining media relations. These internships, in particular, are great options for students who aren’t entirely sure what they specifically want, but are looking to advance their career and have an unforgettable summer.

3. Be flexible.

If you’re in COM, you’ve definitely had classes and outside exposure to other fields of communication. No matter what major you are, allow yourself to have an open mind when searching for a summer internship and don’t get boxed in by your major. I’m not saying that print journalism students need to go get an internship in film and television—that would be counterproductive. But if you’re majoring in mass communications, advertising, or public relations, dip your toe into other fields when searching for an internship. Marketing, advertising, and PR all require similar skills and can be applied to a variety of workplaces. Additionally, COM students are gifted with the ability to write and write well—use that to your advantage and make it work for any internship you have an interest in.

4. Ask for help.

If you’re really struggling to find an internship you like for the summer, or just don’t even know where to begin, BU has an endless amount of resources for you to use in your search. There is the university-wide Center for Career Development that will go over your resume for you and point you in a general direction on your career path. However, if you’re looking for more specialized attention, COM Career Services also provides resume workshops, LinkedIn sessions, and is more attuned to the opportunities specifically provided to COM students. If you’re feeling lost, you can turn to these two resources and any advisor—COM is here to help.

5. Don’t fret.

Listen, the internship hunt can take a toll on anyone. Above all, remain confident in yourself. Learn how to sell yourself to potential employers and know that you have the skills to take on the challenge. No matter if you’re looking for your first or fourth internship, take time to breathe in between applications. Also, if you end up getting the last resort as your internship or no internship at all, that does not mean you are lesser. If you don’t have internship plans for the upcoming summer, there are other ways to spend your time! Take summer classes, get a job, save up and travel—you don’t need to have everything figured out.

I hope these tips will motivate you to start looking for your next great step in your career! Happy job searching!

Sophia: The Best Houseplants for BU Dorms

Unless you've got a service animal, BU dorms aren't particularly pet friendly. While the idea of sneaking your dog to school might seem fun in practice in reality there aren't a lot of options for the lonely college student. When the animal kingdom is out of reach however, look no further than the world of plants! The right houseplant can freshen the air in your room, give you something to care for, and of course, looks great! Whether you go full Poison Ivy, or are just looking for something small to start your new indoor garden, here are some of the best plants for BU dorms.

1. Succulents and cacti

Coming in an astounding variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, succulents are a great first plant. They're nearly impossible to kill. Succulents require little water, with most varieties only needing to be lightly watered once a week, and even with low light will be able to hang on through the Boston winter. Since you can find many very small succulents for very cheap it can be fun to get a few to fill a cute pot, or line up along the windowsill. Just beware if you go for one of the spikier varieties of cacti!

2. Pothos Ivy

If you want more of a classic leafy green, pothos is a great hardy option. Pothos doesn't require a lot of light, and so can survive in even the dimmest Warren dorm room. As for water, pothos should be watered whenever the soil in it's pot fully dries out, in my experience every three days or so. As an ivy, pothos plants can have very cool tendrils grow out from them, so place it on a high shelf to really get that jungle vibe!

3. Snake plants

If you're going for height in your home garden, look no further than the Snake plant! Snake plants grow up rather than out, with long green leaves. With a reputation for being hardy, Snake plants can survive in low light all throughout the coldest Boston winter. Much like pothos, Snake plants should only be watered after their soil has fully dried out, about every three to four days depending on the size of your plant. While you can get smaller started Snakes, I recommend going with a slightly taller, more mature plant, if you have the room.

4. Spider plants

Picture this, you have a plant, wow, amazing! Your plant makes you the coolest on your floor, but wait! Now all your friends want plants too! Enter the Spider plant. Spider plants often start sprouting smaller spider plants you can clip and give to your friends and roommates, meaning you can share the flora love! Spider plants like bright, but indirect light, and need to be watered about every three days.

5. Air plants

Nobody, and I do mean nobody, can kill an Air plant. These guys don't need soil, and only need to be misted with water one every week or so. You can put Air plant in, on, or around anything. Geodes, frames, pots, your COM 101 textbook, anything. Much like succulents, if you're going with an Air plant you might as well go with more than one, because they can be found for very cheap and look great in a group.

While these are just some of the easiest and hardiest houseplants, there's a whole world of flora out there! Stores like economy hardware in Brookline, and Home Depot if you can go farther out of town, often have a ton of reasonably prices plants in a variety of sizes. If you're looking for something already in a cute pot and don't mind having fewer options, try Back Bay Florist on Mass Ave or Central Square Florist in Cambridge. Of course the internet can also be used for goods and services, and Amazon, Etsy, and Bloomscape all have great plants available as well. From my (obsessive amount of) plants to you, happy sprouting!

Kaya: It’s O.K. to ‘TK’

There’s a common abbreviation in journalism — “TK” — that often peppers first drafts and second ones, sometimes buried in the article until the very last and final deadline approaches.

The unusual letter combination (“TK” doesn’t appear in many words, so it’s easier to spot amid a lot of text) represents information “to come”: everything from names and ages to quotes and entire paragraphs or chunks that remain unknown or just need a bit of tinkering.

I’m a big fan of using “TK” when I’m writing, even (and especially) when I’m spitballing ideas — some of my notes look like I fell asleep on the keyboard: “‘TK quote,’ TK said. TKTKTK.”

Some of my best stories have risen from a sea of T’s and K’s, including this one. I was typing out the headline, still not quite sure what I was about to write, when I recognized that the TK was more than a placeholder: it was an idea.

I’ve realized that there are always more questions I could ask a source, always more information I could research, always more color I can add to make my stories more interesting and engaging. By leaving things open-ended, by creating a space to add something new, even by reminding myself that I really do need to ask someone how old they are, I open up the page to bigger ideas and possibilities.

I’ve also realized that leaving space in my life for the things to come can open up my own future to bigger ideas and possibilities in a way I didn’t always think was the smartest, most pragmatic move I could make.

For a long time, I thought if I left space in my life — if I filled my planner with TKs instead of meticulously handwritten meetings and appointments — I would end up feeling empty. I often worried (and still sometimes do) that if I didn’t plan everything out for the next days, weeks, months, and years, those TKs and those spaces I left would turn into nothingness and regrets — for the opportunities I didn’t seize, the hours I wasted, the time and energy that could have been spent doing something other than daydream, relax, rest in preparation for things to come.

But leaving out the TKs just left me with information I didn’t need, my energy overspent in pursuit of what I saw as a very linear path. Packing my schedule in high school, and in my first year and a half in college, seemed like the only way to achieve my goals as a journalist and as a person.

And in some ways, those extracurriculars and activities did help me reach new heights. But the moment I dropped the meetings and classes that overwhelmed me, and the moment I made space for the TKs and all the good things yet to come, I didn’t feel empty, or regretful, or unfulfilled.

Instead I felt fuller, happier, more fulfilled — as if my potential increased when I scrapped the jumbo planner and opted for smaller pages and more stickers. The thing I feared — that I wasn’t doing enough, even though I was doing a lot — actually dissipated when I started approaching things in anticipation of life’s great TKs. I spent more time with friends, I cooked more, I had the chance to have relax and have fun without worrying that I was wasting time.

Sure, some of the things I wanted to accomplish were no longer carefully plotted, the boxes waiting to be ticked off. Suddenly, there were bigger gaps in my future — ones that I haven’t yet filled in. Those big unknowns are scary for everyone, and especially for me, as someone who worries a lot about filling in the gaps.

But a TK doesn’t end up in the final version of an article. Information goes there — information the reporter finds in the process of research and discovery. The same applies to life: the things we don’t know yet are still to come, but eventually, we get to figure them out.

Every once in a while, when you’re feeling overwhelmed, or off course, on a tangent or a break from some carefully-designed plan, remind yourself that it’s O.K. to TK. Because the best is yet to come — even when we don’t know what that is right now.

Lilah: Finding Your Home

When I first came to Boston University, I thought I was a tough girl, a tough cookie, a tough macaron. I had finished high school which meant I was the top of the top. I didn’t need anyone or anything. I was headed straight to fame, baby.

I tried to make it through my first year without returning home. After all, I was a very cool freshman. I made it pretty far. Well, LISTEN UP! Throughout my first two years here, I have learned that the most important thing is to be honest with yourself. If you cannot make it through the entire year without some kind of getaway, it’s okay. Make sure you have a happy place that you can go to if times get stressful. For me, I knew that my happy place was on my pond at home around the evening, even if I didn’t want to admit it. Good ol’ Mother Nature is rare around here, and home is always there to welcome me.

Whether your home is far or close, it is important that you take time for yourself. It is easy to be caught in the fast-paced schoolwork, clubs, and work that flies your way every week. Especially as the holidays roll through, or school gets tough, your home can be an escape. If Boston is your true home, But, maybe you have a fluffy little puppy (like me) that you can snuggle with. Other than the rats and bunnies, there aren’t many furry creatures to pet around campus.

Call your parents! Your family is probably aching without their sweet little darling. They would love an update, and it’s important to get advice from the people who know you best. Getting out of the bubble takes effort, but when you do, you can clear your mind.

The point is, I am not a tough macaron all the time. I go home sometimes so that I can enjoy Boston in the way it deserves. After all, it is an amazing city. For me, if I have to find some nature on the spot, I’ll go to the Arboretum, or the Charles River. Remember to find what you like in the city, and get outside the bubble once in a while. Now, I'm a tough cookie... who also likes to hug her mom once in a while.