Tag: senior year

Ethan: Parting Advice

As I finish out my time at BU with the Los Angeles Program, I’ve taken some time to look back on my experience and the ups and downs of the last three and a half years. I’ve obviously learned a lot and grown as a person, but the main thing I believe to be true is that it’s all been worth it.

College can be a scary place. It’s daunting before you get here, and it’s pretty intimidating even after spending a little time here. The mindset I adopted right away was to push through my insecurities with all of it and try to expose myself to as much as possible. The least I could do with my last blog post is offer some advice on my way out.

1. Sign up for everything. I’ve written more about this in another post, but I’ll sum it up by saying this: Try everything. Give out your email to every club that sounds remotely interesting. Remember you can always unsubscribe from their email lists. It’s pretty easy.

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2. Meet people. Everybody is in the same or a similar place friend and network-wise in college. Even if you’re a couple years in, the people around you tend to be on the same level. It’s important to be open to not necessarily making friends but meeting people. You never know who you might end up spending a lot of time with.

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3. Use your resources. Go to Undergraduate Affairs and schedule an appointment. Go to the Writing Center and have someone look over your paper. Go to FPS and use the equipment (for FREE (seriously I’ve been without this for under a month, and I’m already feeling it)). Just go make things or do things with what you have. It’ll help you in the long run – even if you’re no good at it right now.

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4. This one is split into two for two (vague) types of people. Ask your friends if you’re not sure which one you are.

   a. If you’re the person that spends a lot of time partying and not worrying about school at all, maybe take a break. Partying can be as exhausting as doing actual work, and it’s important to balance your energy with both of them. It’s too easy to procrastinate and brush off due dates (and even some assignments), but you have to remember that it’s important not to waste your education. Also go to class. Only skip if it’s REALLY worth it.

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   b. If you’re the person that spends a lot of time on homework and at internships, make sure you have fun. College is obviously for learning in a higher education environment, but you’re not supposed to feel like you have a full time job (unless you also happen to have a full time job). Work gets stressful. You’ll have the rest of your life to worry about that. There will likely not be another time after graduation when you live so close to so many of your friends, so please take advantage of that.

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Anyway, this is the gist of what I can offer in my old age. Enjoy college, and find your place.

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Love, Ethan

Emma: Ode to AdLab

I feel like, somehow over the past year and a half, my being in AdLab has become essential to my identity at BU, and honestly, I’m pretty okay with it. It’s my go-to conversation topic in interviews, a meeting place of some of the most admirable people I know in COM, and my favorite location to spend the entirety of every Monday. As I kick off my final semester at BU (gross, lets not go there), I feel like I owe AdLab an immense debt of gratitude, despite our various ups and downs.
AdLab, for those of you who don’t know, is BU’s student-run advertising agency, the largest and oldest of its kind in the country, I might add. You are eligible to join the agency for school credit, after completing Intro to Advertising (CM317). Despite the “student-run” addition to the description, AdLab is an actual full-service ad agency that tackles real business problems for brands all over the world (check out our fancy new site!). Our client list includes staples of the BU community, like BUPD, local Boston businesses, nonprofits, and even large, big-name clients like Acura. With AdLab, you also have access to an extensive alumni network, and the guidance of our amazing faculty advisors, Tobe Berkovitz and Pegeen Ryan, two of the most prominent names in their fields.
I could probably go on about AdLab’s impressive history for days, but instead of boring you, I’ll cut to the chase. What you get out of AdLab can be invaluable to your career in advertising, even if you come in with no experience at all. I joined AdLab green as can be, wanting to be an Planner. Despite this, I was assigned to a team as an Account Executive, meaning I was the liaison between our client and creative team. This would become my most challenging task of the semester, and I’m pretty sure people stopped asking me how I was because they knew they’d have to hear about my AdLab struggles like trying to motivate the team, battling different work styles, and handling creative perspectives from AdLabbers of all levels.
Once our work was submitted and the semester was over, though, I realized that all of the struggles I’d faced over the past few months had been worth it. I now had a better sense of what my strengths were in an agency setting, I’d acquired a host of new management styles, and had worked hard enough to earn the respect of the executive board and our faculty advisors. AdLab was a great place to learn from mistakes, of which I made dozens, and I came out of my first semester feeling like I had something to offer the industry. And yeah, as I mentioned, at times, AdLab can be be challenging, but group work among creative people always is. But you will never regret learning how to be better equipped at managing these situations, regardless of the career path you choose.
Trying to gain experience in a competitive industry, while also being a student, can seem like an overwhelming task, but I am here to tell you that COM makes this entirely possible with organizations like AdLab, PRLab, and handfuls of others at your disposal. You have so much to gain from giving it a try, even if you’re on the fence about an advertising concentration.
I’m excited to see where AdLab is headed in my final semester (especially since an alum just donated a 3D printer) but even more so, I’m excited to spend my Mondays working hard on projects I care about with people I learn so much from. If there’s anything I can wish upon anyone with time left at BU, it’s that they too find a place where they experience the same feelings and motivations.

Claudia: My Boston Bucket List

The semester has started and school is back in session, which means… I’m a second semester senior. As I’m writing this, there are 104 days 16 hours and 13 minutes (give or take) until I am a Boston University graduate. Crazy, right? BU (COM especially) has been my home over the past three and a half years and it’s weird to think in a little over 4 months, I could be in a completely different city. So here it is (a classic senior move), my Boston Bucket List, BUT with a twist. Here are some of my favorite things of the past three and a half years that I hope will make it on your Boston Bucket List!

The Boston Classics:

Go to the movies at Coolidge Corner Theatre: The Coolidge Corner Theatre may be my favorite place in all of Boston. I’ve seen some pretty great movies in this beautiful picture house, but the Midnight Movie series is a highlight of my college experience. I rang in my 19th birthday at a screening of Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion.

Mike’s Vs. Modern Cannoli Taste Test:  My personal favorite – Modern Pastry

Have a picnic on the Commons: My sophomore year roommates surprised me with a beautiful picnic on the Boston Commons for my 20th birthday.

Cheer on the Red Sox: No BU Bucket List is complete without going to a Red Sox game.

Eat a delicious pasta dinner in the North End 

Go to the Cape: You can take the express Cape Cod Flyer from South Station to Hyannis!

Eat plenty of lobster rolls: The Barking Crab is a personal favorite

Go to Salem on Halloween: SPOOPY!

Go to Boston Calling: LORDE. CHILDISH GAMBINO. BLEACHERS, ALT-J. HOZIER. WALK THE MOON. Enough said. 

My BU Favorites:

 Broadcast Live on 89.3 FM: WTBU Radio has been a wonderful community and will forever hold a special place in my heart

 Attend EVERY Lobster Night: And in Warren Towers, of course…

 Write and produce your own TV pilot: My sophomore year I co-wrote and produced a 40-minute TV pilot (you can check it out at vimeo.com/entidaled)

 Learn what it means to be a BU Boss Lady: I was lucky enough to join the HotHouse team last fall and travel to LA to film BU Boss Lady. I left the trip inspired by these boss BU alumni and eager to start the next chapter of my life

 Shut Down Warren Dining: There have been plenty of nights my friends and I have been the last people in the dining hall

 Lose your voice at the Beanpot: During my Freshman year, the Polar Vortex delayed the Beanpot, but that didn’t stop us from cheering on our winning team

 See a show at CFA: My best friend Hannah is an acting major and all I have to say is WOW.

 Study Abroad: My semester with the BU London Internship Program was life changing. Check out my adventures here

 Work with your best friends: The COM Ambassador program was not only a great platform for sharing how much I love COM, but it also strengthened the bond between me and some of my best friends.

 Staying up late in Warren Dining might not seem like a favorite moment at first, but I’ve laughed so hard in those red vinyl chairs that there’s no way my BU experience would be the same without it. All in all, enjoy your time at BU and make every second count.

Megan: Reflections on the Start of My Last Semester in Boston

As I start off my third, and final, spring semester in Boston, I have done a lot of thinking about what a fantastic experience I’ve had here, and all of the opportunities I have found, and friendships I have made. I’ll hopefully be spending the spring here at BU, the summer in London, and the fall in Los Angeles, so there is still quite a bit left of college, but not a lot of time in the home I’ve found here. But I’m not sad, because there are so many good things to come this semester, and so many fun things I want to do before I leave. And so, here’s a list of things I’m looking forward to, and things I have to do before May comes around.

  1. Looking forward to: My classes

This semester I’m taking three Film & TV classes that are both going to be so interesting, and perfect prep for my future. For example: my 2D Animation class, which is unlike anything I have ever done before, but will provide me with invaluable information as I look for jobs in my post-grad life.

  1. Have to do: Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day

Now something I want to do: celebrate a truly Bostonian St. Patrick’s Day. I want the little bit of Irish in me to explode as I deck myself in green and dance around like a true leprechaun.

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  1. Looking forward to: My internship

This spring, I’m interning for Children’s Programming at WGBH, the PBS affiliate in Boston. This past weekend, I spent 9 hours on set each day while we filmed High School Quiz Show, where I learned all about filming a game show in a professional setting.

  1. Have to do: Go to Museums

I feel like as I’ve gotten busier with extra-curriculars and classes, I’ve stopped taking advantage of the truly extraordinary experience we get as college students: the opportunity to go to so many museums in the city for free. I need to make at least one last stop to the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts.

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  1. Looking forward to: Bay State

I am going to be a Producer on the nation’s longest-running college soap opera, which seems absolutely insane, but which is something I have been working for since I came to BU, which makes it so especially rewarding. And, we’re re-vamping the show to make it better than it’s ever been before.

  1. Have to do: Go to the Commons on a Snow Day

Whether I’m going to build a snowman or have a terrific snowball fight, what I really want to do is leave BU during a snow day and go crazy in the snow (since I’m not going to have any seasons in L.A.)!

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  1. Looking forward to: Spending Time with Friends

I feel so grateful for the friendships I have made during my time here, and friendship has always been one of the most important parts of my life. So, I have to spend my last bit of time here celebrating those friendships, and being with the people that have made me so happy over these last few years.

  1. Have to do: Take One Last Long Walk

If there is one thing I really know about myself, it’s how much I love to walk around Boston. Whenever I have a few free hours, and the weather isn’t toodreadful, I’m guaranteed to be walking from BU to my favorite destination, the Harbor (see my last post for more on that). I have to spend my last bit of time in my favorite place in the city.

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Tom: The College Experience from Little to Big

Four years flies by in the blink of an eye. I feel like it was yesterday that I said goodbye to my parents, settled into Warren Towers 1102C and embarked on the adventure that would be my four years at Boston University. Now I’m a second semester senior, looking at job possibilities and the future, and thinking to myself, “How did four years fly that fast?”

 

Well… It flew by with 12 musicals, 2 plays, 3 Open Houses, 1 Mr. and Ms. BU Pageant, countless tours of the College of Communication, and dozens of great friends. So I can’t say nothing happened in my time here. But I have spent my last semester of BU reflecting on the time I spent and the time I have left.

 

My favorite aspect of being a senior at BU is watching students just a few years younger than you, grow up and come into their own at Boston University. When you become a junior, a whole slew of new freshmen come at you that you literally get to watch grow up until they become upperclassmen themselves.

 

In “On Broadway,” the musical theater group I undeniably devote most of my time to, we have an informal “Big” and “Little” system, which is where we informally take underclassmen under our wing, who we feel are most like ourselves. I have taken so much enjoyment in watching all of these “littles” grow and get ready to take over our place in the group long after we’re gone. Being an upperclassman in college makes you half-father/half-sidekick/half-best friend with many amazing underclassmen and it has definitely been a highlight of my BU experience.

 

To any incoming students, I encourage you to look up to upperclassmen and learn all you can from them. This knowledge you will then use to pass on to the next batch of “littles” who will make your BU experience all the more worthwhile.

Morgan: A Little Perspective from a Second Semester Senior

As I’m well in to my last semester of my senior year, I’ve started to reflect on my entire college experience. Being a transfer student, my experience might be somewhat a-typical. Two schools, two orientations, two different cities to explore, and two great groups of friends and tons of awesome professors who have helped shaped my life to what it is today. But the one thing that, when I look back I wish I did more of, was to document this entire experience.
Don’t get me wrong I have just as many Instagram pics of the Pru at sunset, Fenway Park in the summer, or the Common in the Fall as you do – but those aren’t the things you’ll need help remembering. What about the night before that snow day when you and your roommates decided to dance around in your PJ’s to pop hits circa 2002 while baking cookies and drinking hot chocolate until approximately 4am? Or the time the Red Sox won the World Series and you ran down to Kenmore Square to scream and celebrate with the rest of this awesome city? Or that time your club did something super cool like a big performance or created something cool or WHATEVER. The point is, these are the experience that you can only ever have in college – right now where you are.
As we’re getting all caught up in this exam and that class and that project and whatever roommate who you’re fighting with this week, we forget to appreciate this time and this experience.
So basically what I’m getting at is, take more pictures, videos, and even screenshot those hilarious Tweets you may want to look back on someday. 30 years from now you’re not going to want to remember the exam you took on February 12th for the psychology class you needed to graduate, but you’ll probably want to remember how you celebrated after.