Home Stretch

By Susannah Mohrmann

Summer is ALMOST here!

One major difference between high school and college is that even though summer is highly anticipated, it is much harder to say goodbye to a year than it used to be. Although I am looking forward to classes ending tomorrow and going back to Houston this summer, leaving is going to be much more difficult. Why?

College is fun. Baylor is incredible and my second home. I love living in Waco, and I love my friends and my life here. With the end of the school year, some friends are graduating and being away them for three months is tough. Though I miss my family and friends at home, leaving my roommates and friends here in Waco is hard because we are going all over the United States this summer (Minnesota, Camp, Arkansas, Dallas, Virginia, LA, study abroad).

This summer is especially weird as it is my last “real summer”. I have a PR/Marketing internship at MMI Agency in Houston. I cannot wait to apply what I am learning at Baylor throughout the internship. Still, senior year is daunting, real life is coming, and I am excited. I am excited to finish the Baylor Bucket List, I am excited to watch Baylor Football one last time as a senior. Next year, I look forward to meeting new people, build deeper relationships with current friends and learn as much as possible before I begin life in the real world.

With that said, summer is coming. I’m going to miss being in Waco and I will miss my Baylor family this summer, but I look forward to what is to come for my Baylor senior year.

 

Real-Life Love Story

By Avery Jackson

This week is dedicated to love. Valentine’s Day is about showing love and appreciation to those close to you, be it to a friend, a family member or a sweetheart (I guess cats count too).

Just yesterday, a man walked into Crop-Paper-Scissors, the store where I am a public relations intern, and wanted to buy something special, not just for Valentines Day, but for his 15th anniversary with his longtime girlfriend.

He had plans to ask her to marry him! And (fingers crossed), we hope she said yes! (Pretty sure she did!) He picked out some fun scrapbook paper to write a letter on and some more paper to write some little love notes. He also bought one of our tall picture frames to clip photos of the two of them with their family as well as some of the little notes he made.

It was just such a cool experience to help him with his proposal! And, it was fun watching a real-life love story unfold! I love the fact that Baylor pushes you to take classes like this where crazy things happen!

If you like people and enjoy writing, check out the Journalism, Public Relations & New Media program at Baylor. Its worth it!

 

Interning for Crop-Paper-Scissors

By Avery Jackson

I need to brag for a minute; I just landed an internship that almost EVERY girl in my Advanced Public Relations class seemed to want. I am now the official intern for Crop-Paper-Scissors, a local craft store that specializes in paper products including scrapbooking, invitations and stationary. A few girls had already interviewed when I came into the store, and a bunch more had emailed and called. She hired me after a two-hour interview. I didn’t think I could get ANY more excited until I realized I would get to do crafts as part of my job description! I like to think of myself as a creative/crafty person, so this job couldn’t have been better.

So far I have been put in charge of the store’s blog, Facebook, Twitter, parts of the online store, and soon-to-be Pinterest account. I also did the décor for Valentine’s Day in the store’s windows! Soon, I will be helping manage the online store, designing invitations and other fun stuff!

Doing an internship and 18 hours of school work is challenging, but I am really loving what I’m doing! These photos show how I laid out the stores merchandise as well as some of the paper things I made for frames and decoration!

I am loving life (Even if it starts at six a.m. and doesn’t end till three or four hours before).

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The Adventure Begins…

By Charlie Fosterphoto

I moved to New York City five days ago, and in all honesty, it was one of the most exhilarating things I have ever done.

Although it wasn’t on a whim, I picked up my things and took off on an adventure with a lot of uncertainty. I had never been to New York City. I didn’t know anyone that I was moving up there with well, and I was leaving everything that I knew behind.

It was the best decision I could have ever made.

I came up here to work with CBS Media Relations in publicity and public relations. I work Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and on Mondays and Wednesdays, I have a night class from 7 to 10 p.m. Technically, I’m a full-time student, but it doesn’t feel like it one bit. Work takes up most of the day, and I must constantly revolve my schedule around that.

In fact, if you want to be up here, send an email to my professor at Joe_Kickasola@baylor.edu with questions or information about the program. Applications for next year are due soon!

Anyway, my time up here has been wonderful so far, and I’m so glad that I’m here.

Part of my gut told me to just go for it. Apply for the opportunity, and if you get it, go. That’s what I did, and now I’m here. I’m following a dream, living in a city that I could only imagine visiting on a normal day. Now, I live and work here.

So far, I’ve walked through Times Square, taken the train everywhere I go, spent late nights talking with my roommates, met other Bears up for dinner and ate dinner in hole-in-the-wall New York places. The best part is that the adventure has just begun.

You’ll hear more about it all. I promise you that.

Finding an internship in New York City

By Charlie Foster

In the spring, I will be participating in the communication department’s Baylor in New York program. During the semester, I will live with other Baylor students, take classes from a Baylor professor and work as an intern at CBS Publishing.

At first, I was rather scared of the idea of moving to New York City, as this Texas guy hasn’t ever lived outside of the state. But, the thought of living there for four months while working in a real-time job was a whole new ballgame. However, finding this job was not an easy process.

Pursuing companies in hopes of a job is rather nerve-racking, in case you’ve wondered. For hours on end, you can surf the web, examine the 63 job openings you’ve heard about and still not find something in which you’re completely interested.

When you do, though, the light bulb clicks, and you realize, “Hey, this is place that I could see myself at! I could do that, and I could be good at it, too!”

So, you apply. You write-up all of your information for the countless time and gather together your resume and cover letter, which is an adventure in itself. (Need help with yours? Check out Baylor’s Career and Professional Development. Those are some of the best people out there for this purpose. )

Unfortunately, some companies want you to send these things to an anonymous “internships@whoever.com” email, so you don’t spam some poor soul with questions as to when they’re going to look at your resume, interview you or even look at their application materials. But, when you do get a good contact, USE IT.

People are the best resources, without a doubt. If you know someone, drop their name. If that person can help you talk to their human resources department, talk to them. Make sure the company knows who you are and that you’re interested. This can be a tricky thing though; you walk a fine line of being persistent or being annoying. Make sure they know who are, but don’t get to a point where they say, “Oh, great, Charlie Foster has emailed me for the twenty-second time this week.”

And, this is where you have patience, dear friend. By prayer and petition, you can get through the grudgingly long process of waiting to hear back. It took over a month for me to hear back from an employer. Finally, CBS Publicity sent me an email telling me they were interested in interviewing me for an internship. I corresponded with them and set up a phone interview, expecting it to be the only one for a while.

And then, the interviews started to roll in, back-to-back-to-back. Before I knew it, four different places were wanting to talk with me. This is when you seek wise counsel. Ask your mentors and advisors about what is best for you as a person and as a professional. What is going to grow and challenge you? What is going to hurt you? Take those into consideration as you make these next decisions.

I am very thankful that CBS offered me the internship after my interview. I remember thinking during the interview, “I hope they like me, because all I’m doing is being me. God, if this is where you want me, then let me go.”

I think this was the mindset that I needed to have. Employers can tell if you’re putting on a façade for them. They want a real person, with emotions, thoughts and feelings, yet can ultimately succeed and work above-and-beyond in their job opening.

When it comes down to it, don’t be afraid. Put yourself out there, and be trusting of what lies ahead. There are so many opportunities out there for each and every one of you. Pick one, take it and discover more about who you are while you do.

Photo Credit: Nina Cates

 

Sunscreen and Smiles (by Sophia Cooper)

With summer wrapping up much too quickly, it’s time to start the migration back to the Wack!  The heat is rolling in (although it never actually left), cardboard boxes are being filled, and bed sets and book shelves shoved into the trunks of cars.

After finishing up my internship at L3 Communications here in Waco, I got to go home and relax in California before moving into my new apartment.  Campus is starting to liven up after the summer break, with Welcome Week training starting today and move-in crews preparing to carry boxes up the six floors of Collins.  In just a few days the invasion starts!  It is so much fun to see the excited faces of freshmen ready to start their college adventures, ready to bleed green and gold.

Some of the fun things to look forward to around campus include Traditions Rally, Late Nite, and of course the start of the football season.  Traditions Rally is a campus-wide tailgate the Thursday before the first home football game (Sunday, September 2 at 5:30 vs. SMU. RISE UP!), giving freshmen a chance to wear their Line Jerseys and slime caps before the football games.  This fall will be a great time to bust out your green and gold, wear them proudly, and cheer your hearts out.  I’m excited, and I hope you are too!

Sic’em Bears!