Let Me Show You

Well that title sounds entirely morbid, but I swear it’s not! It is just the end of my last semester as a full time student and what a relief that is. This semester has been nothing short of stressful. From class projects to running recruitment for my sorority and of course capstone- there was a lot going on. Weirdly it was not my hardest semester though and I think that is thanks to making sure I was only taking three classes with capstone.  Today I will be delivering my capstone presentation to our client Marathon Petroleum Corporation. The problem statement came with the goal to hire more diverse talented individuals to the MPC team. To do this we had to come up with an integrated marketing communications plan after conducting a bunch of research and surveying real people for their preferences. The project was both given plenty of guidelines and limited guidelines at the same time so as to ensure the teams were being creative and kept an open mind throughout the process.  Tuesday ni

Entirely thanks to my mother, I am a foodie. I used to be a super picky eater as a kid, but thankfully I’ve expanded my horizons. Last week was Thanksgiving break which means lots of good food in good company and I’m not talking about Thanksgiving Day- turkey is not it. My mother also happens to be an incredible cook. The first day I was home she prepared ricotta stuffed chicken breast served over polenta, garnished with a homemade tomato sauce and spicy Italian sausage. My grandfather lives with us and grew the tomatoes used to make the sauce in his garden this season. The dish was absolutely delicious. I finished all of it but the sausage, which I passed to my grandpa, it was way too spicy for my taste- my nose was running. The second night, she made pork enchiladas with a homemade enchilada sauce. This was only the second time I had ever had enchiladas as I didn't like them as much the first time- they were not made by her. The enchilada sauce was just the right amount of sweet

We are officially in week 13 of the semester, making next week Thanksgiving break, followed by two more weeks of class! This semester has flown by so quickly yet so slowly at the same time. August to the end of September went by in the blink of an eye. October to now has felt fairly slow, but with lots to do. The past two weeks have gone fairly quickly with more evening tasks and more hours at work.  So far, the last two weeks of class are going to look a little bit like: paper, presentation or pitch over the paper and thankfully only one final. I’m currently in three classes and capstone. One class is principles of finance which only has a final exam to wrap up the semester. My other two classes are in public relations: issues in PR has a reflection paper on our CliftonStrengths with a five-minute presentation; while social media strategies and campaigns- the class I write these blogs for- will be writing out a planbook for our client and doing a pitch presentation on what we think th

As a little treat and way to unwind, on Thursday mornings, my boyfriend and I go to Dunkin’. Going to Dunkin’ has been a bit of a tradition since we first started dating- I have a video of us going “cheers” with donuts in hand. Over the summer, I discovered that I actually enjoy breakfast sandwiches when I thought I didn’t. This is thanks to croissants being the top notch form of bread for a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich. The first time I had tried a breakfast sandwich from Dunkin’ was on normal bread. It was a no from me and the texture actually made me quite nauseous. It was until I tried the Starbucks Version of the sandwich that I realized I would like it. That trial was just by chance on a day Starbucks was out of all other food.  Just like Starbucks, we’ve got a go-to order for Dunkin’. We get two strawberry dragon fruit refreshers with green tea, my boyfriend's sandwich- the sausage, egg and cheese croissant- and my sandwich- the bacon, egg and cheese croissant with extra b

It’s been awhile since I talked about video projects that I’ve been working on, so let’s recap.  Over the summer I had the awesome opportunity to work as an intern with VideoBranch in Lima. VideoBranch is a team of six talented employees who work to create video and photo marketing materials for a variety of clients. While at VideoBranch, I did a lot of editing, which I greatly enjoyed as that is what started my passion for videography. Most of my experience before the internship was with the Final Cut Pro X editing software, but at VideoBranch I was able to further my knowledge and use of Adobe Premiere. I learned how to build a variety of graphics from scratch with ease and the differences in voice between brands. Some of the projects I worked on were for General Steel, GROB, U.S. Plastic, EZ Concrete, Allen County Children’s Services and many more! It was great to diversify the types of videos I have created toward what I am hoping to do as a career. I also worked at ONU in my stud

Not only was this past weekend Homecoming but another sorority tradition- big little calls. Both my little and my twin got littles this year so we are preparing for Big Little Reveal this coming Saturday. That means lots and lots of crafting! Each family has different crafting traditions, but overall, most littles get a tie blanket picked out by their big, a few sets of letters, some canvases and whatever other traditions the family has.  Painting the canvases and the sets of the letters is my favorite thing to do. Most of the time, canvases will have inspirational quotes, lyrics to the little’s favorite song or relate to one of their interests. It’s fun to not only make them, but get to know them in the process of making them. Plus, a lot of the time, we will write a meaningful note on the back of it that says why we chose the design or how it made us think about them.  Last year, I got my little— Isabelle— and it was so much fun to put all of her crafts together. I made her a canvas

I will stand by the fact that in high school, homecoming was lame. I went to a smaller early college high school right next to the fairly large “normal” high school as we called it. What that means is I didn’t really know three quarters of the people in my grade. Which is okay because as the introvert I was, I didn’t really want to either.  Moving into college, one of the first ways I got involved was through Greek life. As a new member, I got to take part in walking in the parade through Ada. This is still one of my favorite memories and annual activities. Unfortunately, this Saturday will be the last day of walking in the parade with all my favorite people, but it certainly won’t be the last homecoming for me!  Part of the reason we celebrate homecoming is for our alumni both of ONU and their involvements during their time as an undergraduate student. We typically celebrate this through a luncheon. Last year, I remember some of our sorority alumni telling us about their off campus ho

Fall break was this past weekend and I will say: it was beyond overdue. The weekend prior, I briefly went home to visit my brother who was in from Seattle, but that wasn’t long enough of a break. This weekend was full of time well spent, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have a schedule. Friday night, my boyfriend and I visited my house to spend time with my mom. This was done the best possible way we know how: eating food on the couch while watching Grey’s Anatomy. Mom and I were five episodes behind on the last season… so obviously we binged all five of those episodes including the two-hour season finale. All this while my dad was blissfully socializing with some old friends at a retirement party. Saturday morning my boyfriend and I went to First Watch for a delicious pancake breakfast. I always enjoy going there when I’m around and it’s never gotten old in all 21 years that I’ve been going. Mom and Dad had taken us there since the siblings and I were just babies, but I remember be

This semester, alongside social media strategies and campaigns, I am taking another public relations course: issues in pr. This class has been far different from any class I’ve ever had, but certainly not in a bad way. On the first day of class the professor said it would be a lot like book club and by now, I can’t imagine she’s wrong. So far we’ve read all the way through one book- Stamped: Racism, Anti-racism and You- and mostly through a second.  While part of our grade in this class is to lead discussions and contribute to them, we also have a few writing assignments, one of which is a book review, which, for the first book, I think is worth sharing: Stamped: Racism, Anti-Racism and You written by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X Kendi, is a critical analysis of America’s history through the lens of racist ideals. Reynolds and Kendi’s arguments throughout the book were continuous and often directly stated: (1) this was not your ordinary history book, (2) America was built on racism whet

I am finally in the home stretch! Beginning last Thursday was the three formal rounds of sorority recruitment. As the vice president of membership for my chapter, I was in charge of everything encompassing each night. From selecting outfits to house decor and conversation topics to pairing who from our chapter the potential new members would talk to. Recruitment is truly a science and while I certainly enjoyed it, I’m glad it is over.  Planning recruitment had to come close to what it’s like when planning a wedding. I only made that connection when going into work and talking with a newer employee whose wedding is in 10 or so days. Thankfully, I didn’t have to deal with any food, but many aspects are just as rigorous. When planning a wedding, seating arrangements are extremely intentional. You don’t want to pair anyone who you don’t think would get along. In recruitment, this same principle is applied to pairing potential new members (PNMs) with current members. We try our best to make

  Recruitment is finally here! Which means- after this week, I can breathe again! That fact itself is really keeping me going. This semester has felt like it’s been moving in slow motion leading up to this point. There’s been many late nights of planning, meetings and stressing over if I’ve thought of everything. What’s reassuring is having two advisors who have done the role themselves, but I wouldn’t have thought about how much this position relates to my major.  This position itself teaches a few obvious skills: event planning, delegating and time management. But I ended up using a lot of the skills I already had. For example, part of this role is being aware of the brand and what we stand for. Delta Zeta has six core values at the center of this brand, they are: friendship, belonging, community, curiosity, generosity and empowerment. As the name of my blog is “Let Me Show You,” I thought I’d do exactly that to show our audience our brand. I had our members participate in a social m

Coming into college, I never thought I would be as involved on campus as I am, but I also never thought I would learn so many skills outside of class. Sure, I’m a marketing student- I can tell you the importance of the 4P’s, knowing your audience and maintaining brand awareness. I’m a PR minor- I can tell you how what you post on one platform isn’t going to translate to another or how important it is to post consistently if you want to start gaining a following. But I’m also a videographer/editor and all 4,000 hours I’ve put into learning and doing that the past three and a half years didn’t come from a class. I know I still have a lot to learn there, but what I’m talking about isn’t just where I want to push my career. I’m talking about how Ohio Northern has played a pivotal role in curating me into a leader- which is still weird to me.  Over my past three years I’ve set different goals for myself. Freshman year, it was to make ONU home. I did that by joining a sorority, figuring ou

Last year was my Junior year of college and every day I walked to the Starbucks at the front of campus to grab myself a ham & swiss croissant and a venti iced white chocolate mocha with oat milk. As we all know, Starbucks is expensive- my polar points quickly ran out and my boyfriend graciously offered up his own polar points when they did but on days where I couldn’t snag his card, I used the loyalty app and started collecting stars. What does this mean? Free drinks? Free food? No, free cups. For one, the cups are pretty. I liked the patterns and that some of them had a metal interior to keep my drink cold for longer. For two, I hated the cups they gave in store. All the flavor that made me buy the same coffee drink every day was at the bottom. The sippy lid didn’t cut it and neither did the amount of plastic waste I would generate getting the drink every day plus a straw. So I got a cup! And then another. And pretty soon I had one cup for every day of the week. I was a little bit

Senior year brings many challenges- all of which I’ve willingly signed up for. I used to always say as a kid that I love a good challenge and that statement has translated into my adult self being extremely busy.  Going into Junior year, I was expecting to graduate early but when scheduling classes for the fall semester, I realized two of my final classes are only offered in the spring. At first I was bummed, now I had to pay for a whole additional semester of class but I quickly turned my narrative to realize that I could keep my fall semester light. I am only taking three classes and the senior capstone project- totaling a whopping 12 credit hours. Not bad. Now let’s start adding.  Last year was my first year as a peer mentor, which I greatly enjoyed despite my mentees not enjoying it so I am continuing that. After taking a brief pause for a semester from my sorority for financial reasons in the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, I came back last fall and ran for a position on our execut

It is the day before Welcome Weekend starts at Ohio Northern University. You’re frantically opening an Amazon package to find out what goodies you will using and how to set it up. You put a phone harness on your chest but the video isn’t stable! It’s bouncing all over the place and you can’t see faces! What’s next? There’s a harness that goes over your head? But the weight of the phone is too heavy! It’s grabbing your hair and falling! You think of an idea- “if it is falling because it has nothing to grab onto, why don’t we get a helmet to strap it to?” THAT’S IT!  You rush to Walmart with your coworker. You’re in the bikes and helmets section when… there’s so many choices. You were told to get a skater helmet, but you know it would move around— not stable enough. You see other adult helmets. This one has a gear on the back to fit the shape of your head! You put it on, desperately trying to figure out if this is the one! You fasten every strap and you mount the phone to the helmet. You