Christine's Column

  This past week I started my senior year of college, and I still can’t quite believe how fast time has gone. It feels like I was just moving into my freshman dorm, nervous and excited about what was ahead. Now I’m pulling up to campus for my last first day. People always say college goes by in the blink of an eye, but I don’t think I truly understood that until now. Walking into classes this week carried a different kind of energy. In past years, the first week was about finding classrooms, buying the right textbooks and settling into new routines. This year, though, there’s an added layer of nostalgia and anticipation. Every first is also a last—my last first syllabus week, my last first icebreaker introductions, my last time setting up a schedule that only lasts one more year. Part of me feels like I should have everything figured out by now. The reality is, I don’t. College has been full of surprises, challenges and opportunities I never could have predicted. I know this ye...

 As my first blog back, I thought I would walk you through my very hectic last month of summer. On Aug. 2, my mom told me she was moving in 30 days. She was very excited about it, and I also thought it would be fun. However, I quickly realized that I was leaving for Florida on Aug. 13 and moving back to school almost immediately after returning. That meant I had about a week and a half to go through everything I owned. It’s also important to note that I am not moving back home after I graduate in May — I’m moving to Florida. So it wasn’t as simple as packing and moving my things. It was a cleanout of everything I owned. I don’t know how I managed to get it done, but by the time I left for Florida everything of mine was already pitched or packed. I then, thankfully, went on to have the most relaxing vacation. My boyfriend and I are long distance — he lives in Florida — so we decided to have a little getaway before we both begin our last years of school. Naples Pier, FL We went t...

              As I wrap up this week, I am so so so so SO excited to leave. But that’s obvious, I’ve been talking about leaving for summer for the past four weeks. Anyway, to share my last week here at ONU for my sophomore year, I’ll have bring you all back about a week. Last Thursday, my mom came down to Ada and took my boyfriend and I out to dinner. It was amazing to see my mom because I haven’t seen her since  I went home for my birthday, which was a little over a month ago. That was also the last time, and only time actually, her and my boyfriend saw each other. So, dinner was really nice to catch up on, especially considering on my birthday there was a bunch of people out with us, so it wasn’t the easiest to converse with one another. This week's flowers!             The rest of the week has been spent preparing to leave. Not so much ‘packing’ as in preparing, I still have not...

              After finishing reading Stukent’s textbook, Essentials of Social Media Marketing, for class, I feel a bit indifferent in regard to the book. I thought there were both pros and cons to the book and the information it provided. Depending on the audience, the book could be useful or useless.             On the plus side, I did think the book was very good for beginners and considering it was a principles class, that made sense. The book was almost like a social media for dummies, it explained all the concepts and platforms in a way that was very easy for anyone to understand. The PowerPoint slides provided also made it exceptionally easy to follow along in class. I also thought that the “by the numbers” portions of each chapter helped with learning those facts because it was in one big graphic instead of simply in paragraph format.        ...

              As the semester winds down, I can't help but feel a sense of relief washing over me. I've nearly completed all of my major assignments for the semester, and it's like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of endless papers, presentations, and projects, but I know it won’t be long before I won’t have to think about school anymore – or for a few months at least. However, just as the stresses of school have left my mind, I find myself with a new worry. I have absolutely no idea how I am going to get all of my stuff home. As I look around my room, I constantly think to myself, “This is not going to all fit in my car.” I am more worried about the bigger things, such as my fridge, my chair, and my TV. But, luckily, my brother lives in Ada so I am hoping I can just leave those things at his house until the weekend following move-out, since my family will be here for his graduation. Even b...

Over the course of this semester, I have worked on and completed a simulation internship for my social media class. The ‘simternship’, as Stukent calls it, was comprised of 12 rounds that were broken up into four sections. With each section containing three rounds, the sections consisted of the following: organic social posts, paid social posts, social media influencers, and the combination of all three at once. During the first three rounds of the simternship, I did not do as well as I would have liked with organic posts. I tried to keep the number of posts and money spent on media for posts fairly equal between platforms. This tactic did not play out too well for me because some platforms did not generate as much revenue as I had spent on media for them. However, I gave myself some grace because it was still early-on, and I wanted to allow myself to learn which platforms perform the best and which ones I should optimize more throughout the rest of the simulation. So, when it came t...