inspiration

Review: Carpe Diem & Dead Poet’s Society

- colinashby Leave a comment

By the end of Dead Poet’s Society (1989), you won’t be able to get the motto “Carpe Diem” out of your head. Dead Poet’s Society is a drama film set in 1959 at a conservative school called Welton Academy. It tells the story of new teacher John Keating (Robin Williams) and his unconventional teaching methods. Keating inspires his class of students through teaching poetry.

Image by Touchstone Pictures via http://cinemud.com/dead-poets-society-1989-720p-brrip-x264-yify/
Image by Touchstone Pictures via http://cinemud.com/dead-poets-society-1989-720p-brrip-x264-yify/

The only storyline that is given depth is with the character of Neil (Robert Sean Leonard), who has ambitions to become an actor. His strict  father forbids him from doing so. He wants Neil to go to military school, then enroll at Harvard University for a career as a doctor. The pressure from his father and teachers at school drives Neil over the edge.

Robin Williams gives a fine performance as the boys over-the-top zany teacher. Williams brings a witty yet intelligent characterization to teacher. He articulates his words nicely and makes every word he’s saying meaningful. Williams was honored for his performance with an Academy Award-Best Actor nomination.

Being in a privileged, conservative and strict all boys school, the boys are sheltered from the many things of life. William’s character does unconventional methods of teaching in order to get the boys to start thinking for themselves and questioning the things in life.

Many people might be slightly disappointed by the film. The script does not fully develop any of the characters (including teacher John Keating). Scenes in the in the movie do not seem to fully fit together with each other. Many people might think the film does not explain the characters actions on their pursuit of “Carpe Diem” enough.

Despite any short comings one may experience, the film is sure to give one a new motto to keep in mind: Carpe Diem. Suck the marrow out of life and make your life extraordinary.

Although the ending to life has already been written, one can still compose the story.

Note: Apple recently made a commercial with the voice over of Robin Williams doing the “What will your verse be?” scene in Dead Poet’s Society.  The commercial is promotion for Apple’s iPad Air. Watch below.

Your Career Starts Now

- colinashby Leave a comment

The time spent in college is the training wheels towards building a career. I say this because mass communication week ended last week at Texas State. The five day-long event brought media professionals to Texas State to talk about the changing world of digital media and how to prepare for a career in it. One encompassing theme was clear from all of the speakers: start doing our career now, don’t wait till you graduate.

During my fundamentals of digital and online media class (the class that required me to make this blog) my professor mentioned a reason behind why he requires the class to keep a blog:

“There are different ways to provide content, to get you out there doing what you want to do. Start doing now what you want to do for your career, don’t wait” –J.Z. (The FDOM professor that gave this blog assignment)

Want a career in advertising? Start making advertising campaigns. Want to work for a creative media agency? Start creating your own content. Create. That is the point. Do the things that your dream career requires, right now, don’t wait until after college.

Editing my Austin Film Society Internship Application Video
Editing my Austin Film Society Internship Application Video

“I don’t need to tell you what I know. At this stage, it’s important for you to tell me what you know.” –Newling (My Statistics Professor)

The way the theme of this blog (Why a College Degree is Worth It) ties into this is that college provides an experimental group for a person to build a career. There is a plethora of resources around a student in college that can help them build the career they want. Resources that will probably never be within arm’s reach ever again once they are in the real world. So go out now and start doing the career you want to do. Start experimenting to see how digital tools like Pinterest, Storify, WordPress, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and so forth can help develop your personal brand.

Become your own creator, make your own content, and become who you want to be.

“The great thing about education is that everything you have experienced in life will feel different once you have an education. Whether you get a job or you are on the street, you perceive things differently” -Roger Priebe (My Computer Science Professor)

This blog post was inspired by the speakers I learned about at mass comm week at Texas State.

Lost in Translation: Movie Lessons

- colinashby 2 Comments

Lost in Translation is one of my favorite movies of all time. Sofia Coppola is one of my favorite directors of all time. In honor of the film’s recent 10 year anniversary, I decided to do a post on it and it’s relatable themes to college.

Sweaty hands, ketchup stained clothes, and a mind full of thoughts. This runs through a lot of college students’ minds as they have to keep deciding what to do. Things have to be decided on. Homework has to be done. Job/Internship applications have to be filled out. All of this combined is enough to overwhelm anyone.

So here comes the 2003 Sophia Coppola film Lost in Translation. It is a film about an American actor  Bob Harris (Bill Murray) who goes to Japan to film a whiskey advertisement. While in Japan, he feels disillusioned and out of place due to not understanding the language. He has problems in his 25 year marriage and is going through a mid-life crisis when he meets a young college graduate named Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson). The film explores a number of themes that can be relatable to many undergraduates.

Photo Credit: Creative Commons
Photo Credit: Creative Commons

Feeling of Being Lost, Not Knowing What to Do

            Many undergraduates are lost in the academia and events of college. They don’t know where to go. They have a series of commands endlessly told to them: focus on school, get an internship, apply to jobs, form good relationships with professors, eat healthy, manage your money.  It can all be a little (or a lot) overwhelming. This is how Bob and Charlotte feel while in Japan. They are put in a sea of things and are unable to make sense of it. Bob and Charlotte are unsure of the things going on in their lives and what to do about it.

Looking to be Found

Everyone wants to find their place in the world. They want to find their niche in society. Having to decide on a college major, what things to join, what jobs/internships to apply to can be daunting. Bob and Charlotte both feel the same way. Charlotte is unsure of what jobs she should take since she is now out of college. Bob is unsure of his next action/decision in life. Through several events the two characters are finally able to connect and understand each other. To translate into how this connects to college: there is no one action that will get you to where you want to be. It is completely normal to have to go through several events/jobs/clubs to find out what you really want.

All in all, Lost in Translation lets a person see that others feel overwhelmed and out of place too. Although if a person keeps at something (ex: working towards a college degree) it will pay off in some way. They will have a better understanding of themselves because of their past experiences.

Movie Review by famed movie critic Robert Ebert.

Things To Take From Woman’s “I Quit” YouTube Video

- colinashby 1 Comment

It’s 4:30 a.m. While most are soundly asleep, Marina Shifrin is at work. She works at a Next Media Animation as a video producer. She hates her job. She has had to sacrifice her family, relationships, and free time in order to get work assignments done. Her boss was focused on quantity and wanted as many videos with as many views as possible.

The day finally comes when she doesn’t want to do the job anymore. She makes a video, puts it on YouTube, and it goes viral just days after. Less than five days after the video, titled “An Interpretive Dance For My Boss Set To Kanye West’s Gone” is posted, she appears on The Queen Latifah Show. Towards the end of the video, Queen Latifah speaks up and offers her a job. “With your experience, I could create a position,” Latifah said. The job she creates for Shifrin is a digital content producer position. Shifrin is meeting with the shows representatives and still considering the option.

This story brings about something very familiar to what I witness a lot while in college. These people are ones that are constantly trying to choose your path for you. They tell you to major in this. They tell you to not major in that. They tell you to join this, do that, take up this, and so forth. It can cause a person’s brain to go into overload. What “correct” thing should the person do?

Navigating college is tricky path. You have to focus on balancing schoolwork, working a job, paying bills, and at the same time trying to gain experience in their field.  The important thing to remember is that you can build your own way of life. You have the power. It’s time to experiment and college especially, is a great place to do this. There are so many resources available to students. There are a variety of majors in college to choose from. Find a niche. Utilize all the things available to you. Take advantage of them. You shouldn’t let others decide what you will do. You are in control of your own self. Go out and make your highest goals come true.

“Sometimes I think that you need to forcefully close one door in order for another one to open a little easier,” Marina Shifrin [to Queen Latifah].

What I found while studying in the library
What I found while studying in the library
Photo Credit: Colin Ashby

Lessons Learned from NBC Show Parks & Recreation

- colinashby Leave a comment
Parks and Recreation: Thursdays on NBC Photo Courtesy of buzzsugar.com
Parks and Recreation: Thursdays on NBC
Photo Courtesy of buzzsugar.com

Workplace comedies are pretty big right now. People love seeing a (mostly) real look into the lives of people that do typical common jobs. NBC’s Parks and Recreation is a workplace comedy dealing with the daily tasks and adventures of a group of people who work in a small town parks and recreation department.

Watching Parks and Recreation does not stop at just giving audiences a laugh, however. It provides some lessons that job seekers and people focused on advancing their career can notice.  Here are some of the lessons learned from Parks and Recreation:

Being an Intern has its perks

The idea of interns just doing busy work and taking coffee orders is a blown away with the character of April Ludgate. At the beginning of the show April starts out as an intern for the Parks and Recreation Department. Her tasks are anything but little: assisting with campaigns, generating support for a park project, and speaking at public forums. April is constantly able to network with top city officials throughout the show.

Be Yourself

April Ludgate, the intern, does not try to be someone she is not. She maintains her sarcastic deadpan personality. In a weird way this actually gets her noticed. City officials, residents of Pawnee, and her co-workers are all curious about her.

Several career sites and counseling offices tell you what to do and not to do in an interview. They say the behavior a person needs to have while on the job. They mention what to wear on the job or to an interview. With all these voices, it can be easy for a person to lose themselves. Do not let that happen. Do not lose your personality and distinction during an interview/ at a job. Still have professional etiquette of course! Just do not forget to show your personality to an employer. After all, this is what makes you unique.

Take Charge. Don’t be afraid to speak new ideas

Main character Leslie Knope is deeply committed to making her hometown of Pawnee the best that it can be. She is not afraid to let some of her weird and off the wall traits show.  She constantly talks about all the ideas she has to make Pawnee a great town. She wants to build a park, increase literacy, promote healthy choices, and help small businesses. Leslie has planned out steps to make all of her ideas a reality.

College students can particularly learn something important from the Leslie Knope character: she doesn’t wait to be told, she just does. Leslie is not stuck in the cycle of having someone tell her what task to do. She takes on workloads of her own.  She creates things without being asked.

 

Go to Entertainment Weekly’s website so you can vote Parks and Recreation for an EWwy Award (the punctuation is correct)