Intern

Are All Twenty-Something’s Lost?

- colinashby 3 Comments

Movies following the “typical” twenty-something as lost and searching for what to do are far from adequately representing what this age group is about.

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If I was anything like the typical twenty-something depicted in movies then I would walk around clueless about what to do and lacking direction.  That’s not the case. I’m not like that (for the most part). Career goals fill my future outlook. I dream of the different jobs I want to have and what I am doing to get there.

Actually, a lot of twenty-something’s are like that. At least for the ones I encounter in college. Big ambitions and realistic planning with their future lives fill their days.

This group of ambitious, go-getting, persistent people never seems to be portrayed in films dealing with a twenty-something. It’s similar to when Hollywood movies are made about teens. The twenty-something is put into a stereotype of how the rest of society thinks they act.

Movies dealing with the lost twenty-something and having a quarter-life crisis have grown in popularity. Lena Dunham’s  feature film Tiny Furniture was beloved by audiences and received the award for Best Narrative Feature at the South by Southwest Festival.  The film follows recent college graduate Aura (Dunham) who moves back home with a lack of direction. 2006’s Accepted shows a group of 18-year-olds as they create their own “college” after being rejected from others and not knowing what to do. Reality Bites depicts a lowly videographer as she lacks guidance and irresponsibly quits her job. Greenberg, Frances Ha and How to Be follow the same suit.

What’s the deal with all of this? Are all twenty-something’s taking longer to grow up? No. It’s quite different. Many of them have dreams (that are realistic), goals and plans for how to achieve them. There are many twenty-something’s that are stuck in a somewhat slow period. They work less than ideal jobs, low-paying jobs and/or still finding a job. It doesn’t mean there lost. Many of them are just stuck in the phase of getting experience to qualify them for jobs they really want.

The appeal to the lost and directionless crowd is understandable. Everyone has been there. It’s something that is a common experience. However it can be overdone.

The coming-of-age “finding yourself” films seem like they are going the way of the parody films. Everyone is tired of them and want to move on.

TXST PRSSA (Public Relations Student Society)

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When I first started at Texas State, I felt kind of lost in terms of what to do. I hadn’t really started on any classes in my major yet. So looking to get involved I joined a bunch of student organizations. I ended up not being able to do most of them (the dues were expensive) and so PRSSA was the one that stuck.

PRSSA stands for Public Relations Student Society of America. The chapter at Texas State is part of a national group that aims to advance the profession of public relations. The Texas State chapter at Texas State consists of a variety of officers: President, VP, Treasury, Special Events, Secretary, and Membership. I am the Director of Treasury for PRSSA at Texas State. I make sure people are pay their national and local dues.

A lot of the planning that goes into running our PRSSA chapter happens at the officer meetings every other Wednesday. The meetings are hectic but fun natured and usually consist of the officers trying to organize speakers for the upcoming meetings. The photo slideshow shows off a few of the happenings at a PRSSA officers meeting.

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MAIP Summer 2014

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In this blog I frequently talk about how to utilize a college degree to the max.  Speak with professors, attend events related your major, get experience in your major, and so forth. One of the great ways to expand upon what you learn in the classroom is through internships. Internships let you test the waters for a certain career sector and let you gain real-world experience.  When I heard about the MAIP summer 2014 program and how they give students the opportunity to work at real advertising agencies, I knew I had to apply.

MAIP stands for Multicultural Advertising Intern Program. I had send a video component along with my application. After 6 hours of restless planning and filming I was finally able to come to a finished product. The video footage originally ran 12 minutes long but I was able to successfully cut it down to the stated three minutes.

Here is the video of me addressing MAIP, telling them how I am unique and what makes me a good fit for the program.

Your Career Starts Now

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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

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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

A Real-Life Intern’s View of The Internship Movie

- colinashby 1 Comment

The Internship came out back in June while I was working two summer internships. The movie is about two guys who lose their sales jobs mid-career and decide to take an internship at the well-known company Google. The movie has been getting a lot of praise from real-life fellow interns. As a former intern at Hays County Food Bank the movie was surprisingly accurate about the world of interning.

Courtesy of Hays County Food Bank
Courtesy of Hays County Food Bank

Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, the lead characters of the movie, come to the internship with no up to date job skills. Looking back at their years as salesman they think they will excel at the internship. When they arrive at the Google Headquarters and see the other interns, they realize something. They have no technology experience or updated technical job skills.

Being an intern without much real world work experience, I could understand the characters feelings of being lost in a competitive work world. I am four weeks into my internship here at the food bank and it has been great. I have done everything from helping hand out food at public distributions to dressing up as a carrot and floating the river to promote National Fresh Fruits and Vegetables month.

The theme throughout the movie The Internship is that personality and perseverance go a long way in one’s career. What the two lead characters lack in job skills, they make up with determination.

The diverse characters throughout the movie mirror the diverse group of people I meet every day through the food bank. Everyone here at the food bank has been friendly and helpful along the way of my internship. I look forward to the many duties I take on as an intern at Hays County Food Bank. This summer at the food bank is going to be great.

To learn more about the Hays County Food Bank, what the food bank does, and so forth, please visit their website.

Movie “Glory Daze” Give Insight Into Post-Graduation Life

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GloryDaze[1]
Photo Courtesy of imdb.com
With the Netflix site up and a pile of not-so-healthy food in hand, I started to watch Glory Daze.  The interesting thing to notice about the film is that it was released at a time when most of the main cast was not all that famous.  Glory Daze stars Ben Affleck, Sam Rockwell, Matt Damon, Matthew McConaughey, Leah Remini, and Brendan Fraser all before they hit big.

When most see Glory Daze they see it as just another low-budget indie film without much to offer. That could be the case, but for most (yes, even people outside the 18-34 demographic) will be able to see something more from the movie.

The movie follow five friends who live in a house they call “El Rancho.” They are all going to college at University of California-Santa Cruz. Jack (Ben Affleck) deals with is commanding parents. Dennis (French Stewart) contemplates going to graduate school or not. Rob (Sam Rockwell) wonders if he should move to Los Angeles with his girlfriend or not.

After finishing the movie it really struck a chord with me. A lot of the issues dealt with in the movie are ones college students deal with all the time. Here are the four things I noticed that were addressed in Glory Daze:

Not being sure what you want to do in life

 

Jack (Ben Affleck) struggles with this throughout the entire movie. He is nearing his college graduation and he is not sure of what to do. In fact he has no idea what to do. Like many college students in real life, his parents start pressuring him. “You need to get a job Jack.” “You graduated, what are your plans now?” Jack doesn’t know how to answer these questions. He tries to dodge his parent’s persistence. He does not want to work at some corporate 9 to 5 job. He does not like doing mindless work for someone else’s dream. He wants to follow his dream. He is an artist. He is not sure of how to reach his dream.

Graduate School?

Dennis (French Stewart) deals with the decision of going to graduate school or working as an assistant at the university. Many graduating college seniors contemplate this. Should I go to graduate school or not? Not sure of if they will get a job after graduation, many students apply for graduate school. They believe that extra degree will make them “more competitive” in the workforce. Being more close to the plot of the movie, some students know they want to go to graduate school but are not sure if they should postpone it or not. Should they work for a few years after graduation or go straight to graduate school?  Dennis faces this proposition in the movie when one of his professors ask him to stay on as his assistant.

Relocating

Moving to a new city is a tricky proposition. College students think about the prospect of a new city as they get closer to graduation. Rob (Sam Rockwell) faces this when his question when his longtime girlfriend asks him to move to Los Angeles with her. Graduating college students often wonder if moving to a new city will help them out in life. Does the new city have good job opportunities? Do I need to move there for my career? Should I move even though I have a lump of student loans on me? Questions and anxiety swirl through students minds when they wonder what they should do. The same questions and anxiety happen to Dennis in the movie.

Wondering how all these topics are answered? Go grab some popcorn and maybe a few friends and watch Glory Daze.  It is currently on Netflix Instant.

New York Times Movie Review of Glory Daze.

Lessons Learned from NBC Show Parks & Recreation

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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)