It's Great to be a Georgia Bulldog!

Yep, it's almost that time again, my favorite time of the year. College football season is (finally) right around the corner! UGA's football season starts at home on September 4 against Louisiana-Lafayette (is that even a real school? where do they find these openers?). Okay... I know I graduated well over a year ago, but I still (and will always) get so excited about football season starting back up - and it helps me deal with the fact that summer is coming to a close (didn't summer JUST start??).

Oh, and I just booked a flight to ATL for the UGA/Arkansas game with two of my favorite NYC friends who also happen to be UGA alums. It's hard to believe this will be my second season as an alum, but fortunately I'll be at atleast one game (maybe two - fingers crossed GA/FL will work out). I got the chance to go back for one game last year, LSU (which we lost in the last 41 seconds.. brutal) and now that I've made arrangements for a game this year I'm literally counting the minutes until my flight lands in Atlanta on September 16th (good thing my boss understands how important football is and what a valid reason that is to take off work on a Friday).

It'll be interesting to see how different it is to go back now vs. just a few months after I'd graduated. Being the party/football school that it is (sorry Michael Adams, but it's the truth), many people go for the 4 and a half or 5 year plans, so quite a few of my friends were still in school when I went back last year - or at least right around the corner in Atlanta so they came back for it. Many of them are still in Atlanta, and I'm sure those that have graduated will still come back for the home games but it's weird to be more and more removed from my college experience... I can't even imagine how much has changed since I was there last. Georgia Theater is in the rebuilding process after the fire last summer, many of my favorite bars and restaurants have closed and there are strangers renting out my house that was the scene of so many memories from my sophomore to senior years. But while it'll be sad not to see so many familiar sites and faces, I know parts of Athens will never change and that sweet little town will always have a special place in my heart. I have a feeling the minute we merge onto the loop from 316 I'll forget I ever left...

Middle of the Year Resolutions?

I thought traveling for work would be the busiest I've ever been, but somehow I have more downtime on this trip than I'd expected. I guess it makes sense because my friends are all back in New York, so once my work is done for the day I'm not tempted to run off to happy hour, dinner, shopping, the movies, etc. I have to say, it's kind of nice to catch up on my Netflix queue (new obsession) and apparently it makes me much better at keeping my blog updated.

With this newfound free time, I've been reading back through some old posts and reflecting - I'm still in my nostalgic omg-I've-lived-in-NYC-for-a-year phase. Going back to the beginning, I came across some old stuff at the beginning of 2009. Crazy how I had no idea where I would be now and it's all fallen into place!

The best thing I found had to be my "2009 New Years Resolutions" ... while I can't do a look where I am a year later post since I was anti-blog at the start of 2010, I'm taking this free time to look back anyway. Who says you can't have June Resolutions?

Jess's 2009 Resolutions:

• Find a way to balance school, 2 jobs, an internship and a social life. I kind of lacked on the last part last semester, so it's a good thing my jobs are my social life. Okay so this one is now irrelevant... but I guess I survived?
  
• Put enough money in my savings account before I graduate to at least cover my first month's rent in NYC. Check more or less... although at this point I don't think I realized "first month's rent" = first month's rent, last month's rent, several month security deposit, and brokers fee... thanks Mom and Dad.
• Become more knowledgeable about the Internet & social media. Not sure I can check this off. You can always learn more... ongoing life goal?
• Work on my blog's exposure and getting more readers. Eh, not crossing this off. I think I keep this guy updated more for me than anything, it's like a journal. Readers/comments are just added fun.
• Graduate. CHECK! *pat on the back*
• Find an apartment I like/can afford in NYC. The first requirement should be easy, we'll see about the second one... Check! It's definitely a starter apartment, but I love it and am staying for at least another year.
• Make a true effort to keep in touch with friends after graduation/moving. My best friends from home have an email chain (which they like to make fun of my blog on, so maybe this post will make it into said email chain) that does wonders for keeping us all in touch. Not checking this off though because I can always get better.
• Start an entry-level job or internship (ideally shortly after graduation). Check! *another pat on the back*
• Finish cleaning out my room at my parents' house. And accept that I really now have to start calling it "my parents' house" instead of "my house". Big fail. Mom had to do this and redecorate. Whoops...
• Clean out/re-paint my townhouse in Athens. Another fail... again, thanks Mom :)

So I didn't do so bad! Checked off all the big life goals for 2009. Now I just need to come up with plans for 2010 (now that we're 5 months into it). More to come...

Dear Athens, I Miss You.

It's nearing four months now that I've been out of college (115 days to be exact), but I think I'm just really grasping it for the first time recently. Up until a few weeks ago, it's been summer. For me, and for everyone. I'm never in school at this time of the year, and having so many friends living in New York for just summer internships made me feel like I was one of them. I was last summer, after all.

Somehow it was easy to think that come the middle of August, I would head back to Athens with the rest of my friends. Now it's so weird for me to grasp that my younger friends are sitting in class all day while I'm working and paying my own bills! I guess I had to come to terms with it at some point, but its funny that it took the start of the semester for me that to happen (how much longer can I talk in "semesters"?).

As much as absolutely love living in New York, there's a part of me that really misses sweet little Athens, Georgia. I knew people everywhere I went, I was comfortable in the same home for three years, and I had my safe routine of class and working occasionally... and a little part of me definitely misses that! But the more I think about it, the more I realize it's the just the memories I made in college that I miss. I wouldn't in a million years trade going to class tomorrow for going to work; I'm past that point in my life and it feels good. It's just hard not to miss the friends I made and the traditions that are still going on without me.

Another thing that's hard to swallow... this weekend is the first UGA football game. The first game I'll watch the bulldogs play as an alum, not a student. They'll always be my team, but it's weird to get in the habit of telling people "I went to UGA," not "I'm a student at UGA." It's an away game, so I wouldn't be at the game anyway (Oklahoma is too much of a haul, even for me)... but it's still a weird feeling. I'm used to watching the away games in my living room with my roommates; this weekend I'll actually be home in Sarasota, watching the game with my parents!

I know this is all part of growing up, and as the rest of my friends graduate and move on I'll have less of a pull toward Athens, but right now it's just really weird to realize that chapter of my life has closed.

Time for a Change

As much as I loved my skyline banner, I decided over the weekend it was time for a blog makeover. I wanted something more personal, so I made this one with pictures from all of the "chapters" of my life (if I'm sticking with the book metaphor, which I think I am) - growing up in Sarasota, college in Athens, and now whatever this stage of my life is in New York (adulthood? ah!). Anyway, I'd love some feedback! :)

How Do You Measure Success?

One of the things that is constantly debated in public relations is how to measure the success of a campaign. Now, more than ever, we have to prove our worth as practitioners in order for our clients to appreciate our value to their business.

Last semester, I worked on a campaign to fight poverty in Athens-Clarke County for my capstone public relations class at UGA. There were countless times throughout the grueling semester that we wondered if we were truly making a difference to this daunting problem. We conducted student focus groups, interviewed faculty and attended community meetings to try to figure out what we could do to help. The best solution we could come up with to the problem, from a PR front anyway, was to create an umbrella organization to unite the efforts currently on campus working toward this cause. The presentation to our client (or should I say clients: we had a full classroom of attendees!) went very well, they loved our ideas and were very excited to take what we had come up with and move forward. And then the 21 students who created this initiative graduated and left Athens behind, hoping that the best would come of their plan.


So why am I bringing this up now, months after graduation and after I have moved far away from Athens? Because this article on UGA's Grady College web site popped up in my Google Alerts a few days ago.

Our presentation opened with the quote, "the greatest danger is to let this initiative die out." This article is proof that it won't die out, because there are people who care and are dedicated to carrying out our initiative. If that isn't a successful campaign, I don't know what is.

Southern Hospitality

After work on Wednesday, I got to go to my first "SEC Alumni Happy Hour," which I've heard about for months now.  I gathered up as many of my SEC friends as I could (okay, so they were all UGA or UF alums/students but I tried) and off to Soho we went.  The happy hour felt like a big tailgate, I really felt like I was back in Athens! It was so fun seeing people I knew, and got that same feeling that I have had so many times at games, home or away - the SEC is one big family, filled with love/hate relationships. Football brings a healthy amount of friendly rivalry, and there will always be trash talking between schools in the same conference, but when it comes down to it we were all just there for a good time.

This all seemed perfectly normal until I told a friend that I was going and he was confused by the whole concept... "There's a happy hour for your conference? Do other conferences have this?" It never even occurred to me until then that they probably don't. The SEC is the most fun conference to be in because it's a big social network.  Being around people who had the same traditions as I did in college made me feel right at home. Stepping into Firefly that afternoon made me feel like I stepped out of NYC and into the South! While I'm absolutely loving every minute of being in NYC, it's good to know there's a big group here to hang out with that knows the meaning of southern hospitality and won't make fun of me when I let "yall" slip out.

Twitter Does it Again

I've been contemplating all week if I should write something about the whole Twitter/CNN situation but haven't yet because I (a) just haven't had the time and (b) don't feel the need to "re-invent the blog post" so to speak, since there are so many great articles out there already (check out The Power of Twitter, written by a PepperDigital co-worker, or scan through the latest New York Times articles - there are new ones every day!).

The bottom line is that Twitter has once again made a huge impact on current affairs, and continues to beat out traditional news as a means of communication. We saw this a few months ago with the first pictures of the U.S. Airways crash being posted to Twitter before they made it to a broadcast news station. Today, Twitter once again "beat out" traditional news with the quickest updates on a story that hit close to home for me. Or should I say, close to my old home.

Having gone to the University of Georgia, I fell in love with the sweet little town of Athens over the last four years. Athens, affectionately known as "the Classic City," has an amazing downtown scene with tons of old buildings and hundreds of years of history. There are so many landmarks around the town that are well-known and loved by students and locals alike, but today there is one less.

When I woke up this morning, the first thing I did was check my e-mail, Twitter, and Facebook like I do every morning (okay, after I hit the snooze about 4 times - Fridays are rough). One of the first tweets I saw was about the Georgia Theater catching fire. WHAT?? I was immediately wide awake and began frantically searching the news for more information. (For those of you who don't know, the Georgia Theater is an old movie theater in downtown Athens that was converted into the most popular music venue in Athens, with headliners like R.E.M., Widespread Panic and other Athens legends over the years.)

I first did a Google News search to see what was going on... which gave me frustratingly few details (the theater caught fire this morning, more information to come..).  So, I posted a question to Twitter...

... and within minutes had responses from complete strangers filling me in on what had happened.  All morning, people have been posting live updates, pictures and videos.  Even now, there are few details to be found on traditional news outlets but Athenians continue to post the latest snippets of news on their Twitter feeds.  

When the U.S. Airways crash happened, people started saying that "it would only be a matter of time" before citizen journalism truly overtakes traditional media.  Where do we officially draw that line? Did it start to happen with the Twitter picture of the U.S. Airways plane down in the Hudson River? Can I say today, since I have relied solely on Twitter and have stopped bothering checking the local news sites, that Twitter has actually taken over? Or what about the situation in Iran, where citizens there can only rely on this one means of communication and all others are blocked? When will people stop saying it is "going to happen" and realize it is actually happening before our eyes?

There IS Such a Thing As Life After College

I realized as I was posting my "picture of the day" that an entire month has passed since I graduated from college.  I can't believe how fast that month has gone by, and I really can't believe how smooth the transition has been.

For your four (or five or six, depending on who you are...) years of college, all you ever hear is, "These are the best years of your life! It's downhill from here!" Of course I loved college, and my four years in Athens were incredible.  I had a blast, met so many wonderful people and got a great education to prepare me for where I am now.  However, I truly dreaded the responsibilities of adult life because that's what I was supposed to do.  Its ingrained in your head as a college student that this is the only time you'll have true freedom, and you should want to stay a college student forever.

I have to admit, being a college graduate isn't so bad.  I'm living in a great city that I fall more and more in love with every day, I'm enjoying my internship and I'm meeting interesting new people everywhere I turn.  I even kind of enjoy the "adult" responsibilities of going to bed early on weeknights and keeping up with paying my own bills because it gives me a sense of accomplishment.  Sure, I still go out with my friends and have fun on the weekends but I'm easily settling into a routine and loving it. 

Last summer, I remember one of my co-workers telling me that she actually had more fun in her first few years out of college than she did in college.  I laughed at this silly statement at the time, but I'm actually starting to understand what she's talking about.  

Bye For Now, Athens...

Dear Athens,

Thanks for giving me a better college experience than I could have ever imagined.  Five years ago, when I visited here in high school, I knew right away that I would be so happy here and I was right.  

Thanks for providing me with a great education at a wonderful school that will always be near and dear to my heart.  I could have stayed in state for free, but now I can't imagine my life if I had gone anywhere else.  

Thanks for forcing me to learn about football... because before I moved here I didn't even know how many points a touchdown was worth.  Four years ago, I went to my first football game ever.  Not my first college football game... my first football game of any kind that I actually sat down and tried to understand.  Four years later, I talk football with the boys and could do all the Georgia cheers in my sleep.  Now I truly know the meaning of "bleeding red and black."

Thanks for introducing me to so many amazing people, whose friendships I will treasure forever.  I came here knowing nobody, and met so many friendly and outgoing people that I felt at home right away.  It has been impossible to say goodbye to all of these amazing people, but I know most of them will be in my life forever.

Thanks for teaching me about what it means to truly live in the south.  I still don't like sweet tea or wear pearls, but I got to experience a whole new culture I truly knew nothing about before moving here... and now all of my northern friends make fun of me for saying "yall."

Most importantly, thanks for being my home for the past four years.  Now I know why people say college is the greatest four years of your life.

This isn't goodbye... This is "see you later," because I know I'll be back to visit, dress up for the games, tailgate with old friends, and go downtown like we did every night when we were freshman.  

Thanks for the memories.

Love,

Jess

Moving Rant

Whenever I tell people I'm moving to New York, they have one of three reactions:

1. "Oh my god, that's so cool! Congratulations!"
2. "Didn't you grow up in Florida? You're going to freeze!"
3. "Isn't New York sooo expensive?"

I've kind of got my standard answers for each of these reactions since I'm so used to getting them all the time ("Yes, it is very cool," "Yes, I'm going to freeze... but I'll buy cute boots and scarves so I think I'll be okay," and "Yes, it is expensive but that's why I worked all through college").  The third one is the one I get the most though, and I can't argue with it, New York is probably the most expensive city in the world.  But one thing I didn't realize until very recently was that moving anywhere is expensive! Sure, moving to New York is expensive because the cost of living is extremely high there, but the actual physical moving part is way more expensive than I could have ever imagined.

Let me preface this rant with saying that I have lived in the same townhouse all through college for this reason.  I hate moving.  I nest, I hang ridiculous amounts of shelves and picture frames, I paint my walls, and I have absurd amounts of clutter.  I haven't had to move in three years, and even then I didn't have much more than my clothes.  

On Wednesday, I'm moving to New York.  Not for a summer like I did last year... I'm really moving.  Over the last few weeks I've been packing up my entire life to move it up there with me and didn't really spend much time thinking about how it would all actually get there.  I had planned to drive up with a friend, but our schedules didn't work out, so now (two days before I'm supposed to leave Athens to go home for a few days) I'm stuck.  My options were to drive (mom vetoed that immediately, for safety reasons and the fact that then my car would be in the city), hire movers (wayyyy too last minute for that apparently) or ship everything.  So tomorrow I get to go to UPS with my 14 boxes/suitcases/bags I have packed and pay ungodly amounts of money to have it shipped directly to my apartment.  I just booked my flight, which was even more money, and had to get a health certificate for my cat to fly with me, so there's another $100.  Not to mention the money spent at Kinkos last week faxing and overnighting my lease, and so many more expenses coming my way.  In the end I know it will be all worth it when I'm settled into my apartment and I have it set up exactly how I want it, but right now this is the most frustrating thing I've ever dealt with.  Aaaaand *end rant*

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things...

A month before graduation, I wrote a post reflecting on my favorite things in Athens. The day after graduation, I went to campus with my mom and took pictures at all of my favorite spots. I wanted to post a few on here, as I continue to reminisce about my amazing four years in Athens and prepare for my future after college.

The Victory Bell - traditionally rang by students and fans after winning home football games. Broken in 2007 after victory against UF.

Herty Field - where the Bulldogs played (and won) their first football game.

The North Campus Fountain - one of the most recognized places on campus, but it has been turned off since the summer of 2007 because of the drought in Georgia.  The fountain was turned back on a few days before graduation.

Terry College of Business - where I got degree number one, BBA in Management.

Grady College of Journalism & Mass Communication - where I got degree number two, ABJ in Public Relations, and met so many wonderful people over the years.

Sanford Stadium - our football stadium, where graduation was held, and hands down my favorite place on campus.

Alma Mater, Thee We'll Honor... Georgia Hail to Thee!

I guess I finally need to stop saying it doesn't feel real, because it is real now. Yesterday was the Spring 2009 Commencement ceremony, and I am officially a University of Georgia alumnus.  I can't even begin to put into words all the emotions I have felt over the last couple of days, and I think my eyes have run out of tears because I'm past the point of being able to cry anymore.  

The Grady Convocation was held on Friday afternoon at the Classic Center, and was just as exciting as the big commencement ceremony.  After the speakers, each graduate's name was called and we walked across the stage of the Classic Center theatre to receive our Grady Society pin.  I loved being there with the friends I've made in my wonderful major over the last two years, and am so proud of all my fellow Grady grads.  I love you all, especially the C-Painers, and can't wait to hear about all the amazing things everyone accomplishes in the next stage of their lives.

Yesterday's ceremony was obviously less personal, but it was still so cool sitting on the field of Sanford stadium with the class of 2009.  I loved the speakers, and being able to stand and flip my tassel to the left side (twice - once for Grady, once for Terry) made everything feel worth it.  Not to mention, Grady was definitely the best section to sit in and we cheered the loudest when our dean introduced us!

The weekend was filled with celebrations, friends and family.  I was so lucky to have my wonderful parents and little brother here to laugh and cry with me, and to support me through everything.  So now it's over.  The best four years of my life have come to a close, and I'm preparing for the next step and my big move.  In two weeks, I will leave Athens to go home, say goodbye to all my high school friends, and then move to New York a few days later.  This is the most exciting time of my life, and I can't wait to see how things unfold.  

Cheers to the class of 2009 - we did it! As they pointed out yesterday, sure we're graduating into a difficult economy... but we're ready, and we have been prepared to handle anything life throws our way.  The world will now expect uncommon things of us, because WE are graduates of the University of Georgia. Congratulations everyone, and GO DAWGS!

Getting There...

Graduation is just a few days away, and somehow it still doesn't seem real.  Maybe it's because I've been so busy studying for exams, finishing up projects, and making the arrangements for my family's arrival that I haven't actually sat down to think about what this is all for.  My last exam of college is tomorrow at noon, and after that all I will have left are the final corrections on my Campaigns book and I'm done! 

I think when it will really hit me is when I have to start saying goodbye to all the amazing friends I have made over the last few years.  Because, as cliched as it is, college really is so much more than just classes.  Its a personal growing experience filled with friendships that will last a lifetime.  Maybe this is why the end of classes didn't really effect me, and why even after tomorrow I won't truly feel like college is over.  Let's be honest, I'm not that heartbroken that I'll never attend another college class.  I'm starting an internship in a few weeks, and I know I will continue learning new things about the industry I've chosen for the rest of my life, so the learning aspect of college will never truly be over.  From now on, I will be learning only the things that I'm interested in and passionate about.  I will never have to take another exam, or be forced to write a research paper on something I don't care about.  I'm excited to finally learn things on my terms, and not have to take any more pre-requisite courses just because they're required.

The things I'll be sad to leave behind from college will be my amazing friends and the charming little town I've come to call home after the last four years.  Between classes, part time jobs, and especially my study abroad program, I have met some unbelievable people in my time at UGA.  I'm very fortunate that many of my friends will also be moving to New York after graduation, and some others will be nearby throughout the Northeast.  Most of the rest of them will be in Atlanta, and I'm sure I'll be down to visit and go to a Georgia football game when I can.  But we will never all be together like we are now and have the freedom we do now.  After Saturday, my life will change forever... and I'm just waiting for it all to be real.

UGAAlert: Getting Better, but Still Needs Work

A few months ago, I wrote a post about UGAAlert, the University of Georgia's crisis communication plan via text messages and phone calls.  These alerts, which began after the tragedy at Virginia Tech, were intended to alert students, faculty and staff as quickly as possible about any crisis on campus (severe weather, dangerous individuals, etc.).  In my previous post, I complained about how unreliable the alert system is.  For this reason, as well as the fact that I'm graduating next weekend, I cancelled my subscription to UGAAlert when I was prompted to update my contact information last week.

Over the weekend, an unthinkable tragedy occurred in Athens. A marketing professor from the University of Georgia, George M. Zinkahn, fatally shot his wife and two other members of their theater group.  The shooting occurred on Prince Avenue, just minutes from campus and downtown.  I was working downtown at the time (this weekend was the Twilight Criterium, one of the biggest weekend celebrations in the history of Athens) and found out when one of the customers at the bar asked me to turn the TV to CNN, because Athens was on the national news.  

I had no idea what he was talking about, which I realize is completely my own fault for cancelling UGAAlert.  When I cancelled it, the website asked if I was sure that I wanted to cancel the subscription, and explained the risk that this may entail.  Looking back, I can't help but realize how ironic it was that I cancelled it right before the biggest crisis to occur in my time as a UGA student.  In all honesty, I probably wouldn't have even seen the text message or received the phone call (if I even got one, since they were known to be unreliable).  I was busy at work and certainly didn't have time to check my cell phone every time it vibrated in my pocket.  But now I keep wondering if UGA could somehow require all students, faculty and staff to sign up for this service.  Sure, it was annoying to get three texts in a row when Athens is under a tornado warning, then the warning has been lifted, then its back on.  And for some reason, even though I asked for only texts (so I could read them in class), I still always got multiple voicemails whenever something happened.  However, I think most students would rather be safe (and slightly annoyed) than sorry.  

After speaking to several of my friends who still did have UGAAlert, I found out that a message was sent out - an hour and a half after gunshots were heard at the community theater.  Apparently the message was held up because the University wanted to ensure that Zinkahn did not receive the message, alerting him to the fact that everyone knew what he had done and was looking for him.  While I commend them for realizing this important detail before immediately sending out a message to everyone on the contact list, this is something that should have been realized years ago when this system was started.  Our system was prompted by the Virginia Tech shooting, therefore the University should have thought about the fact that there may be a need to exempt certain people from alerts.  An additional 20 minutes was spent figuring out how to do this, at which point the University realized that Zinkahn's only contact number was a landline at the University.  

Thankfully, nobody else was harmed after the initial shooting, so the delayed alert did not have any negative effects.  I realize that an innovative system such as this takes time to perfect, and I can only hope that the University gets the details figured out before the next time they need to use it.

Could YOU Go One Day Without Shoes?

Throughout my Campaigns class, I've learned all kinds of terrible statistics about the poverty rate in Athens-Clarke County. Athens has the fifth highest poverty rate (28%) for counties its size in the nation. One in four children in Athens lives in poverty. The list goes on and on.

I recently learned another poverty-related statistic that shocked me - more than 40% of the world goes without shoes every day. Most of us stress out on a daily basis about finding the perfect shoes to match our outfit (admit it ladies), so not owning a single pair is unfathomable. That is why TOMS at UGA (a client of one of the other PR Campaigns classes) is joining in the national campaign, "One Day Without Shoes," to raise awareness of what it would truly be like not to own a single pair of shoes. The purpose of the event at UGA is to get as many students as possible to spend time barefoot in honor of those who must walk shoeless every day.

Tomorrow, join TOMS at UGA from 12 - 6 p.m. on Brumby Beach and "bare your sole" while listening to live music and bouncing on the moonwalk. At 5:30 p.m., a group will walk barefoot from Brumby Beach to Bolton dining hall to conclude the event. Students who already own a pair of TOMS can participate in the “Style Your Sole” activity and design their own signature pair. TOMS at UGA will also show “For Tomorrow,” a documentary detailing the company's mission and history.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with TOMS Shoes, the company donates one pair of shoes to a child in need across the world for each pair purchased. The name "TOMS" comes from the word “tomorrow,” as the company strives to provide shoes to help the futures of countries worldwide. Since 2006, TOMS has donated over 100,000 pairs of shoes.

For more information about TOMS at UGA, check out their blog, follow them on Twitter, or search "TOMS at UGA" on Facebook.

The Countdown Is On

One month from today, I will graduate from college.  I have been anxiously anticipating this day for basically my entire life, and it's exactly one month away.  As I prepare for the grueling 30 days of exams, papers, group projects, and interviews ahead of me, I wanted to take a minute to reflect on the last four years.

In my humble (and maybe somewhat biased) opinion, Athens is essentially the perfect college town.  There is an endless supply of fun things to do and interesting people to interact with.  I came here knowing nobody, and am leaving with friends I'll know for the rest of my life.  Here are just a few of my favorite things from the last four years...

School Spirit.  I went to a very small, academically-oriented high school that had no sports.  Yes, you read that right.  If we wanted to participate in a sports team, we had to join the team at our district school (I ran track, but it wasn't the same as representing my own school).  That being said, my first football game was a UGA game, and I never imagined how awesome the experience would be.  Dressing up for the home games, taking road trips with friends to the away games, and cheering on the team for the last four years has been one of the highlights of my college experience.

UGA's traditions.  Athens is full of history and traditions, and I can't help but smile every time I walk past (not under) the Arch, and hear the victory bell ringing after a home victory.  Leaving these all behind will be very sad, but I know I'll always be able to come back to the same old Athens after I've graduated and moved on.

(For those of you who don't live in Athens, the Arch marks the entrance to campus from downtown and has become somewhat of a symbol of the University.  Legend has it that if you walk under the Arch as an undergraduate, you will not graduate on time.  Any time of day, you will find students going out of their way not to walk under the Arch.  In fact, the cement steps are worn down on the sides of the Arch from so many people bypassing it.)

Experiencing a new culture.  I never realized when I moved 8 hours north from my Sarasota home, that I would end up in the South.  While Florida is geographically in the South, culturally it certainly is not.  Sweet tea, pearls, and southern accents were all foreign to me, but they have all become dear to my heart over the last four years.

Downtown Athens.  It goes without saying that downtown, with its 100+ bars and music venues, is quite popular among students.  More than the bars though, I've come to love the unique little restaurants you can't find anywhere but downtown Athens.  Last Resort, East-West, Farm 255, Five Star Day, etc... these will always be some of my favorites.

That small town feel.  Although Athens has over 100,000 residents, it still manages to feel like a small town.  I rarely have to drive my car more than 5 miles each day, and after four years I feel like I know everyone.  I literally can't walk around town or across campus without running into a familiar face, and I absolutely love that.  

The list goes on and on, and I could probably write a whole book based on my amazing college experience.  But (not to be cliche), all good things must come to an end... One month from today, I will walk under the Arch for my first time proudly wearing my cap and gown and ready for life after Athens, but I'll always be a bulldog at heart.

Are College Towns Recession Proof?

I have always thought living in a college town like Athens is kind of like living in a bubble.  Being in the transition phase of college, where you're finally living on your own but can still turn to your parents to support, can feel like a dream.  You have all of the freedom you wanted in high school, but don't technically have the "real" responsibilities of adult life.  In all likelihood, everything you need is within a one mile radius of your apartment.  Life is basically perfect.

Sometimes I wonder if, for these reasons, it seems that college towns are immune to the bigger problems of "real" cities.  I realize that Athens is a real city and definitely has it's share of real problems (see my posts on my Anti-Poverty Campaign).  However, sometimes it's easy to feel like we don't have it as bad as everywhere else.  The unemployment rate is far lower than it is in other cities, generally because the University provides so many jobs to the community.  Unlike some of my friends in the "real world," all of my peers are students, so I'm not constantly hearing about co-workers being laid off.  Students can still turn to mom and dad to fund their expensive meals out and nights drinking downtown.  

Maybe it's this mentality of "living the dream" that will make it that much harder to graduate and leave this all behind.  Only once we start searching for jobs do some of us start to truly realize the gravity of the situation our country is facing.  I guess we all have to grow up some time, but as I said in my last post, for now I'm going to enjoy every minute of living in my little college bubble.  

Shock Value: Is it Really Worth it?

Walking to class today, I was confronted with some disturbing images.  Despite the warning I had already gotten (via Twitter) to avoid the Tate Plaza today, I basically had to walk through there to get to my class in the SLC (I refuse to start calling it the 'MLC'... it just doesn't sound right).  For those of you who don't go to UGA, the Tate Plaza is basically an open forum on campus where various interest groups usually congregate and try to get out whatever message they are passionate about (and the SLC/'MLC' is our Student Learning Center, recently renamed the 'Miller Learning Center' after a former Georgia Governor).

So as I came down the stairs into Tate, I was bombarded with horrifying images of aborted fetuses.  Not just horrifying, but HUGE - the billboards must have been 20 feet tall (where do you even go to print something like that?).  There was a tiny sign in front of the display that said something to the effect of "Caution: Disturbing Images Ahead," but by that point there was no way you hadn't already seen the images.  There were posters with all kinds of facts about abortion, and a man preaching to passersby about why abortion is wrong.  

Abortion is a controversial issue, and I'm not going to get into my own views on it.  However, no matter what your views are, this display got your attention.  I understand what the protestors were going for - hoping to shock people into thinking abortion is wrong.  But how effective is that really?  The display definitely got people thinking and talking about the issue, but could it really change someone's mind?  When it comes down to beliefs about such personal issues, can something as simple (albeit shocking) affect their decision?

The main reason I'm so curious about this is that these exact abortion displays came up in our focus group for my Campaigns class.  We were discussing how to really get the attention of UGA students when it comes to the anti-poverty effort in Athens-Clarke County.  One student brought up graphic images like the ones in the anti-abortion displays.  Students agreed when something is so big and staring you right in the face, you can't ignore it, which I agree with.  However, it's one thing to create buzz and get people thinking about an issue, and it's another thing entirely to get them to act on these thoughts.  Would oversized posters with images of impoverished children and statistics about dropout and pregnancy rates in Athens get attention on campus?  Sure.  But the real question is, would these posters actually drive people to join the anti-poverty effort?

Ups and Downs of Campaigns

Throughout my life as a PR major at UGA, I've heard countless stories about how much work to anticipate in my capstone Campaigns class (see Dr. Kaye Sweetser's video, "True Life: Campaigns").  The class is designed to draw on every concept we've ever learned in our PR classes, from writing to strategic planning.  Even though I've had quite a bit of internship experience, this class has provided me with a whole new learning environment.  There have definitely been some ups and downs along the way, but as we get closer to the end of the semester I'm so excited to see how everything turns out!

I've posted before about this class, but here's a quick little aside about what we're doing...

Our class is helping various entities involved with combating poverty in Athens.  Most students don't realize that UGA's host, Athens-Clarke County, is the 5th poorest county in the nation.  Obviously, this project is a huge undertaking, and a class of 21 seniors can't solve the problems that have existed in this region for generations.  Our hope is that we will be able to re-energize the campus and make students more aware of the situation so they will be inspired to help.  Our main thought was to form an umbrella organization to bring existing anti-poverty student organizations together.

Everyone was so enthusiastic about the project at the beginning and couldn't wait to get started on forming a solution.  However, there was a lot of research that had to be done before we could jump straight into tackling the problem.  We have spent the last few months conducting student focus groups, interviewing faculty, and gauging the general interest on campus in the fight against poverty.  While everyone is anxious to "get something done," we have had to realize that our efforts would be wasted if we didn't put in the proper research first.  As graduation quickly approaches, we have had to adjust our strategy to more of a research-based campaign.  In the next few weeks, we will be creating a book to present to the client that includes all of our research and case studies.  It is our hope that our work will lay the groundwork for future classes.  While we may not get to see the direct outcome this semester, I know we will one day. 

I think the biggest lesson I have learned in this class has been about delegating.  I've always been someone who likes to get things done myself, and hates depending on other people for anything.  However, as a co-leader of a class of 21 students, I can't possibly do everything myself.  Myself and my other co-leader have spent so much time delegating work and planning assignments, which has definitely been a new experience for me.  I never realized how hard it is to get college students to turn things in on time! It's hard sometimes to enforce deadlines, but I've gotten great practice in leadership and project management.

All in all, Campaigns has been a wonderful learning experience, as I knew it would be.  There is no better way to prepare for a future career in public relations than actually executing an entire campaign.  I know I will look back to lessons I learned in this class for years to come.

Keeping it Local: Part 2

Last week, I talked about how I love having visitors in town because I get to eat out and show off Athens. This past weekend, my mom was in town so I got to do the whole visitor thing all over again.

As usual, one of my favorite things about the parents coming to town is going to the nice restaurants that I can't afford on my own (East-West, Porterhouse, Farm 255, etc.). However, this time I decided to take Mom out to some of the fun local attractions Athens has to offer. 

We went to one of my old favorites, the Terrapin Brewery, to meet some friends and enjoy the local beer.  I hadn't been to Terrapin in awhile, but I've never seen it so busy!  The parking lot was absolutely packed and the line at the taps was a mile long the whole night.  But as usual, it was a fun outing and I love the laid back attitude everyone has there.  Not to mention, where else can you go for live music, good beer, and even leave with a souvenir glass for $8? If you have yet to go to Terrapin, go soon - they're open for tours and tastings Thursday, Friday, Saturday from 5:30 - 7:30.  They seemed to be in between seasonal beers right now, but I would imagine soon they'll have their spring beers available for tastings.  

*If you want to see what you've been missing, there are videos on the Athens Convention & Visitors Bureau's blog from my internship last semester

We also went to Urban Sanctuary for facials (what kind of *girls weekend* would be complete without facials?).  My roommate recommended the spa after getting a massage there a few weeks ago, so we decided to check it out.  Urban Sanctuary is one of those cute, homey places in Athens that is located in an actual house - which I love! The facials were awesome, and the whole atmosphere of the spa made you feel right at home.  

And finally, we went to Cine - which I've been meaning to do for years.  They have some great movies playing right now (Milk, Revolutionary Road, & The Reader - we saw Milk) and if you check out their website you can see all the cool events they have each week.  Aside from the cool indie feel of the theater, it has cheaper tickets than traditional theaters in town AND a full bar - not to mention, it is connected to The National (which I have yet to go to but I hear is amazing).

This weekend made me realize there's more to "keeping it local" than just eating in local restaurants.  I'm definitely planning to spend my last two months in Athens experiencing as much of the local culture as possible.