The Quintessential College Lifestyle Blog

I am totally new to the world of blogging, and let me tell you, I had a blast searching blogs over the past week or so. I love the world of fashion, learning career tips, and reading some college survival tips. (we all need help sometimes, right?) I found a blog written by Kayla Buell that did it all for me. She writes about real life scenarios and gives tips for those of us feeling a little lost.

Kayla has a blog entitled GEN Y GIRL– Millennial Career and Lifestyle Blog. There a multitude of reasons I was interested in her blog and writing style. Her blog is very clean-cut and easy to follow. She has all of her pieces grouped into categories. Want to learn how to be rich in your twenties? There’s a tab for that. Her writing is also very relatable to anybody in their twenties. She writes about things we all can relate to- the internship search, how to save money, and even how to make yourself happy.

I love that Kayla keeps her blog simple, but still keeps the reader eager to read all of her work. She has great titles to her pieces, which I’ve realized is important and ultimately, got me to be interested in what she had to say. So, that is something I  hope to incorporate into my own writing. It is hard to get people interested in what you have to say, and starting with a good title is an excellent way to get the reader’s attention.

There was honestly nothing I disliked about Kayla’s  blog. It kept me wanting to read, contained the perfect amount of pictures, and contained topics that every twenty something would want to read. I am looking forward to keeping up with Kayla’s blog this semester, and of course beginning my blogging journey.

5 Pieces of Advice for Future Bloggers

Dear future bloggers,

Welcome to my blog, and congratulations on starting your own blogging journey! This will be a great journey for you to begin, I loved it! Besides expressing yourself, enhancing your writing style, and learning a lot- you will have some fun along the journey. Now, below you will find five of my top pieces of advice that I learned through my blogging journey:

1. Get your posts done on time- these are some of the easiest points to earn for this class, get your work done on time so you don’t loose points!

2. Express yourself- This blog is a great way to show the world your style of writing, it is also a great way to let your inner creativity fly!

3. Add pictures, hyperlinks, and videos- not only are these REQUIRED, but they definitely make blog posts more exciting to read. Who wants to lose followers, right?

4. Read your classmates bog posts! We all work hard on these posts each week, so take a look at what others in your class have to say. You might learn something new! You would be surprised at how creative some of these blogs get.

5. Keep blogging if you liked creating your blog all semester! Blogging is an awesome way to share your thoughts and ideas, so if you are proud of the blog you created through the semester, then why stop?

Next step is to take my advice and get going on your blog. You might be surprised that you enjoy it. Go into this with an open mind, and believe me, you will have so much fun. Remember- as I said, these are some of the easiest points to earn in this class. As long as you show creativity and get your posts done on time you will be just fine!

Venmo-Download it!

Are you ever out with your friends and all of a sudden realize you forgot your wallet? Immediately, a friend offers to cover for you and you reply that you will give them cash later. Download Venmo and you wont have this problem anymore! This past week I just downloaded this app, and it is one I will not delete!

Venmo is a free App where you create a username and hook up your checking account. Now, you have your debit card basically hooked up to your phone, so you can pay friends back right away. The App syncs with your contacts, so you will now be connected with everyone in your contacts who also use the app. You can even request payments from people.

I am the type of person that never has cash on me, and I rely heavily on my debit card, so this app is very useful in my life, even though I have only been using it for a few days. Only “having your debit card on you” is no longer an excuse with this genius App!

This App takes the stress away of friends owing you money, and you wont have to go take cash out. You can also see who your friends are paying, which can be kind of fun to “creep” on.

I am not going to lie, I was kind of sketched out about letting an App connect with my banking info, but I just entered my Chase bank account login info and I was connected right away, and everything has gone smooth since!

Overall, this is an App that I believe almost everyone will have within the next year. Nobody likes to have cash on them, and with this app you can pay friends back within a minute, right from the palm of your hand! Don’t be the person who is behind in technology, try it today! 

 

Top 10 Apps to have in College

In today’s world there are so many apps available in the app store, but how do we know which ones are the most useful in college? Scroll through this list of the apps you will want to download to keep up!

1.Twitter- who doesn’t love to keep up with their favorite celebrities, sports teams, and BFFs’ tweets? Twitter is all about expressing yourself in under 140 characters. 

2.Facebook- keep up with your friends’ college experiences via pictures and status updates. No word limits here, even though sometimes you feel there should be!

3. Instagram- Do you miss your best friends from high school? Keep up with their adventures via pictures and short captions. With the new story feature, you can even see what they are doing throughout the day.

4. Snapchat- Having FOMO from not going out at your school over the weekend? I’m sure you can find a snap story that shows it all. Keep up with what is going on on campuses all over the place. Sometimes you can even find out what is going on your own campus.

5. Spotify- unlimited music and skips for just $5.00 a month with a school email? Sounds like a college kids dream. Get it for the motivating study jams, or the music you need to keep going through the weekend.

6. Uber- This is a must have. Stranded at a party or just too exhausted to walk somewhere? Uber is the answer. Uber also offers the split feature, so you can get where you need to go and spit the price with your friends!

7. Gmail App- At SAU this is a must have App. Although it seems as if we get a thousand emails that don’t apply to us each day- it is a tool we need to keep up with what is going on.

8. Quizlet- tired of handwriting all of those notecards for your next big exam? Quizlet lets you type out notecards and even generates quizzes so you can keep up with studies!

9. Domino’s Pizza App- Do you want to be rewarded for all of those pizzas you order after a long weekend? Dominos offers you to order through the App and will offer rewards as you keep ordering.

10.Linkedin– Network, network, network! Looking for an internship, want to present your professional skills? Download it!

Social Media Capturing Trips

Lately, I have been thinking about all of the awesome experiences I have had already in my 21 short years of life. I have been thinking about how I grew up in Chicago and made the move to Davenport for a degree. I have been thinking about all of the trips I have taken- whether it was a day trip or a trip to another country. I have been thinking about all of the awesome experiences travel brings. It takes you out of your comfort zone and you get to experience new things, hopefully with some good people by your side. While I was thinking about this, I logged into my Facebook to look at old pictures.

While scrolling through my photos, I came across pictures from my favorite trip ever. When I was a senior in high school, I was lucky enough to travel to Italy. It was my first time leaving the country, and I had no idea what to think- would I be homesick? What did I need to pack? Would the language barrier be a problem? I had no idea, but there I was with my best friend in the International terminal awaiting our flight. I had no idea that this would be one of the best experiences of my life.

It is crazy to think that social media sites, such as Facebook can help you to store those memories. We are very, very lucky to live in a time where we can save memories and pictures in that way. It is nice to think that when social media sites are used the right way, they can be very useful.

You know those videos you see on Facebook of the “Most Amazing Things in the world”?Well, here is an example, if you haven’t:  Positano. I was lucky enough to visit this place, and let me tell you, I have never seen anything like it. 

Pictured above is the view from the balcony of the hotel I stayed in, and I can tell you, the picture doesn’t do that view justice. This trip was the experience of a lifetime, and it is my “happy place.” When I am stressed, I like to think about this place and this trip.

While abroad, I think the best part was being the “annoying tourist.” There is so much to see, learn, and do. Nobody knows who you are when you travel, and it is a great opportunity to let yourself experience new things. I was only abroad for two weeks, but it was the best two weeks of my life. So, travel while you still have time, and save good pictures on sites like Facebook to look back on!!

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My World of Social Media

Social media is taking over our world today. It is everywhere. If we need to know where our friends are or what’s going on around us we can find it from the palm of our hands. I am pretty involved on social media, I have a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. 

I use all of my social media sites from my iPhone. It makes the sites super easy to operate, and I get to keep up with what is going on in my friends and families lives. I use my Instagram to post pictures- usually once every week or two. I use my Facebook to mainly keep up with my family. I have a twitter, however, I really do not tweet, I basically use it to keep up with my friends, or to see what is for dinner in the caf. Snapchat is an app that I use all the time, and I do send some pretty good snaps out updating my friends on all of the “exciting” things happening in my life.

The main reason I use all of these social media sites is because it makes it easy to keep up with friends. There are definitely some “annoyances” on these sites. AKA- the people who feel the need to keep you updated on their entire day via Snapchat, but it does not stop me from using them. It is almost part of my day to take time to go through each site to see what’s going on with my friends.

I can’t really think of anything that is missing from any of these sites, however, Instagram needs to get rid of the “story” feature that Snapchat is known for. It is crazy to think about all of the stuff that has been updated on these apps just within the past year. Now snapchat has funny filters, Instagram has stories and incorporates Boomerang, and you can even see who unfollowed you on Twitter.

I would say that out of all of these sites I definitely use Snapchat and Instagram the most. I have Snapchat set up so every snap come through just as a text, and Instagram is just addicting to check throughout the day. I can’t wait to see what kinds of updates come out on these sites this year, it should be interesting!

Comments

Olivia,
Nice advice! I honestly never knew that there was a difference between wordpress.org and wordpress.com. You also gave great advice about always using your creativity. I found your blog to be very interesting through the semester, nice job!
Kelly

Daniel,
I am surprised you have never used Snapchat, it is one of my favorite Apps! If you do end up getting a new phone, I think you would have a totally different experience and find it a fun App to use. Although it does distract me a lot, it is one of my favorites! You are also very right about reading the news from Snapchat, I personally never click on those, but I’m sure for some people that is how they do read the news, which I believe could be very inaccurate. Good post this week!
Kelly

Emily,
Your post this week was so relatable. I also cannot wait for this election to be over. It is all we have heard about the past few months, and it is taking over the media in such a negative way. I also agree with seeing people’s opinions on facebook about the election, those opinions need to be kept to yourself! Good post this week!
Kelly

Olivia,
This post is very relatable to today’s world. We are trapped in technology. I actually find it sad that probably very soon, people will not know how to communicate face to face. Communication is so important, and there are so many things that lack from communicating behind a screen. You also brought up a great point with loneliness. When we are bored we check Facebook, when in reality we need to be talking to people around us. When we are in awkward situations, most of the time we will bring out our cellphones and scroll, and practically look at nothing. I believe that this really needs to end. Good post this week, it got me thinking!
Kelly

Kelsey,
Nice finds on your scavenger hunt! I agree with your favorite eating and scenic spots here on campus. There are so many things that we walk past each day and don’t take the time to appreciate. We have an awesome community with so many things always going on and your post did an awesome job of capturing the beauty of SAU!

Kelly

Olivia,

I love how you incorporated the quote, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” it is very true, and I also love going through people’s Instagrams to look at their pictures, as someone’s pictures really do say a lot about them. I also agree with your comment on how Instagram needs to get rid of the “story” update. All social media sites have their own great ideas, and they need to keep to themselves. Great post this week, I can’t wait to keep up with your blog!

Kelly

Kalin,

I also picked the NYC PR Girls blog. I also really enjoyed the career tips and fashion advice that they offered. It was also very organized and easy to navigate around, just as any blog should be. This is a blog that I want to keep up with throughout the semester, as I believe that the tips they have are great! Good post!

Kelly

nyc PR girls Review

While scanning the list of  “60 of the best public relations blogs in the world,” I was searching for a site that would catch my eye and answer some PR questions I had in my head. The first site to catch my eye was nyc PR girls. This blog is run by two twenty- something girls living the dream in NYC. This blog contains very useful information for anybody in the field of public relations. What I liked the most was that they were brutally honest- not everyday in PR is pretty. What these authors do is give you advice to at least try to make everyday pretty.

A post that I particularly enjoyed was entitled Balancing Act. This post contains so many details about how to handle a typical work day, what to expect, and most importantly- what not to do. Balancing work and social life is something most people find very difficult when beginning a new job, and the author Emily gives excellent insight on how to handle it.

Another awesome part of this blog is that the authors offer Q&A. Readers can write in their questions and concerns about beginning positions in the PR field, and these PR gurus reply with their best advice and insights.

If you are at all interested in reading, this blog also contains some recommendations on books that will help anybody showing interest in the PR field. After looking at the list, there were plenty of titles I added to my reading list.

Overall, this blog really made me more interested in the different aspects of PR. The authors really do an awesome job of getting people who are unsure if PR is the best option for them excited about exploring the field, and if people are interested in the field they give great insight for internships and what the next steps to success are.