94 moons have passed

(thank you jess for inspiring me on this post title)

well y'all. i did it. after 8 years, i've graduated from college. technically only 6 years cause of my mission.

i don't know exactly how i feel. yesterday and today has been great because i don't have the feeling of deadlines on my shoulders.

but guess what? if you haven't heard, i will be interning at GREY in New York City! and i'll be shadowing the account supervisor over their COVER GIRL account! how rad!? it'll be a whole new ball game working with such a largely known client and at an agency where the positions are set up a little differently than i'm used to and where people really know what they are doing.

i'm really excited because i never thought i was capable of having an experience like this! i've always kinda told myself i would be ok just living in salt lake city til i found something a little better. the way i got this internship was pretty remarkable.

first off, i was selected by a faculty member to apply for an advertising minority award. i had 2 days to put together all the paper work! i was then selected as a finalist with an all expense paid trip to new york for the Most Promising Minority Students conference and banquet. i went with 5 other students from my program. there were 55 students from across the nation there in total. we toured at different agencies in the city, attended a recruiter's fair, had several networking workshops, and were recognized at a big luncheon/banquet. at the recruiter's fair, i handed out several resumes and portfolios to agency recruiters. i then interviewed with Leo Burnett and Ogilvy! i had met the recruiter from Leo Burnett just a couple weeks prior at our BYU career fair. she was looking forward to meeting with me again. it was also there that i spoke very briefly with a recruiter from Grey.

it wasn't until mid march that i heard from that same recruiter and she wanted to interview with me! it came as a surprise because i kinda forgot about meeting them, but i remembered that they had great clients and work. it was a phone interview and it was great! very conversational and i could tell she wasn't just reading pre-determined questions. 3 weeks later - she called with an offer!

i told her i was super excited, but i wanted to have the weekend to think about it. other options i had for the summer were the nauvoo pageant, leo burnett, ogilvy, sundance doing seven brides, efy, people water, or richter 7. by the time i found out about grey i found out i hadn't gotten ogilvy, the nauvoo pageant, and efy. but i had just set up an interview with richter 7 for the following tuesday. i followed up with leo and didn't get it. and richter suggested i take grey and contact them if i came back to utah.

so i accepted! i'm excited to see friends on the east coast i haven't seen in forever! but i'm also sad to leave the new friends that i've met this year. it's a bitter sweet.

back to graduation (now that it's a week later) - i feel great! it's a big accomplishment for my family because i am the first in my immediate family to graduate from college on schedule (kinda). my mom is just now starting school cause she didn't go to college in the philippines. and my dad graduated when he was in his 40's. he began the military at a young age. and my brother hasn't finished school yet; jumped right into working. so it was a neat milestone for my family.

i am grateful that i switched majors. even though it took me longer, advertising has brought on so many more exciting opportunities that if i had stuck with dance. and i know that i will always be able to dance without having a degree. at the least the direction that i want to take with dance. i have competed in two national advertising competitions, i was selected to go to new york for a minorities advertising conference, and i have an internship in a month in new york with the 7th largest advertising agency working on one of the the largest cosmetics brands, CoverGirl. so much better than teaching in utah my whole life.

i am grateful for the musicals that i was able to perform in at BYU. because of the directors and choreographers i worked with, it provided me performing jobs in theaters outside of BYU. i'm glad that i've been able to develop musical theater skills while receiving an advertising education. i felt balance and enjoyment in both fields. and the other performers in each of the shows have been a blast to work with. there were always a select few though, in each show, that i know i needed to meet. to them i am so grateful for their acceptance of me and my imperfections and taking a chance to get to know me.

i can't forget to mention how grateful i am for the opportunity to serve in BYUSA for 2 1/2 years. with what i thought was just a volunteer position to help me gain experience in advertising provided me with an enriching experience with students and faculty that could not have recreated by any other organization. it's sad to think that students don't understand or appreciate what BYUSA is or does. i am grateful for the other students examples that gave me confidence in the goodness and many benefits of the organization. it's in BYUSA that i found the people i connect best with; those who are selfless and non-judgemental in every way. i found some of my greatest friends in BYUSA. i grew intellectually, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally every day that i served. and even though i didn't serve in BYUSA this past year, i still felt connected to the student leaders and i was able to be part of the 2012 student body elections. congrats brandon and jessica!

i did a lot in my undergrad, and i don't regret anything! and there really wasn't enough time for me to do everything that i wanted, but i think what's most important is that i met the people i've needed to meet. looking back at it all, timing was perfect. i needed to go on a mission. i needed to go to BYU. i learned what i needed to learn. cried over what i needed to cry about and joyed in the most joyous things.

thank you to my family who supported me along way, even though my steps weren't what they expected for me. i've turned out ok.

hello new york!

words of advice

dedicated to my fellow graduates!

soo...

sorry it's been forever. but obviously nothing ground breaking since then. the boy is over his ex, but hasn't given me any sign of having a relationship yet. so... i've kinda moved on. not to anyone in particular, but i feel ok being interested in someone else.

in 2 weeks, after my creative track portfolio is submitted, i will be more available to post stuff up. get excited!

study time

i picked an awful place to study. the dude at my table keeps talking to me... i'm sorry that's kinda rude, but i'm here to study. not strike up conversation with random people.

i'm a friendly person, but not in this kind of setting. sorry dude... and he keeps watching people as they walk by. like watch them walk all the way passed.

happy turkey day

(12:30am) recent update: my advertising team made it through to the next round of an advertising/marketing competition with l'oreal. we had to analyze the current men's grooming market and come up with a men's salon service and corresponding product. we changed our idea so many times, but finally came up with this - addressing the current trend for overall wellness, when the guy comes into a salon, the stylist applies a foam into his hair, let it sit for 3 minutes and then the foam will turn 1 of 5 colors. the color detects the highest level of nutrient that the guy is lacking in is hair. the stylist will then give him customized daily shampoo and conditioner according to the nutrient he's lacking the most. neat huh?! on dec 2, we compete against the other 5 teams from BYU. if we win, we go onto NYC against national teams. win that, go to paris to compete with teams from around the world. win that and split $10,000! ahh! pray for us!

um...i'm no longer a dance major. just advertising and dance minor. i'm taking a drawing class next semester! i want to get into a french class too.

i want an electric pad drum set for christmas. is that what its called? i've always wanted to learn, but recently i've felt a strong push to learn. i think playing in a jazz band would be pretty rad.

i work for a catering company in provo. i was a team lead for the first time this last weekend and the event went really well. we went to a wedding reception, which we do 99% of the time, and there was a live jazz band. i want a live band at my reception. no receiving line. i don't want my reception in a church gym.

i've been lazy all day. we saw mega mind in 3D. i decided not to wear contacts today and just my glasses. so wearing my glasses and the 3D glasses was kinda funny. we also watched modern family and home alone. i feel sick cause i've just been sitting and eating food all day. can't wait until tomorrow. (not)

sewing machine bulb is burnt out and my web cam isn't working. i was making my friend a make up bag and videoing the process while giving instructions so i can put it on youtube and my blog. but i'll have to wait til i go to my apt to get my mac book cd to repair a program or something... i guess it just isn't meant to be.

i think that's all. oh, i'm going to a concert in slc on fri with my roomie. i'm excited for that! i'll write what i'm thankful for tomorrow. loves!

media fast : leave comments on Facebook link

I deleted my fb notifications to my gmail.

I waited til 10:30am to check my email, I sent off one email. I closed it. And I was about to open it again,    

   but stopped myself before it fully loaded.

It’s become instinct to check my email

I felt like I also wasn’t allowed to eat, or text, or listen to music; kinda like the day after fast Sunday and 

   when you have the urge to eat you feel like you can’t

I usually keep it open, because I want to chat with my bf

I refer to it often because I have purposefully not read certain emails because I don’t have time to when I

   receive them and so they remain bolded to remind myself to get to it later. My unread emails serve as a

   check list and reminders.

I believe it was from “Divine Nations”, it said that humans used to have everything memorized.

   Then came writing

   Then came audio

   Then came visual

   Then came interactive

We need things to keep us engaged and involved, an experience

Our memory, as humans, has weakened

I have reminders on my phone

I needed to go on email to retrieve a document for a group project and an email from a teacher, but I 

   didn’t go through my emails

Documents are digital, not in hard copy. We are adapting our systems to be solely digital

I told some friends about my “fast” and they said, “I couldn’t do it”

Another girl in the class was refraining from texting.

I don’t know how I could manage without texting, because there were times when I needed to text rather 

   than call, more convenient

I could probably survive longer than I think without technology, fb especially, but other rely on it, so I 

   have to in order to keep it touch with them and function in the same way

I did for a year and a half (mission), only because the people I needed to contact weren’t on fb

I keep my fb, mainly for mission contacts, my purses, kit with old friends

My bf thinks I’m addicted to email because it causes me to not eat

I may justify it by saying I need it to help me remember things I need to do and so I can talk to him

I think that because I have a laptop, I bring it to campus for convenience; I am accustomed to having 

   email so accessible. When before, it would be long hours until I could check my email.

I am not as attached to fb as I am gmail. Fb is more for pleasing others. I could go a week without going 

   on. But I feel that people need to get a hold of me, so I go and check what people are trying to 

   communicate to me. I don’t think it serves me a real purpose, only for my bags.