"You are Sasha Fierce", and Other Ways to Get You Through the Day

The pervasiveness of external factors and the extent to which they can disrupt our environment (and ourselves for that matter) create uncertainty on all frontiers. In both lives, uncertainty has been a major source of all my stress and anxiety.

Particularly in my life as an undergraduate student, I had several of encounters with stress. The causation (at the time): unknown. It appeared that every environment or situation I was placed in caused stress and/or anxiety.

In retrospect, the common factor in all situations was me. Having lived a previous life filled with unnecessarily embarrassing moments caused by my body's natural response to anxiety (over perspiration accompanied by quick and high-pitched speech). I pledged to start my new life combating this using several of stress coping mechanisms which I have learned through: consumption of media, literature and human observation. Of course, mastering the learned methods will take some time - there are still moments (okay, several) in my current life when stress gets the best of me and I revert to the old stress remedies of eating and cuddling my cat.

Practice makes better, not perfect. 

(Am I right, or am I right. Can I get an amen? Or an x-men, i'd settle for an x-men)     

WHEN DEALING WITH STRESS, CONSIDER:

1. Ain't nobody perfect.

2. Mistakes make for better, more satisfying successes so don't stop, never give up.

3. JLO gets better with age; successes get better with more failures.

Yup, she still looks the same now as she did then.

3. Fake it till you make it: you are Sasha Fierce. That is all. Actually no - there's also the fact that body language and physical movements dictate and predict mood and confidence. So, don't slouch or you'll be a grouch. Watch this TED TALKS for a deeper understanding.

4. You will never be ready, so just leave or you're going to be late (and sad)

6. You.need.to.relax. - go watch Key and Peele on Youtube.
laughing is to mood as viagra is to _______.

8. Feedback is good, even if its bad.

- Thanks for stopping by, have a good day. 

T'work (Teamwork)

Please watch this video to get in the right mind set to read this blog posting.

Teamwork was a requirement in my previous life as it is in my current life and as it will probably be in my next life (hopefully as an account planner or as a bear, I'd find either role equally rewarding).While obligatory in both lives, the manner  in which teamwork was construed in the past compared to the present differs in so many ways.

In my life as an undergraduate, I had plenty of autonomy. The classes were so large that I usually got the freedom to choose who I wanted in my group. I was so happy...to begin with. Soon after the first year had passed, I had come to see this so called freedom for what it was - a curse. The negative effects that autonomy and too many choices had on consumer purchasing bared the same effects on students during group member selection. The selection was overwhelming and the risks were higher than that of purchasing a new jam (refer to link above for marketing study conducted by Iyengar and Lepper).

UNDERGRADUATE GROUP MEMBER SELECTION OPTIONS:

Select a friend and you're guaranteed to have a good time but not a good mark. You will most indefinitely not use your time as wisely as you should, although this is not always the case.

Select the smart socially awkward person (stray) that you've noticed answers all the question and and queries in class and online discussion boards, and you're guaranteed to have little or no say in the final output. That person will most likely make a demand that they hand in the report or assignment, providing them with the opportunity to "edit" out all your words and thoughts. Or they will sit there with you and edit the final project, meaning you will sit in a room together while this other person reads aloud the final project and changes every word you've written in front of your face (true story bro).

Select a random social person that got left behind because the group requirements had an odd number of pairings that just didn't work out with their number of friends, and you might or might not have a slacker on your hands. If this random person is not sociable or feels right at home, communication barriers could follow, which might deviate your direct route to success. If the random social person is not a slacker, see scenario 2: smart socially awkward person (stray).

Be the random person and you might have the potential to make new friends. Or, if not integrated to the herd properly you will be shunned; forced to listen to inside jokes all the while implementing others ideas because majority rules. Or, you will be doing all the work.

Regardless of what type member chosen, the project was always completed. On time. Signed, sealed and delivered. Why? Because momma didn't raise no fool and school costs a ton.

In post-graduate life, options are limited. I know everyone. I know their hobbies, birthdays, number of siblings, where they did their undergrads and I could probably tell you their favorite colors. I've heard their introduction stories several of times (as every prof asked for an introduction and background story) and they've heard mine. In my current life I don't really get to choose, and if I do the selection is very limited. Contrary to what you might think, I like this method of group selection.

In my current life, everything is more refined. Yes my class is small but we are all like minded and focused. We all slack once in a while, but when you go back to school to get a second chance at life you make sure you pay attention and you make sure you do a good job. Without my current classmates, I'd most likely be lost. What I don't pick up on in class, they surely do and vice versa.

The Beginning, All over Again

About the blog
The premise of this blog stems from a school assignment. The task of the assignment is to create a blog about our lives as students that can be used to create and direct traffic, so that the data returned from  traffic can be analyzed using Google Analytics. Real blog, real data, real experience, real fun (most of the times) - good assignment, eh?

About the blog content:
Throughout this blog I plan on writing about my current experiences as a Sheridan Advertising Post-grad student in contrast to my experiences as an undergrad at the University of Guelph. In postings I will either provide a contrast or similarities of the two. I will refer to my current experiences as my present life (the after life, see what I did there?) and my experience of my undergrad as my former life.

Why compare the two? 

Because. Because, because, because! Since my graduating the University of Guelph I've been fortunate enough to experience office life. To summarize my experiences, they were all very different in ways that affected my personal being. From all of them, whether enjoyable or not I have learned so much: who I want to be , who I don't want to be, what I don't want to do and a little more of what I want to do, all from the people I've been surrounded with. With each environment I learned and I changed sometimes so dramatically that I feel almost reborn (hence the afterlife theme).

My promise to you

To whom it may concern,

I promise to try to write compelling stories which have a point. I promise to try to never waste your time and always make you smile. I promise to hold your hands when they are cold and say good morning - every morning.

By now I hope you will have gotten a taste of my personality (often sarcastic and a little bit all over the place). If you enjoy what you've read I hope to interact with you via comments or email in my future postings.

So now I'll leave you with the quote that inspired me to write about my experiences in such a bizarre manner. Or rather a sentence that somewhat replicates what I've read that inspired me.

" ... we keep growing out of ourselves and into ourselves" 

It really makes you think, doesn't it? Thank you Oprah.

Meet the Employers: Networking Night Part 1

In my previous life as an undergraduate student, networking nights also existed. Advertised in a similar way by professors and career guidance counselors as in my current life as a post-graduate student, the event is often boasted as something that could make or break me. Something that could potentially jump start my career and the next part of my life. Having only lived once, I was immature, gullible and hopeful. A terrible mixture that undoubtedly took a toll on my nervous system and ultimately lead to performance anxiety and unnecessary amounts of perspiration - every time.

In my previous life I never experienced the things people described networking nights to be: I never made any connections beyond shallow social media adds, I never formed bonds that were to last for years, I never gained a mentor that wanted to take me on as a mentee (or underling, I'm pretty sure that's what they're called) and so, when the new me heard that there was a networking night coming up, I did not greet the event with great enthusiasm. I greeted it with despair and treated it like the seasonal flu shot; just another thing I should do. Adding to my mild disgust, I also wasn't enthused by the networking night because I knew that it meant my current life would soon be over and I'd be a graduate all over again.
 
In my current life as a post-graduate student, I was wiser. I knew that the experience would be what I wanted it to be. Nothing any of the professors said could influence my thoughts on the matter, this time I didn't have any expectations.

Without any expectations or hopes and dreams resting on this night alone, I was actually able to relax and communicate with the representatives and learn and retain information. To my surprise I was actually able to interact and communication flowed both ways and dialogue was created. Ultimately I learned that company representatives like talking to students and are willing to give helpful tips and hints. Of course, there were some awkward moments, as there are bound to be when meeting any stranger for the first time- but I had a good time, collected some contact information and won a door prize to experience a "Day in the Life of a worker" at Reprisemedia (this will be the part two portion of the networking night).

To paint a better picture of what the event was like the second time around:

Location/venue: The Marquee

Vendors/participating organizations:

• Bunzl
• Metroland Media Group
• Havas Worldwide Toronto 
• Forrester Research 
• TubeMogul
• Juice Mobile 
• UM Canada 
• Creative Niche Inc.
•  Media Brands 
• Premiere Publications and Shows 
• Sales Talent Agency 
• Dentsu Aegis Network (Carat Canada)
• Naked Creative Consultancy 
• Active International (Active Media Services)
• Zfactor 
• Yield Branding 
• Mosaic
• Oakville Beaver
• IQ Partners 
• The Hamilton Spectator