Often when I design pieces I end up going on intense font downloading sprees. For one project I could acquire as many as 30-40 fonts in search of that perfect one to make the copy pop. Here are my latest favorite fonts and how you can download them too!

1. Bebas

Download Here
8. Teen

There isn’t a day that goes by in which I am not grateful for the choices I’ve made in my life. Choices including to attend Ithaca College, to study integrated marketing communications and to pursue a career in advertising after college. But sometimes I miss performing. Even though my heart isn’t a 100% in performing in public anymore, I still work hard on my own perfecting songs I chose to sing. After hard work I love to share my progress and gratification.

Singing will always be something I have tons of passion for and something I will feel the need to share with others. Check out my latest cover:

In case you didn’t already know, I’m spending the spring semester in London studying at the Ithaca College London Center. Know what that means?

My blog is going to be filled with AWESOME EUROPEAN ADVENTURES!


My 2 goals for my semester in London:
1. Live in the moment every day. 
I’m always wrapped up in the future so much that I always miss what is happening right in front of me. This semester I’m going to do my best and slow things down so I can just take in what is happening in the present.

2. Take a million photos.
So my parents are totally those obnoxious people who take a ridiculous amount of photos on vacation. They want to you take 16,000 pictures in 50 different poses in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa while I just want to look at the thing and leave. For some reason I never want to be “that tourist” but this semester that is all being tossed out the window! I’m totally gonna be that person that goes through like 4 memory cards and documents EVERYTHING!

Places I hope hope HOPE I get to travel to:

Europe:

1. Lisbon, Portugal
2. Varna, Bulgaria
3. Brussels, Belgium
4. Vienna & Salzburg, Austria 
5. Prague, Czech Republic
6. Oslo, Norway
7. Berlin, Germany
8. Amsterdam, Netherlands
9. Paris, France
10. Barcelona, Spain

 U.K:

1. Manchester
2. Edinburgh
3. Dublin
4. Liverpool

Look forward to AWESOME pictures and epic stories 😀

So I am no expert on landing internships but I have 3 seasons and 4 internships under my belt so far and find that I’m pretty great at staying organized during the intense application season. Here are my top 5 tips for you during application season this year.

1. Keep a tab on your browser for interesting companies.

During the year you may find companies you find worth working for. Having this tab allows you to bookmark any company’s website you may want to apply to in the future. It also gives you easy access to any companies you have already applied to. All you need to do is drag the web address into the folder. This way when you start to apply for internships in Jan-Mar you don’t have to start from scratch searching for companies, you’ll already have compiled a list.

2. Save your resume and cover letters as PDFs with your first name, last name and year
Formatting is super important when it comes to resumes and cover letters. If your document is out of line that could be a big problem. Saving the file as a PDF ensures that the way that you see it on your computer will be the way the employer will see it on theirs. Make sure to include your first name, last name and year on the file. Recruiters receive tons of application materials so getting a file that just says, “Resume” or “Cover letter” won’t help them. Including your first and last name and year will allow them to match the two documents for the future. The year can help distinguish past cover letters from current or future cover letters to the same place.

3. Create a folder for all of your cover letters with each document including the company’s name and year.
As you probably know, every cover letter you write should be unique to not only the company you are applying to but also the position in which you are applying for. Make sure you keep organized by creating a folder just for your cover letters. Here you can keep every copy of all of you cover letters for reference. I would include the original document with the company name and year and the PDF version as well. Another suggestion would to keep cover letters organized by year in separate sub-folders. Before your interview make sure you re-read what you expressed in your cover letter. Sometimes interviewers will address topics you discussed in your cover letter and you want to make sure what you expressed then matches what you explain in your interview.

4. Create a spreadsheet that includes all of the companies your apply to
Often when you apply to more than 4 companies things can a bit crazy. Create a spread sheet to help you stay on top of each application.

• Company name
• Position(s) you applied to
• Person you sent you application materials to or recruiter
• Company website or recruitment site
• Application deadline
• Date you submitted your application
• Any alumni that work for the company’s contact information 
• If sent follow up email & the date
• If you’ve received interview 
• Interview Date
• If you’ve sent a thank you letter & email after the interview
• Response

5. Prepare a “Thank You” letter and email template prepared for right after you interview.
After every interview you should send out a thank you email AND letter (snail mail) to the person(s) you interviewed with. It is helpful to have a template set up in advance so you can have a quick response. Make sure there is still room the add personality and information about the specific interview in your letter. Things to include in the template:

• Space for interviewer’s address
• Space for interviewer’s name
• Company name
• Specific position
• Restate key information about yourself and your interest in the position
• Mention any takeaway from your interview
• Your signature

I wish you the best of luck this internship application season. May the odds be ever in your favor.

As this semester reaches the end I find I am proud of myself for surviving what has been some of the most challenging few months of my life. No, I did not fight in a war or deal with severe emotional trauma but I did overcome a semester of pure craziness. Never before have a I felt so tested academically, emotionally and physically. The semester started off pretty rocky after a disappointing spring semester and an upsetting summer experience. An awful internship evaluation left my confidence shattered. Even though this semester pulled me in a million directions, in the end I feel confident that no matter the results I pulled through like a champ. 

A highlight of my semester was that it was going to be my chance to step outside the communications school more and experience some classes outside my comfort zone of IMC land. One of those classes included a sociology class, Contemporary Global Issues. At first I didn’t really like the class for a few reasons:

1. I was eager to share my thoughts but heart broken when others didn’t agree
2. We talked only about the problems in the world and never spoke about the solutions. I often  felt completely helpless every time I left class.
3. My professor graded me really hard so I did TERRIBLE on my first 2 papers

By the end of the semester I LOVED this class. I was SO glad my professor was a hard-ass on me because it pushed me to produce not good work but GREAT work. She pushed me to think harder and provide stronger arguments for my thoughts. The class got me to think in a way I had ever thought before. Even though this class has no direct correlation to my career plans, I know that this was a life changing class I’m so glad I took. The concepts I learned in that will stick with me for a very long time. I’m almost a little sad that I waited this long to take a sociology class because I truly enjoyed it. I can guarantee I will definitely be taking a class with that professor again in the future, no matter what she is teaching.

This semester I started to realize that many of my professors never let me off the hook when I produce good work. I feel like they often see something inside of me that I can’t even see and push me to do better. In the end I am always grateful for the motivation but I don’t know how they know that I’m going to respond in a positive way when they give me intense negative feedback? How do they know I won’t  just giving up? Am I that obvious? Do they really know that negative feedback will just ignite that drive to prove them wrong or is it all a guessing game?

This semester I’m also proud of my ability to balance every commitment I’ve taken on, from serving as president of both AAF & RHA, to Director of Communications for Spirit Week, while working 20 hours a week and more. It has been an absolute pleasure dedicating all of this time to every organization and office, regardless of how much sleep I missed out on. I would never give back the hours I spent contributing to everything this semester and I will absolutely miss all of it while in London. When I return things won’t be the same and that does make me sad.

This semester even offered a small moment with a boy. A boy I was totally into. But well. It happened and then it didn’t…

Anyway, this is the end of Fall of 2012. I’m looking forward to the spring semester IN LONDON! 21 DAYS!