Resume

My resume is nowhere close to looking like an ideal resume as dictated by Idea Industry, but that is simply because I have not yet acquired the experience to report on my resume. It will get there by the time I graduate, but here is the best I could do with my current resume. 

Education 

Southern Methodist University, Graduating May 2011 

Advertising Major

Marketing Major

Overall GPA: 4.0

Honor Roll with High Distinction 

Awarded to the top 5%

University Scholarship

Granted to students based on strong academics and a well-rounded 

extracurricular profile

Alpha Lambda Delta

An academic honor society awarded to freshman students

Flintridge Preparatory School, 2001 - 2007

Graduated with California Scholarship Federation Honors

Experience

Dance Teacher, Dance House Academy & Five Star Dance Camp, 2003-2008

Worked with young girls to teach them self-esteem, teamwork, 

dedication, and sportsmanship through dance

Awarded choreographer at national competition

Video Editor, 2008

Produced memory videos for multiple cheerleading teams 

Self-taught software in order to finish a project

President and Founder, Choreography Club, 2007

Started a dance club on high school campus

Inspired the group to work hard and meet everyday in order to be 

in the school dance concert and talent show

Peer Counselor, 2007

Mentored new students through group activities and one-on-one meetings

Helped many students to become leaders within their class

Head Chair, Fundraiser, 2006

Managed entire high school class to put on a fundraiser including a 

dinner, auction, and live show

Raised over $40,000

Activities/Interests

• Student Foundation, Family Weekend Decorations Chair, Fall 2007 - Present 
• Delta Sigma Pi, member of the business fraternity, Fall 2008 - Present 
• Southern Methodist University Ad Club, member, Fall 2007 - Present 
• Project Linus and Dove House Volunteer, Summer 2006 - Present 
• Interests include dancing, quilting, and traveling 

Production

I also decided to read the production chapter because that is a field that I have never really thought of simply because I have barely recognized it as an option within the advertising world. When we talked about production in class, it was presented as a much more entry-level job and did not really seem like an option as a career. Well, I have learned that it is definitely an option, and I have learned a lot about what producers do. Production seems to be a lot more about logistical challenges. Producers have to solve problems about how to do something; especially in the early career stages, it seems to be much more about getting things done rather than thinking about how things should be done. I learned that producers are responsible for choosing the talent that will be used to produce an ad including directors, photographers, models, and editors. They must keep up with artists' work, and constantly be looking at reels and photographs and meeting with people so that they will know who they want to use when a project comes around. This is interesting, but to me it would be much more interesting to be learning about the clients rather than directors or photographers. The job of the producer is much more a part of the art world than I would be comfortable being as a career. I definitely should be on the business side of things. I also learned about the importance of a producer's understanding of the art director or copywriter's vision for the advertisement. If a producer gets the vision wrong, the entire ad could go wrong. The producer also has a big role as a mediator, at first between the account management and the creatives, and later on between everyone present on the shoot. Running a shoot seems like a very stressful job because the producer must make sure that everyone is running on schedule and that everyone is working well together. They must have a back up plan for anything and everything that may go wrong. Producers must also be able to step back on a shoot to allow everyone to do their jobs, while still remaining in control. This is something that would be hard for me to handle since I am very much a perfectionist who likes to have as much control as possible. I really have learned nothing about production before reading this chapter, and while I enjoyed learning about the process, I cannot say that I am passionate about becoming a producer someday. 

Account Management

I am thinking about going into either account management or account planning. I decided to read the account management chapter in order to learn a little more about the field since I feel I have learned a lot about planning so far in this course. Reading the chapter only solidified my thoughts about becoming an account person. The job seems perfect for me in many ways. I particularly liked how the chapter described account executives as "generalists" because I definitely am the kind of person that likes to have my hand in everything that is going on. Being an account manager seems like a great way to be involved in as much of the process as possible. The chapter also explained how a manager had to know how to judge the creative work and keep up with all things creative. This seems like a great way to be exposed to the creative side because I am definitely interested in the creative side, I just know I could not do it. I also liked how the chapter explained account executives as motivators or coaches. Again, this is right up my alley, and I would love to have a job where I could bring that part of my personality to the table. Possibly the most important thing to me about being in account management is the fact that you are "constantly in a learning mode". I know that everyone in advertising has to constantly be soaking in all the information around them, but I like how planners also have specific things (the clients) that they must learn about. I love to create projects for myself and learn a lot about specific things. I am only a sophomore, and I am already dreading the day that I will not be in school, not because I will be out in the real world, but because I will not constantly be surrounded by a learning environment. This chapter has brightened my spirits because it has helped to show me that I will always be constantly learning. I was also happy to read that much of account management is about solving problems strategically. I simply think solving such strategic problems would be an interesting way to spend my days. I knew a lot of the information presented in this chapter, but I really enjoyed that way in which it was presented, and it really helped me to realize that I would love to work in account management. 

Immunity to Violence

I just got home from seeing Pride and Glory. The movie was a film about cops gone bad, and it was definitely excessively violent. Sadly, I was immune to much of the violence in the film. There was still one thing that stuck in my mind because of its horrific nature. The thing that affected me the most was the sight of a dog being shot. Now, I am in no way an extreme animal lover. I have never had a dog as a pet, and truthfully I am often afraid of dogs. My reaction really surprised me. As I have thought about this more and more, I have realized that this scene has affected me so greatly because I have never seen a dog being shot before. In thousands of movies, I have seen human being after human being being shot, so this unfortunately did not affect me. There were many especially graphic scenes in the movie, yet the dog was left in my mind when I walked out of the theatre. I am not someone that plays violent video games or even watches a great amount of violence in movies and on television. I cannot imagine how much more immune some people may be. I think that my experience with this movie says something very sad about our culture.

Out of My Bubble

I volunteered today at a homeless shelter in downtown Dallas. It really showed me how sheltered I am from the world I am in. I am definitely in a bubble, and I am really glad that I got the chance to step outside that bubble today. The shelter puts a roof over 400 people's heads every night. I was just amazing to me to see this all first hand. When we arrived, people were checking in and claiming a cot for the night. We were there to play bingo with the homeless people at the rec center that the shelter had. Bingo is scheduled every night for an hour at the shelter. We came and we brought food prizes. As we started playing we realized that the shelter had prizes too such as backpacks, sweatshirts, toiletry packs, and portable seats. As soon as I realized this I was crushed. Here we were thinking we were helping with cookies and brownies, when they really needed things that were much more basic than that. I am so glad that I was able to do this. So many of the people had such an attractive spirit, which really killed me because they are stuck in such a horrible situation. Hopefully this visit will inspire me to continue helping because unfortunately for them, I think this visit ended up meaning more to me than it meant to them.

The Project So Far

Well, I have made it half way through my blog, and I must say that I am beginning to enjoy doing this. When we began this project, I knew right away that this wasn't necessarily my thing. If it weren't for this project, I wouldn't have started a blog or a journal in a million years. Now that I have done this, I am starting to learn a few things about myself. First of all, I am learning that I definitely don't take in the world around me as much as I should. Getting going on this was really difficult for me simply because I felt like I had nothing to write about it. However, I feel like I have come a long way and I am learning to pay attention to everything that is going on in the outside world. I am also learning that I actually do have opinions. I have never thought of myself as an opinionated person simply because my first instinct is not to share my opinions of things. Now that I have an outlet to share them, I feel like I am starting to be able to form them easier and more often. So pretty much this project is going well for me, and I am excited to be doing it. I am ready for the second half, and I can't wait to develop my mind even further.

Quilt

Here is a quilt that I designed that I finally got to finish this weekend. I know it is pretty silly, but I definately got creative as I was making this.

Books as Movies

I spent a good portion of this summer with my guilty pleasure... the Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella. I absolutely adore the books, and I read all five of them faster than I have ever read even one book. Because I had become so obsessed with the books, I was ecstatic to hear that they were turning the books into a movie. Well, I got curious and went online to watch the trailer for the movie. I was absolutely horrified. It was not how I imagined it at all, and they have changed many of the fundamental things from the books. This always seems to happen when people attempt to turn books into movies. No matter how good the movie is, people always say that the book was better. There is no way to appreciate the story in both mediums. If you have already read the book, the images you have created in your head are not what is presented in the movie, and you are disappointed. If you see the movie first, your thoughts are tainted by the images from the movie while you are reading the book. There is just no way to win in this situation, so I don't think that stories should be told in both ways. Writers must decide if it should be a book or be a movie. Both simply shouldn't be an option. Here is the cover of the first book and a picture of the actress playing the main character in the movie. Not a good match in my opinion.

Halloween Stores

It just blows me away how every year Halloween superstores take over unrented buildings just for a month or two during the holiday season. All over Dallas these have popped up. There are also definately an abundance of billboards to go with them. It is amazing that there is enough business every year for multiple companies to put up multiple stores each in a single city. Apparently even a holiday can create a thriving business. Just something I was noticing so I thought I would share. Its that time of year...

Photos

Here are some photos that I took this weekend. These pictures are of Temple Bar, Arizona on Lake Mead, my absolute favorite place in the world.




Here are just some mountains on the side of the lake, but I absolutely love the reflection in this one.

Here is the sunset. The sky and the background look completely fake.

This is weird, I know, but thank goodness they have a handicapped sign on the floating bathroom.

Drawing

Here is my attempt at drawing...

Stomp

Last night I was able to see Stomp Out Loud in Las Vegas. This was an amazing show and it was possibly the most innovative thing I have ever seen. I expected them to bang on trash cans and use brooms to create their music, but they blew me away with all of the other things that they used in the show. Even when they did bang on trash cans, they did it in a way that I did not expect. At one point they had long socks with balls stuffed in the ends of them and they were swinging the socks around to hit the trash cans. They also strapped trash cans to their feet to make noise. There was one scene where they had several people who threw sets of keys up in the air to make a song. There was another scene where they flicked lighters open and closed to make a beat. They used Sparklett's bottles in another, and basketballs in another. In the "water scene" they simply banged on bowls and moved them in and out of the water to make different sounds. There was even a scene where four of the men came out wearing sinks around their necks. They proceeded to bang on the sides of the sink and pots and pans in the sink. You know someone was simply washing the dishes when they came up with these concepts, and that is simply amazing to me. Taking the ordinary everyday task to the level of being entertainment is simply amazing. I absolutely loved the show and I am blown away at how they took ordinary things and turned them into something extraordinary. Here is a picture of the show...

Communication Breakdown

Today I was talking to my brother, and he was telling me that he was planning on taking his girlfriend to Taylor's Steakhouse for dinner. This restaurant belongs to my uncle and has been in our family as long as it has existed. Sadly we do not dine there as much as we should. Anyway, I assumed that my brother had talked to my uncle to tell him that he was coming in just so he could possibly see my uncle. Not only did my brother not call the restaurant to make a reservation, he made a reservation at our family restaurant through Open Table on the Internet! This is absolutely ludicrous in this situation but as I began to think about it, I realized that people our age barely use the telephone anymore. The creation of the internet and so many easier ways of communication has let us to be afraid of human contact. I am not going to lie anytime I can do something on the internet I will do that. It may be easier picking up the phone to make a reservation but I would feel more comfortable making one on the internet if that option was available. My dad also absolutely dreads using the phone at work and will go out of his way to use email and text messaging. While many things on the internet are bringing our societty closer simply because of the mass amounts of information available, it is just sad that all of this new technology is briniging our population further and further apart as human beings.

iPhone

I’m sure most people have seen the commercial for the new iPhone applications. I don’t have an iPhone, but today someone was telling me about some of the applications that you can now get for them. One of them is called bubble wrap, and the screen has a picture of bubble wrap on it and you have to “pop” as many bubbles as you can as fast as you can. There is another application where a beer pops up on the screen and you pretend to drink it. These games are simply hilarious to me simply because people have proceeded to get them. Whoever thought to create these games must really have no faith in the intelligence of our society. They must have figured out that people love to do absolutely useless things to pass the time, especially on their phones. I am so impressed that they knew that these applications would catch on as a sort of phenomenon. Obviously if I have even heard about them they definitely have people talking. Below is the link to the iPhone commercials just for fun. They obviously don't show applications like the bubble wrap and beer “games”. Maybe they should since people seem to like them so much.
http://www.apple.com/iphone/gallery/ads/

Flight

Last night I was on a plane from Dallas to Las Vegas. As you could imagine, it was quite the rowdy flight on a Friday night. We were pulling out of the gate even two minutes early, and everyone on the plane was buzzing with excitement. Almost as if it were a scene out of a movie, the power went out before we had made it anywhere. It was really interesting to watch the reaction of the people in the plane. Obviously there was a group sigh as the plane went pitch dark. Then, it was really interesting to watch the people in the plane bond as we all went through this experience together. It’s funny that being essentially stuck together for three hours didn’t get people to warm up to each other, but now that we were all going through this frustrating experience together, we were able to warm up to each other. The man next to me had almost the entire plane laughing as he was cracking jokes about our situation. Absolutely everyone including myself started chatting away about all the problems that they would have if we were going to be delayed for a long time. It was just so interesting to me to watch this happen, and it is something that I feel like I normally wouldn’t have noticed so I thought I would share it. Next time you are on a plane, watch the reactions of the people around you since you will probably be delayed in some way.

Project Runway

I have been catching up on my Project Runway since we have a little break. Watching the designers has inspired me to attempt to draw a design for a dress of my own. Let's just say I don't think I will be making it on the show anytime soon. Here is a sketch from my favorite designer and a sketch of my own.

Gap

I definitely frequent the Gap store much more than I should, but one of my favorite things about going there is looking at the window displays. It's something you don't really think about very often. For some reason I find them so different from other stores even though they are completely simple. They take their relatively plain looking clothes and make them look so vibrant and fun. I also take notice to the window displays because they change them so often. Today I was driving down Mockingbird, and took my eyes completely off the road to check out the new display at the Mockingbird Station store. They use so many different themes and often don't even play up the clothes that much. It just made me think about how distinct Gap is, and their distinctness really has nothing to do with their clothes. Their clothes are really not that exciting but somehow they have made everyone want them. This was just something I was thinking about because it is pretty amazing that they have built their brand so well. This isn't a picture of the window I was staring at today, but here is one I found that I think is really cool.

Power

I absolutely hate it when people that really have no power whatsoever believe that they possess all the power in the world. Last night I was attempting to go to a sneak preview of a movie here at SMU. There were people at the door with metal detectors, which I thought was very extreme. They were checking all our bags, and physically watching us turn our phones all the way off. I just happened to have my camera in my purse, which turned out to be a big problem. The lady told me that I needed to take it back home. If I had taken the time to take it back I would have easily missed a good portion of the movie. This lady was not interested in helping me out at all. The girl next to me was asking if I could give her my batteries, or if I could put it somewhere while I was watching the movie. The lady was just being absolutely rude to me, and had already moved on to checking the next person. Now, I was stuck. My friends were inside without their cell phones so I couldn't tell them that I was being forced to leave. I asked if the lady could keep my purse while I went in to tell them I had to leave, and she was busy so I just proceeded to do so. When I turned to leave to table (without my purse), she physically grabbed me to prevent me from going in. At this point I absolutely lost it. This lady who had no authority over me, was acting like I was about to commit a murder. I was absolutely livid and I stormed off after removing her hand from my arm. My friends didn't even know what happened to me because this stupid lady felt that her job was so important that it gave her the authority to physically touch me. It was not a big deal, but she made it absolutely ridiculous, and ruined my night.

Parks

I am the kind of person that likes to be outside so I have started to explore all of the parks around SMU. Most days I sit and study at them for a few hours. Here is the view from my bench today. I just wanted to share this because I think it is absolutely beautiful. I am so lucky to be able to take advantage of things like this while I am here at SMU.

Election

I am going to put it out there and say that I am truly not that interested in politics, however, I have been attempting to follow the election simply because it is the presidential election which is obviously a pretty big deal. Following the election news really frustrates me because so much of the information simply talks about the negative things about the candidates. What is even worse is what the candidates say about each other. As much as I have learned about the policies and the candidates, I have finally learned one thing that has decided my vote. This decision maker is really unfortunate because it has pretty much changed my vote. Today I learned that Obama is a smoker, and although he was talking about quiting in an article in Men's Health, this still completely taints my view of him. How can someone who is supposed to be a role model for all Americans do something as stupid as smoking. He says that he wants to quit but the stress of the campaign has him reaching for a cigarette every once in awhile. How does he think that he will be able to quit if he becomes the President. Obviously the job will just have him smoking more and more since the job is so stressful. I don't think it would be a good thing to have the President stinking up the Presidential Office with cigarette smoke. Honestly, I am surprised that I feel so strongly about this, but this information has completely changed my view of Obama as a person because I think that smoking is such a disgusting habit.

Valet Parking

Valet parking may be my least favorite thing in the world. I went to a fancy restaurant today and there was not even the option of parking yourself even though you could have easily found a spot in their humongous parking lot. It is such a waste of money when I am completely capable of parking, and it is so frustrating when they are just stealing from you since you don't have a choice. This past weekend I was also at a restaurant with valet, but I didn't have any cash. I had to borrow money from a friend just to park my car by the restaurant. It bothers me even more when their is no choice of self-parking at hotels. It makes life so much more difficult because it takes you twenty extra minutes if you ever want to go somewhere. I have often found myself in hotels wanting to go somewhere quick but then deciding against it when I remember that I have to get my car from the valet. Valets are just no good for anyone, and they are pretty much a scam of a business. I absolutely hate valet parking.

Dallas is Creative

I was in Northpark mall this past weekend, and I practically ran into a museum exhibit in the middle of the mall. This made me think of our discussion of creative cities. I think this really shows that Dallas should be recognized as a creative city. This particular exhibit was full of random objects that were used to create other images. I have also seen an exhibit where different artists used cans to build monstrous objects throughout out the mall. I absolutely loved both exhibits that I have seen. During a day when I had planned some selfish retail therapy, I was lucky enough to experience the creativity of local artists. I know that nothing like this would happen at the mall in my hometown, so I think that Dallas is truly lucky to have this integration of culture into the everyday commercial world.

Junk Food

I wish that the world could simply get rid of all junk food. We all know that there are many ethical dilemmas when it comes to advertising food, especially to children. These dilemmas could be eliminated if we just got rid of these questionable products. Companies think that they are making people's lives easier by providing junk food and fast food. Personally, I know that my life would be a lot easier if I didn't have to stress about making healthy eating decisions. I don't know a lot of people who's happiness outweighs the unhappiness that they experience from consuming junk food. I truly think that we would be a better nation if we simply eliminated all food that contains above a certain unhealthy amount of fat grams. People could eliminate stressful decisions regarding their health. We would not have to worry about our weight because someone would be worrying about it for us. I know this is a very big brother opinion, however, I almost see it as necessary because so many people, including myself, have gotten out of control. If only this could really happen...

Zogby

I really enjoyed Zogby's discussion of the global generation. Today I was reading in the park. There was a girl who was riding her bike around the neighborhood, and she saw some trash in the park that was blowing around in the wind. This girl went completely out of her way to stop in the park, get off her bike, and pick up the trash. I thought that this was amazing especially considering that I had seen a handful of people walk much closer to the trash without even thinking about picking it up. Zogby's lecture popped right into my mind when I saw her do this. This girl was a part of our global generation, and she obviously cares about the environment and things that go beyond her own little world. I also thought about how Zogby discussed our nation's improvement on litter, and how we are capable of change. Who knows if someone would have cared to pick up the trash in the past. Obviously Zogby has an accurate picture of America because many points from his lecture have popped up right in front of me in just a regular day in my life. I am very glad that I have been exposed to Zogby's views because it has helped my to see the world in yet another way.

Pepsi Max

This Pepsi Max commercial is a good example of intertextuality. Everyone is nodding their heads to the music from Night at the Roxbury. Anyone who hadn't seen the movie or the SNL skit would not fully understand the commercial and its humor. The commercial even has one of the actors from the movie at the end of it, and if you hadn't seen it you would not understand his joke. The knowledge of the movie or the skit clearly ads to the commercial.

Doodle

Brown Bag

I know I just talked about dance, but my professor happened to take us to watch the Brown Bag dance show today during class, so I got to experience some more creativity through dance. I absolutely loved all of the dances, but one in particular has stuck in my mind because they did something that I have never seen before. The dance was to a very simple song, but the choreographer incorporated snaps, slaps, breaths, and all sorts of noises to make it more interesting. There were more intricate movements to go with all of the noises that the dancers were making, and it made for very interesting choreography that in my mind stood out from all the other pieces.

Amazing Choreography

I have grown up in the dance competition world so a lot of the creativity that I have been around has been in the choreography of dance. I still dance and choreograph myself, but not nearly as much as I used to. Still, I constantly look for dance videos to get my fix. I recently found a really cool dance by Shannon Mather. I have seen hundreds of dances to the song that she uses, but she apparently hears the song in a completely different way than everyone else. She has found so many beats in the music, and has accented them perfectly with the movement of the dancers. This is just incredible choreography so I wanted to share it. Here is the video:

Flower Arrangement

Here is a picture of a flower arrangement that I designed for the Taste of Dallas Dinner during family weekend. I think it turned out pretty cool especially compared to my first attempts.

Quote Book

"The creative place is where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover is yourself" - Alan Alda

I have always enjoyed having quotes around to remind myself of how I should be living my life, so last year I started a journal of all of my favorites. When I started thinking about what I wanted my blog to be, I immediately thought of a quote that I had in my quote book. This quote by Alan Alda is obviously exactly what this project is all about. I am very nervous about successfully completing this blog, but finding this inspiration right on my bookshelf has connected me to this project and I am now excited to see where this project takes me. Hopefully by the end of the semester I can truthfully say that I have discovered myself.