Welcome to the Real World

They say college is supposed to prepare you for the working world.  In many ways, my degree in Communication Studies has proven immeasurable when it comes to research methods, knowing media outlets, brand messaging, and distribution platforms for entertainment products. 

However, what college didn’t teach me is how the real working world works.  There are a few things that college could not prepare me for that I’m learning at my first job at Bender/Helper Impact.

Even with my Communication Studies degree, my communication skills at work are constantly being tested and stretched.  I’m learning the dynamics of working in a group and as a team player.  While college work was mostly a solitary experience – writing papers, taking tests – I am never really working alone on the job.  Everything I do goes through a review process and is refined and improved upon by various members of my team.

This review process also throws my usual time-management skills for a loop.  Whereas in college I could get away with procrastination and pull an all-nighter here or there, that isn’t possible when projects require constant feedback and review.  Also, in school you’re given all your assignments in the beginning, laid out like a map that’s easy to follow.  But in the real world of PR, where seemingly every hour new tasks pop up from the client or as an offshoot from an existing task, you need to be flexible and efficient.  This is an industry where you need quality and quantity, and the only way to get to that level is through experience.

In my time here as an account coordinator, I’ve learned so much.  My university gave me the building blocks for the real world, but it’s here at Bender/Helper Impact, where I’m using these blocks to form a solid foundation that will help me grow and succeed throughout my career.

[cross-posted]

Kick-Ass: New TV Spot

Only a few weeks away!

Sarah Palin on TLC

Too Much of a Good Thing: Independence Day

Don't get me wrong, I love the movie Independence Day. It's a great action movie that not only has great special effects, but a solid plot line and dialogue. Who can forget this speech?



But, Roland Emmerich has gone on to produce bigger and not as good disaster p*rn movies like The Day After Tomorrow and 2012. While those movies are enjoyable, it's purely for the spectacle and effects, not for the storyline itself.

Now, he's planning on doing not one, but two sequels to Independence Day.

“What we want to do in the next – it’s actually two movies – we want to do a bigger arc…INDEPENDENCE DAY was always like the king who leads his troops into battle against an evil force, and that stays like that…The idea is just to continue the story and actually I don’t know how many years ago this was—twelve, thirteen, fourteen years ago—and just continue where it ended.”

While he said that back in November, it's now coming out that Will Smith has signed on so these will actually get some forward motion.

I'm half-hoping these get stalled again, I'd rather he go back to making that 2012 TV show instead of messing up a great movie with unnecessary sequels.

For more information on the project, check out Gordon And The Whale.