My Deepest Apologies

To my loyal readers, I offer my sincerest condolences. It has been an incredibly short summer filled with a dizzying fast pace, which appears to be continuing in perpetuity.

I'm preparing to leave for the University of Kentucky once again on Saturday, at which time I anticipate the W.T. Young Library will become my new home. I admit that I'm excited, but of course the brilliant confusion and newness of the collegiate life has long since passed.

This summer was certainly a learning experience in general for me. My first internship at a local small business, Pro Communications, occupied my time from the middle of May to the beginning of August. When I was younger, summer meant getting up whenever I wanted, and putting on denim shorts and a t-shirt. Having a professional job meant rising bright and early Monday through Friday, putting on a respectable ensemble, and driving into downtown Louisville, which is quite a task at rush hour. From then until 5 pm, I gained valuable experience in the field of marketing and public relations by writing press releases, gathering necessary supplies for client projects, and effectively communicating with anyone who called or emailed me.
Indispensable lessons: 1) Maintaining professional relationships with clients is very much about being respectable, responsible, prompt, and above all, memorable; 2) It's all about who you know; 3) To a working woman, coffee is worth its weight in gold.

While my internship taught me many things about the work force, time management, and a new set of social skills, my most profound realizations came to me in what now seems like a dream: my visit to America's largest city, New York, NY.
I could never have even imagined such a perfectly ugly place. New York is both unforgiving and inviting, blatant and detailed, too much up-to-date and reminiscent of a finer time, all at once. I felt like a modern day Alice in Wonderland. New York itself surrounded me with all the fixations of a barely believable place of creative indulgence, where I found a White Rabbit in the map glued to my hand, which I constantly found myself compelled to follow, Tweedle Dees and Tweedle Dums in the street vendors that always wanted to tell me something, a Mad Hatter in the cab driver that took me to La Guardia airport, and a Caterpillar, of course, in no other form. On my first day there, a neon yellow caterpillar made itself known crawling up a tree a couple of feet away from me in Bryant Park. I have never felt so small, yet so filled with potential at the same time. Everywhere I looked, there was something to look AT. I miss New York, though I would be a fool to say it misses me. The Big Apple is a cruel wonderland, indeed.

I feel very lucky to already have a sense of how overwhelming and alluring the workforce and the world truly are, respectively, at the tender age of 19.

"My father taught me to work; he did not teach me to love it." -William Adams

For most, careers are defined by going to a specific workplace at certain times to do an allotted number of tasks for n hours. Today, I read an article on CNN.com that discusses the concept of "weisure," the combination of work and leisure. Are. You. Serious? Personally, I was not raised to believe that work was time to have fun. Granted, if you are lucky and work hard enough in the beginning, you may find yourself in a job that stimulates your interest and places you with interesting co-workers. But outside of that, how much fun is there to be had? Some "lucky" people seem to have "fun" jobs, but like any other, I'm sure they become stressful and exhausting at some point. Even actors, chefs, musicians and puppy farmers must wish they had different professions as some point.

So imagine how perplexed I was when faced with the idea of "weisure." The article proceeded to explain that the word implies an employee's use of "smartphones and other technology to collaborate with business colleagues while hanging out with their families," which begs the question, how much work can one get done on an iPhone in a moonbounce?

I suppose that what surprises me the most about the concept is the conundrum it presents to the current state of the economy. If we all need to be rallying our best efforts to amp up those finances, it seems foolish to try to get "work" done from a cell phone instead of the office. But then again, who am I to question the dynamics of the work force when I don't even know how to file taxes?

I guess this is just another example of the ever-evolving professional realm. Unpredictable. Somewhat senseless. Always compelling.

"We do not quit playing because we grow old, we grow old because we quit playing." -Oliver Wendell Holmes

First and foremost, I must apologize for my lack of posts. When I first got this blog, I thought it would be easy to make frequent posts, but now I see there are two problems with my prior thought process: 1) As many ideas for posts as I may get while I'm sitting in class or at the library, when it comes down to actually writing something, it's difficult to tell what's important enough to say. 2) There just are not enough hours in the day.

Which brings me to the topic for this post. I could have written something about politics or the economy, or even scandal. But I thought I would venture beneath the surface of what we see on CNN every day to something a bit deeper. I want to say just a few words about getting older.
I will be 20 years old in October, which I know is not old by any standards, but today I considered how fast my years have gone by. I thought, I'll be 30 in ten years, which may seem like a long time, but when I think about how it feels like I was 10 years old just yesterday, I can only assume that the next decade will go by just as quickly, which is a scary thought indeed.

Anyone I've talked to about this subject says that to them, their parents will never age. And I have to agree. When I look at my mom or dad, they still seem the way they did when I was little, simply because I can't envision such a constant fixture in my life aging.

When I just consider where I was a year ago, it seems like the time went by all too fast. My senior year of high school went by in a matter of minutes, and this last year of college, even speedier.

The sad truth is that we all get older, but with that, we learn more about the world around us and ourselves than we ever thought possible. I have to wonder, what will I know next week, next month, next year? I'll let you know ;)

No bees, no honey; no work, no money. -Proverb

Since I completed my last post, I've been mulling over a list of ideas for new blog topics. I wanted my second post to be something that draws people in, something that really truly matters. A big question on everybody's mind right now seems to be: where have all the jobs gone?

When confronted with the fact that Lexington's primary newspaper, the Herald-Leader, recently let go of 53 employees, try as I might to find a way to eloquently phrase my opinion of their cuts, the only word I can find is "sad."
It really is tragic that today's news sources are harpooned by headlines informing the public of the latest economical disappointment. I know that a lot of college students are thinking, 'where am I going to work?' A recent CNN headline said that 2009 graduates are going to see the most difficulty with finding jobs ever. It's only a natural fear to think that we won't be able to get jobs when our days roll around to leave the comforting boundaries of college.
I saw another article just this week that said jobs are available working for the government and in strip clubs. Quite the conundrum. How will I choose? Personally, I find myself believing that unless you have a job that you're skilled at and can cling to, a lot of it comes down to putting yourself above the rest, if for no other reason than for the sake of the ol' resume.
So what are you planning to do to ensure your future in the work force? Leave a comment or email me at kadoli2@uky.edu

photo credit: CartoonStock.com

"Life is 10% of what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it." -John Maxwell

In my opinion, a large component of good journalism is making connections with people. Making these connections can mean sharing experiences, outlooks, ideas and even frustrations. Beyond journalism, communication can mean the difference between knowing and not knowing. My hope is to be able to communicate with the people around me. I want to share my views, and also see new ones. I plan to make posts about interesting topics, spark the cerebellum, if you will.

Topic Numero Uno: Spring Break (appropriate, si?)

Around the beginning of February, every time I went to one of the on-campus eating locations at UK, I started hearing girls say something to the effect of, "I can't eat that.... Spring Break!" as if the thought alone of that one week in the middle of March was enough to put invisible iron bars around the french fries they ogled.
Millions of students around the country anticipate Spring Break, which many would arguably define as the pinnacle of the school year. For Kentucky students, destinations include Destin, Ft. Lauderdale, Panama City, or the Bahamas.
In preparation, not only do students (girls especially) starve themselves in hopes of spotting their ribs poking out, a lovely addition to that new bikini, but plenty hit the tanning bed for that pre-break glow. My question: If you're going to a tropical location where sun will be hitting your body for about six hours a day anyway, why lay in a tanning bed beforehand? Yes, I've heard the argument of needing to prepare your skin for the upcoming rays, but I don't know how much I believe it. According to the Center for Disease Control, "A suntan is not an indicator of good health. Some physicians consider the skin's tanning a response to injury because it appears after the sun's UV rays have killed some cells and damaged others."
Beyond the superficial needs of a miniscule frame and bronzed complexion, Spring Break does have some universal implications, particularly in the finance department. When we're in high school, our parents typically accompany us during Spring Break, and pay for just about everything. What I've heard from my fellow students is that leaving town for the week means depleting a hefty sum from their own bank accounts. We're responsible for packing, transportation, hotels, food, and entertainment. I know plenty of people who started saving their money at the beginning of the year. So what's all the fuss about?
To many, Spring Break is the week when you can bend the rules and let go of the hassles of classes. Once midterms are over, priority #1 is getting where you've been dying to be for the last several weeks. What many people fail to realize is that having a fun week doesn't mean you have to go to a humid climate within 100 yards of a body of water. I was happy to see my college newspaper, the Kentucky Kernel, publish an article on entertaining places to go that are a reasonable distance from the university, like Cincinnatti, Knoxville, and West Virginia. For those who don't have the cash to blow on gas, accomodations, etc., going home can be the best alternative of all. There's nothing like spending your time relaxing in the one place you're most familiar with, not to mention, taking advantage of the things that only Mom can provide.

So what is your perspective on the season's highly-anticipated hiatus? Leave a comment or e-mail me at kadoli2@uky.edu

In the beginning...

Kellie created a blog.