To Blog or Not to Blog?

Blogging over the past few months this semester, has been almost theraputic for me. I have always been the type of person who loves to write, hence why I am a communication major. Blogging has given me an outlet to voice my opinions and speak about things that matter to me in terms of this social media course. Since this is the end of the course you may be wondering what will happen to me, the over-worked college student. Unforunately, this will be the end of my time blogging in this space, but surely it is not the end of my online presence. Though in the summer months I will not be too overworked and I will only be a college student for two more years, this is not the end of my online presence. It may be the end of Through the Eyes of an Over-worked Clollege Student, but it is not the end of me being over-worked and having a voice on social media. This blog has given me experience in writing that I may not have otherwise had on my own; I got experience being able to be creative with my thoughts in a public, online forum. It ultimately has given me more ideas and tools to make a name for myself in the future. Though I don't think that I will be blogging in the traditional sense, I most definetly will be making a personal website or portfolio for my professional projects as life goes on. Blogging has also given me a chance to write for the public in my own voice. This is particularly valuable to me because I would like to try my hand at journalism and or publishing a book or two in the future. Overall, blogging has been a valuable experience to me and is a lesson I will take with me throughout my professional endevours.

SPARC Marketing

The SPARC festival is one of the biggest student and academic driven events on campus.It is given its name "SPARC" as it highlights scholarship, performance, art, research, and creativity of the student body. It is a time to see what your fellow students have been up to for the past year. I think that this festival is a great idea, but should not be marketed as a festival; it does not give festival vibes. Rather, the university should market it as a "fair" as it reminds me of a science fair, and not so much a festival. If the university wants to make it a successful "festival " with higher student turn-out rates, then they should turn it into an actual festival with food and raffles, or things of that nature. This is just one of the aspects of SPARC marketing that sticks out to me. In addition to what it is marketed as, I am also conflicted with how it was marketed this year. As a Mount student, I know what the SPARC festival is by default because it is one of the things that this school hypes up to prospective students and incoming freshman. When thinking about the way that it was marketed this year, it truly lacked in care and creativity. If there was good marketing, I did not see it. The only time I was made aware of the festival was by professors that required me to attend. I feel as though this does not do justice to the hardwork that each student presenter put forth into their presentations. There was not any colorful graphics on posters or emails sent, and I had little idea of the type of topics that were presented. There was not much effort to highlight any individual presentations or topics. The only way I found out about certain topics was by word of mouth or professors and the last minute email with zoom links and times. If I may suggest, each department should send out emails regarding students with presentations in that department. The only department I see that does this successfully is the art and music department. I have gotten many memorable emails from them about their student's SPARC performances. Overall, the students did very well, but the advertisment of the event should align with the effort of the student presentors!