You Do You!
/I earned two college degrees last May when I walked across the stage and turned the tassel on my cap from right to left.
One was in public relations. The other, in life.
You know, one thing they don’t tell you at freshman orientation is that you’re going to learn way more out of the classroom, than in the classroom.
Sure, I learned all about the AP Stylebook. How there’s no such thing as the “first” annual. The word “towards” is nonexistent. And if you’re going to say there were “over” 5,000 people at Dill Street last Friday night, you ought to change “over” to “more than.”
I learned that in a crisis situation, you have less than 60 minutes to make an initial response to said “disaster” and you better not wait any longer than 24 hours to notify your publics. And by golly, please refrain from using the phrase “no comment” in your press conference, because it will look like you’re up to no good.
But THE most important thing I learned in college wasn’t in the classroom. It was in the residence hall. You see, I joined Hall Council my freshman year. I was “that girl” that made fliers with pictures of herself and a clever saying “NOone say NO to Ashley NOga" to capture people's attention. I plastered those bad boys anywhere and everywhere. Up and down the hallways, in the bathroom stalls, throughout the elevators (that only went to the 6th floor) and even in the stairwells!
I'd have to say, my design skills have come a long way since September 2010.
Although super cheesy, the fliers must have worked their magic, because I was elected Publicity Chair for the Brayton/Clevenger Hall Council. The position led to a plethora of opportunities that I am forever grateful for and experiences that I will never forget. But the best thing that came from it were the people. One of those people being Mollie. Some may have called Mollie a hall director, others an advisor or their boss, but to me she was my mentor, role model and friend.
Mollie had one distinct phrase, that anyone who knows her, would be able to shout:
“You do you.”
Those three words.
Those eight characters.
That’s the most important thing I learned in college.
I learned you have to “do you” because no one is going to do it for you. College is when you are in it for you and yourself only. Your parents aren’t going to check to see if you’re back in your room before midnight (which is something I had to reassure the high school kids I gave campus tours to that would never happen). There is no curfew in college. You make your own choices, your own decisions and live by your own rules. Because you are simply responsible for you.
And that’s what brings me to this blog. I know in Journ 169, (the “internship class” if you will), we were told to consider starting a professional blog/website so future employers could see the skillsets we posses. So they could get a better feel for who we are outside of our résumé. And I tried that. But it never worked out. Why? Because I wasn’t doing me. I was doing what someone told me would be a good idea. My heart and soul wasn’t in it, there was no passion. I was putting on a mask of who I SHOULD be. Which is something, you should never, ever do.
But now, four years later, this blog. This is totally me. I’ve been dreaming up some pretty big projects, and I knew a blog would be the perfect place to bring everything together. A friend who inspires me from many miles away once told me her favorite quote,
“If you are working on something you truly care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you.”
This time, I'm not being pushed. This is me, doing me!
What are you doing? Are you, doing you?
