Browsing Category

College

College

Things I Wish I Knew in College

January 29, 2019

Hi everyone! Welcome back to another college-related post. Today, I’m talking all about the things I wish I knew during my years in college that would’ve made it a heck of a lot more fun. Let’s get into it!

The first topic I’ll touch on is friends. A big part of college is meeting new people! When you head off to school as a freshman, you’re thrust into a new place where you know no one so a lot of the first year is spent finding your place. And once you do find your place, it’s awesome! But then when you graduate, it’s the opposite where one day you’re surrounded by all your friends, all living within a mile of each other, and then the next day, you’re whisked off to your new city with your new job and there you are again – knowing no one. I was in a few different organizations in school where I was surrounded by a lot of really wonderful women and I wish I had appreciated it more. Chances are you’ll never be living as close to all your college friends as you do when you’re actually in college so cherish it!

The second silly thing that I wish I appreciated more while I was in school is sleeping in. In college, I really hated the fact that your schedule is constantly changing. Each semester, your classes and meetings are at different times so I could hardly wait to graduate and finally have a daily routine. Well… that daily routine consists of waking up at 6:30am every day and, although I do love having my schedule, sometimes I think it’d be nice to go back to the mornings when I didn’t have to be anywhere until noon. Who’s with me on this?

The last thing I’ll talk about today (and probably the biggest thing I’ve realized in the last year or so) is that you shouldn’t put getting perfect grades above bettering the person you are. In college, I spent so much time stressing over my how well I was doing academically. Which makes sense because I’m the type of person who really puts a lot of my worth in my work. But since I graduated, I haven’t had a single person ask me what my GPA or class rank was. They didn’t even ask in my job interviews. Of course, you should always try to do as well as you can but I wish I spent more of those crucial college years growing and bettering myself personally.

Those are just a few of the things I wish I’d done differently or cherished more while I was at JMU. Do you have anything you regret about your time in college? Leave it in the comments below – I’d love to hear! Have a great week!

College

Post-Grad Job Application Process

October 9, 2018

Hi cuties, happy Tuesday!  I hope your October is going well so far!  Today, I’m here to talk all about the post-college graduation job application process.  I graduated from James Madison University last December and began my first full-time corporate position in January… keep reading to hear how I did it!

I started my job hunt in the beginning of the semester, in September.  I knew I wanted a job in the marketing and advertising industry and from my internship experience, I knew I wanted an account management position.  In my search, I realized account management positions have a lot of different names – essentially, different companies come up with different names for the same job.  For example, I found account coordinator, junior account manager, and project manager positions that were all exactly the same so if you’re looking for a certain position, keep in mind that it may have multiple names that you may not be familiar with.

Something else I learned while applying for jobs is that one resume does not fit all.  While you may be qualified for each position you’re applying for, if you don’t adjust your resume to match each position, you probably aren’t going to get it.  If the position is digital based, highlight your digital/tech background and if the position is social media based, highlight your social media experience.  If you tailor your resume to each individual application, you’ll have much better luck getting an interview because they’ll be able to tell you really read the application and envisioned yourself in that role.  Another awesome way to do this is by writing cover letters.  If you do want to keep your resume more generic, at least attach a cover letter calling out the position by name and giving your resume a little bit more personality.  Letting your personality shine will allow you to stand out from the other applicants!

Another important thing to keep in mind is your work-life balance.  I interviewed at a company where the hours were 7am-7pm and my commute would’ve been an hour and a half each way on top of that. Once I found out what my day-to-day would look like at that company, I decided to look elsewhere.  Although your first job probably isn’t going to be your dream job, you don’t want to be miserable so it’s important to realize what’s important to you as you start to shape your future.  Even though you’re a recent college grad and don’t have a ton of experience under your belt, you’re still extremely capable and can offer a lot to a company so don’t loose your sense of worth in this process.

All in all, I submitted applications for about 20 different positions and ended up getting an offer from a handful.  I accepted a position that I was really excited about and it’s been amazing so far!  Looking for your first job can be really, really tough and stressful but you’ll find something that’s great for you in the end.  Be sure to come back next week for my final apartment room reveal – my kitchen!  And there might be a banana bread recipe thrown in there as well…  See ya next Tuesday!

College

Sorority Life: Tips for Rushing

August 21, 2018

Hey hey hey babes, happy Tuesday!  Welcome to another post in my back-to-school series.  This is the first year that I will not be returning to school and I can’t believe it!  College (and school in general) went by so, so quickly and I’m excited to share a few more things I learned during my time at JMU.  Keep reading to hear my best advice if you’re thinking about rushing a sorority!

  1. Be yourself.  The university rush system is mentally exhausting and I totally understand wanting to be accepted by everyone.  Especially when you’re a freshman, you’re looking to fit in wherever you can and sometimes that means trying to get “in” with people you shouldn’t necessarily be hanging out with.  If you make sure to act like yourself when you’re going house to house, you may not be chosen by every sorority but at least the ones that do choose you will be choosing the real you.  You’re amazing and your sorority should appreciate that!
  2. When analyzing which sorority is the right fit for you, imagine hanging out with the sisters everyday of the week.  Even though sororities only have chapter meetings once a week (typically on Sundays), you’ll definitely spend additional nights during the week with the sisters.  Whether it’s committee meetings, social requirements, or just hanging out, you’ll see them almost every night.  If you get excited at the thought of these girls becoming your best friends, then it’s probably the right place for you!
  3. If, at any point in the rush process, it doesn’t feel right… drop.  The process of getting a bid from a sorority is a long one and once you finally get it, it might be hard to admit if it’s not everything you imagined it to be.  You might feel embarrassed or upset but if you’re not feeling good, it’s no big deal to drop!  It’s better to drop and save yourself a lot of time and money than to be miserable being involved in something your heart isn’t in.

That’s all for today’s post – thank you for reading!  If you’re in a sorority, let me know which one in the comments section.  Have a great week and I’ll see you back here next Tuesday!

2 Comments
College

Ways to Make College Move-In Easier

August 14, 2018

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog!  Today’s post is all about how to be prepared for moving into your college dorm.  As you may know, I recently graduated from James Madison University so I have a few tips and tricks for moving away to school.  Let’s get started!

My first tip is to bring way more tacks and command strips than you think you’ll need.  When I moved into my freshman dorm, I broke a ton of tacks trying to push them into the wall and some of the command strips I brought didn’t stick so I had to use another one.  My dad and brother were so nice and ran to Walmart to buy more but I definitely wish I had just brought extras in the first place.

That leads me to my next tip… know where the nearest superstore is.  Whether it’s Walmart or Target, you’ll undoubtedly need to run out at least once during move-in so it’ll make your life just a little bit easier already knowing where it is.  Knowing where stores are also helps you to feel more comfortable in your new town!

Another tip is to keep your dorm room door open while you’re moving in.  There are going to be so many people walking in and out of your building and you might start to recognize some faces!  This also makes it easier for you to meet your RA and the people in the rooms right next to yours.

My last tip is to not feel embarrassed if you get emotional when your parents and siblings are leaving.  Some people might be able to keep it together but I definitely cried a little bit when my family left.  One of the best things I learned in college was to show my emotions and just remember that everyone moving into your dorm is in the same boat.  You’re all freshman and you’re all about to be living away from home for the first time.  It’s okay to be sad, just remember to have fun later!

That’s all for this week’s post, I hope you found it useful!  If you have any moving tips you’d like to share, please leave them in the comments below.  Make sure to come back next week for another back-to-school post – I’ll see you then!

College

6 Month Post-Grad Update

June 5, 2018

Hey hey hey, welcome back to the Allison in Wonderland blog!  It’s officially been 6 months since I graduated from James Madison University so, for today’s post, I wanted to give you an update on my post-college graduation life.  Let’s get into it!

Starting off with how I feel in general, I’m thankful to say I feel incredible!  I’m so, so, so happy to not be in school anymore.  Although I miss seeing all my friends everyday, I don’t miss the classes or the extracurriculars at all.  Towards the end of my time at JMU, I was feeling very stressed because I was constantly doing a million things at once.  Now, although I’m still very busy, my free time is more filled with things I want to be doing instead of studying and attending mandatory meetings.  I also really like to have a routine and with working full-time, my life lends itself well to having a routine and sticking to it.

Moving onto how I’m liking where I’m living… I love it!  My favorite thing about living in my apartment and not in my college apartments/townhouses is I don’t have to worry about moving out a few months after I moved in.  I have the option to move if I want to but it’s not a constant rotation of moving my home base every few months.  I also am still living in a college town, so it’s nice to continue to have people around me that are my age.

Lastly, I’ll talk about how I like working full-time.  Overall, I really, really like it!  I definitely think I picked correctly when I chose the marketing and advertising industry and I’m so grateful for that.  It’s so important to enjoy what you do for a living because you spend everyday doing it.  The past six months have flown by and I can’t believe I’m already halfway through my first year at my first job!  Have any of you just begun your first job?  Let me know in the comments below.

That’s about all for this Tuesday’s post!  This week, I’m working on another one of my apartment room reveals so get excited!  Have you read my Living Room Reveal and my Bedroom Reveal?  Click here and here to get caught up on those before the new one comes out in a few weeks.  As always, thanks for reading and have a great week!

College

I Graduated // My JMU Experience

December 19, 2017

Hi!  Today, I have a really exciting post to share because I GRADUATED COLLEGE!  I can’t believe the day finally came.  Keep reading to find out more about my graduation day and to hear a little bit about my overall experience at James Madison University.

Graduation was a blast!  For a while, I didn’t even want to go to my actual graduation because, at least at JMU, you have to sit in an assigned seat so you’re not next to any of your friends and also I didn’t necessarily want to stick around all week after finals ended to just walk across a stage.  But I’m so glad I did!  A lot of my family came to town and a good amount of my friends were there as well so it was really nice to have so many people that I love all together.  As far as my overall experience at JMU, I’ve broken it up into different categories so scroll down to hear what I liked and didn’t like!

Choosing JMU  In the beginning of my college search, JMU wasn’t even on my list because I thought they didn’t have a football team (why the heck did I think that!?) and I was looking for a school with sports and a lot of school spirit.  After my junior year of high school, my family and I did a college road trip and, while we were on our way to Virginia Tech, we were driving through James Madison and my parents persuaded me to stop and look around because we were there anyway.  As soon as I got out of the car, I fell in love!  JMU is so pretty and I knew right away that it was the school for me.

Distance From Home  JMU is about 4 hours away from where I grew up and that turned out to be the perfect distance for me!  It’s close enough where I could get home in a few hours if I needed to but it’s far enough that I definitely experienced a different landscape and was pushed out of my comfort zone in terms of not knowing everyone that lives in the area, like in my hometown.  It’s also close enough to do a little weekend trip when I want to go back and visit friends!

Harrisonburg  I really liked living in Harrisonburg!  The city is definitely the way it is because JMU is located there but I had a great time.  There are a lot of restaurants and things to do and downtown is so cute!  There are a ton of little boutiques (the Yellow Button is my FAVORITE, go visit!) and coffee shops and you can always find a parking spot.  The only thing I didn’t love about Harrisonburg is the mall.  It’s gotten a little bit better recently because they added an Ulta and an H&M but it’s not like the malls you’re probably used to.  But hey, it was good for my wallet!

My Major & Minor  My major was my favorite thing about being in college!  I was a Media Arts & Design major with a concentration in Integrated Advertising & Corporate Communication.  For most of my college career, I also had a minor in Studio Art.  Within my major and minor, I learned a lot about the advertising and marketing industry, graphic design, photography and videography, principles of art, and writing.  My major prepared me for a career in a lot of different areas and I’m very thankful for that.  It also helped me develop many of my passions and I love, love, loved it!  If you go to JMU and want to chat more about the SMAD program, please comment below – I’d love to reach out to you!

Clubs & Organizations  Throughout my time at JMU, I was involved in many clubs and organizations!  My main activities were Sigma Alpha Omega, InterVarsity, and the Madipalooza Marketing Committee.  Sigma Alpha Omega is the Christian sorority at JMU and this was my favorite organization that I was a part of.  Joining a sorority that was full of women who were like-minded and focused on the same types of things as me was really cool!  InterVarsity was also an organization that I spent a lot of time in during my first couple years in college.  IV is a fellowship on campus and they offer small groups and a large group church-like talk and it really helped me find my place at JMU!  The Madipalooza Marketing Committee is also something fun I did so if you don’t know what Madipalooza is, look it up – it’s incredible!

Housing  I lived in a lot of different places during my time at JMU – Weaver Hall, Chesapeake Hall, the Grace Street Apartments, Campus View Apartments, and the Copper Beech Townhomes.  It’s nice because there are a lot of options when it comes to places to live in Harrisonburg and a lot of them are good ones!  You can also choose to live by yourself or with others.  Some places even offer up to 6 bedroom units!  I recently did a blog post all about the best places to live on and off campus at JMU so click here to check it out.

That’s all for today’s post!  I really hope you enjoyed it and if you have any other questions about JMU or college in general, please write them in the comments.  I’d love to share all the information that I can with you!  Have a wonderful week and I’ll see you next Tuesday for another post.

1 Comments
College

The Best Places to Live at JMU

November 14, 2017

Hey college students, happy Tuesday!  I’m back this week with another college-related post where I’ll dive into the best places to live at James Madison University.  I’m going to include on and off campus residences so stick around to find out where I lived during my time in school!

I started my freshman year at JMU living on campus in the Village.  In the Village, there are many dorm buildings but I lived in Weaver Hall.  A few positive things about the village are 1) it’s located right in the middle of campus so you have a lot of options for places to go to study or eat or hang out with friends and 2) the Village offers suite style living which means that there are three dorm rooms that all share one little common area so it provides a semi-private place to hang out with your suite that doesn’t require going to the bigger common area that’s open to everyone in the dorm.  The biggest negative about the Village is that there’s no air conditioning so in August and September it can get super hot, especially if you’re on one of the top floors.

Halfway through my freshman year, I moved across campus to live in the Skyline dorm area.  Skyline is made up of three dorms and I lived in Chesapeake Hall.  The Skyline dorms are the newest set of dorms on campus so moving from the Village, where everything was old, to Skyline, where everything was newer, was really nice!  Chesapeake is on East campus and located right next to EHall (the east campus dining hall) and Festival so it was awesome to be so close to food and the gym was only a short walk away.  This hall is set up hall style so everyone in the hall shares the same bathroom and the upside of that is you don’t have to clean it because it gets cleaned for you!

My sophomore year, I chose to stay on campus and I moved into the Grace Street Apartments.  The Grace Street Apartments were brand new when I moved in so I got to be the first one to live in my apartment!  Even though JMU calls them apartments, they’re dorm style so you have a kitchen and living room but the two rooms in the apartment are both dorm rooms and each room has two people in it.  Overall, I really liked living there!  There were plenty of washers and dryers so I never had to wait to do laundry and there were a ton of common area spaces to have Bachelor viewing parties with friends or study groups.  The biggest negative in living there was that the train tracks are right next to the building so every morning around 5 or 6am, the train would wake us up and it was so loud that there was no getting used to it.  The living room furniture also wasn’t super comfortable but it was just really wonderful to have a living room after living in a normal dorm the previous year!

My junior year, I moved off campus to the Campus View apartments.  I loved living off campus!  There’s something about having your own room and bathroom that just makes everything a little better.  We were only a five minute drive from campus and we were also in a brand new building so, again, we were the first ones to live there, and we were on the top floor so it was a really nice experience.  The balcony was huge and parking was never an issue so I’d say it was a wonderful place to live.  My only issue with Campus View was that the living room and kitchen areas were pretty dark.  Everywhere else had great lighting but, besides in the bedrooms, there aren’t any windows in the apartment so we always had to have the lights on in the kitchen or else it was super dark.  Also, the pool was pretty disgusting at Campus View but I heard they might be getting a new one with the new clubhouse they just built so cross your fingers!

And lastly, for my senior year, I moved to the Copper Beech townhouses.  Living in Copper Beech has been incredible!  It’s my first time in college living in a house and the separation of floors/levels has been the best part.  Previously, in my other apartments, everyone was kind of on top of each other and there was very little space.  In Copper, there’s a main level with a living room, kitchen, and a bathroom and then there are two bedrooms upstairs and two bedrooms downstairs.  It’s been so nice to have some differentiation between where you hang out and where you sleep and the added space has been priceless!  The clubhouse at Copper is also super nice and the pool is awesome!  The only issue I’ve had so far is the visitor parking.  There are so many people that live in this complex and not nearly enough visitor spaces so you have to be really on top of it when you have guests coming to visit.

That’s it for my overview of the best places to live in Harrisonburg!  Overall, I’ve been really, really lucky with living in nice places and I’m so glad I’m finishing my time at JMU with the best one yet.  If you’re a student at JMU and looking to move off campus and want more advice, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll get back to you right away!  Have a great week and I’ll see you again next week for another post.  Bye!

College

The Best Classes to Take at JMU

October 3, 2017

Hey everyone and welcome back to Allison in Wonderland!  If you’re new to my blog, welcome!  I’m Alli and I post once a week about whatever exciting things are going on in my life.  Today’s post is going to be all about the best and most fun classes to take at James Madison University so I hope you enjoy it!  Let’s get started!

Beginning with the easiest of the easy classes, Basic Tennis (KIN 125) and Basic Volleyball (KIN 179) are the way to go.  They’re meant for beginners, just like they sound, and don’t require you to have any preexisting skills going into the class.  I played both tennis and volleyball in high school, so I knew a little bit going in, but the professors are really just looking for you to put effort in during your class time.  Both of these courses are a blast to go to and require barely any work outside of class.  Plus, you don’t have to go to the gym that day because you’re already getting your workout in!  In addition to offering these two KIN classes, JMU also offers other KIN courses like Kickboxing and Basic Golf.  I haven’t taken any sport classes besides tennis and volleyball, but I would assume they all require about the same time and energy commitment.

The next course that I would 100% recommend enrolling in is called Dollars and Sense (UNST 475).  Dollars and Sense is a once-a-week course where you’re taught the basics of budgeting and money management.  I’m taking the class now – I’ve only been in it for a few weeks – and it’s already one of the most beneficial classes I’ve ever taken.  With the information I’ve learned so far, I’ve already changed some of my spending habits and I feel so much more competent when it comes to setting up my financial future.  Although this course requires quite a bit of work outside of class, the assignments aren’t hard and they’ll really benefit you once you graduate.

My next recommendation is called Wilderness First Aid (KIN 175).  This is a course that’s only 8 weeks long and I had never heard of it until last semester.  In this class, you learn about everything from splinting injuries to helping shock victims and we get to go outside during every class!  There are a couple quizzes throughout the curriculum but you get your wilderness first aid certification at the end of the class so it’s all worth it.

My last course recommendation is Sign Language (CSD 420).  Sign language is so cool and I’m so glad I’m finally learning it!  The class is taught by a graduate student and is one of the most fun classes I’ve ever taken at JMU.  There’s obviously a lot of memorization in this class but we do a lot of reviewing and you can always look things up on YouTube if you’re confused about a particular sign.  Sign language is also a skill that not a lot of people have so it’s a great resume booster if you’re looking to improve your job outlook!

Those are all the course recommendations I have for you today – I hope they help you in planning your future semesters!  If you end up enrolling in any of these courses or have already taken any of them, comment below and let me know which ones.  Have an amazing rest of your week and I’ll see you next Tuesday!

College

An Autumn Weekend In My Life + OOTD

September 26, 2017

Hey everyone, thanks for visiting Allison in Wonderland today!  Last week’s post (linked here) was all about my birthday – I turned 21 last week!  So, this week, I thought it would be fun to give you another little glimpse into my life with a weekend in my life post.  Enjoy!

Starting on Friday, I went to my first and only class of the day – tennis.  For the past two semesters, I’ve been spoiled with not having Friday classes, so this semester is a little different for me.  But even though I do have class, it’s such a fun one to go to!  Let me know in the comments if you’d like to see a post about the best and easiest classes to take at JMU!

After grabbing some lunch after class, I met up with a photographer (@elefthographia) that also goes to James Madison to do a little downtown photoshoot.  I originally wanted to take some autumn-y photos with a warm, oversized sweater and boots but it ended up being in the 80s when we were shooting so I went for a bit of a cooler look.  I had to throw the outfit together pretty quickly once I realized how hot it was going to be but I love how it turned out!  My overalls are from Urban Outfitters and my tee is from Macy’s!  I got both of these pieces pretty recently, so they should still be in stock if you wanna scoop them up.

After we were done shooting, I raced right to an event for my sorority where we were celebrated the bids we recently gave out to our new candidates for this semester!  Gaining new sisters is always fun but this year was extra special for me because it’s the last recruitment I’ll go through before I graduate.  My time in my sorority has gone by so quickly and I’ve loved every minute of it; I can’t believe it’s almost over!

On Saturday, I headed to Pennsylvania to spend the rest of the weekend with my boyfriend!  We spent most of our night in Gettysburg at the Appalachian Brewery.  They had the cutest little outdoor space with picnic tables and string lights and it was a great place to meet up with friends!  I will definitely be going back as soon as I can.

I finished off the weekend with a few meetings and tried to take some time to relax before another busy week began!  This time of year is so incredible for enjoying down time because the weather is wonderful and the scenery is so beautiful.  I just can’t wait for October to begin so I can break out my fall sweaters!

Thanks for reading today’s “Weekend In My Life” post and don’t forget to follow Eleftheria (my photographer for the photos above) on Instagram!  Have a great week!

College

How To: Land An Internship

May 9, 2017

Hi everyone!  Thanks for coming back to my blog for this week’s post!  As you can tell from the title, today’s post is all about how to land your first internship.  Since the summer is quickly approaching and we’re starting to think about summer jobs, I thought it would be a perfect topic to tackle this month!

I got my first internship the summer after my sophomore year of college.  I’d say that’s relatively early, but I jumped at the chance to gain experience working in my career industry as soon as I could!  At James Madison University, my major is Media Arts & Design and my concentration is in Integrated Advertising & Corporate Communication so I was looking for positions either at an advertising agency or a marketing firm and, luckily, that’s exactly what I ended up doing.  After the summer was over, I was fortunate enough to intern again over my winter break and I’m so excited to be going back this summer as well.  It was one of the best experiences of my life and I have an entire post devoted to talking about my time at the firm linked here, if you’re interested in reading about it!

I’d say the hardest part about getting an internship is knowing where to apply.  Search engines like Google aren’t great for putting in random key words like “summer internship.”  You’ll get a lot of internship opportunities, but probably not in your field.  One of my biggest sources for internships has actually been my professors.  In my major, they’re awesome about letting students know what opportunities are out there and giving us the links to apply.  I’m also a fan of websites like themuse.com, especially if you’re in the market for a full-time job.  The Muse is full of employers looking for young, newly graduated candidates and they give you a nice little snippet of what it would be like to work in each company!

I got my internship through networking.  My dad is friends with a man who is in the c-suite of the marketing firm I talked about before and my dad mentioned my major to him and he offered me an internship right away!  It was so incredibly nice of him to offer that, and this won’t happen all the time, but the doors just opened for me because my family knew him.  Networking is so, so important so if you can just shake hands with important people and make some kind of connection, it will do wonders!

Another tip for getting an internship is making sure your resume is eye-catching and up-to-date.  I was taught in high school that a resume needs to be mature and clean and in only black and white.  This might be true for other industries, but it’s not for advertising.  I’m in a very creative major where graphic design skills are expected and if your resume doesn’t show your eye for design, then you’re off to a bad start.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s perfectly fine to have it in all black and white, but add something – like a personalized logo – that will make your resume stand out to the HR department.

Those are all the tips I have today for landing your first internship; I hope it helped you and your search for a job!  If you have any other tips, please leave them in the comments below for other readers to benefit from.  See you next week for another post!