Whirlwind of a semester

When I started the journalism graduate program in August, I had no idea what type of time commitment I was expecting. A full-time graduate course load was only nine hours (compared to 12 hours for undergrads), I'd have minimal extracurricular activities and few evening meetings, so I held the expectation that I wouldn't be working as much. As the undergraduate student who took 15-18 hours of classes each semester and balanced that with leadership roles, I fully anticipated grad school with some leisure time and television. Sounds like that would be the case, right?

Wrong. Completely wrong. Something about graduating, working a 9 to 5 job last summer and adjusting to a solid routine that never existed in college contributed to my body's collapse. I couldn't work until 2:30 a.m. each night, write emails in my sleep or wake up 20 minutes before class started and get there on time. I was no longer able to focus at a 10 p.m. meeting for a group project, and even if my schedule wasn't as packed as it has been in previous semesters, I had the mentally busiest semester of my life. The first semester of grad school in the fall was definitely more academically stimulating, but the spring combined the academic, logistical and independence challenges that graduate school brings.

I'm happy walking away with the amount that I learned, especially in the productivity sense: from how to work independently, continuing to improve while working with others and having the discipline to sit down and get things done. Here are some pictures and words about the groups of people who helped me conquer the journey of this past semester. 

The Missourian's Spring 2013 Community Outreach Team with our teacher, Joy Mayer. Joy's participatory journalism class had students work six hours of shifts each week at the newspaper to learn how to build a relationship with a publication's audience. 

Our Changing Media Business Models class started off the semester with a free trip to Seattle, and grew together as everyone fought senioritis and learned about innovation.

For my teaching assistantship with Mojo Ad, I worked on a Public Relations team with these three amazing women to plan a department-wide Career Fair, industry workshops, two receptions and work on overall PR for the agency. They will be some of the most successful people I know and even thought of the above picture as a tactic for our event. By buying some fun items at the dollar store and throwing a sheet up on the wall, they entertained 70+ people with this photobooth for hours!

This spring, I TA'd a second class in addition to my official assistantship: the account management class. I had taken this class in fall of 2011, but the advertising industry changes quickly. These students kept me busy with questions, requests and text messages - but taught me a lot about what it's like to be a professor and mentor to others. I learned to give good, actionable feedback, say no sometimes, and ultimately, more than half the class will move onto Mojo.

Matthew, me, Fr. Michael and John smile at dinner after Pascha. Having a nice group of Orthodox Christian people in Columbia was a great addition to my college experience and staying for Easter made us extra close this past semester.

Obviously, spending some time out at the bars with these guys is really what kept me getting through everything. Some of the best friends smile at Piano Bar. Thanks for everything!