New MyPurdue

As with all technology, when I started figuring out how to use MyPurdue they went ahead and changed it. It's not that much different from the old MyPurdue, but it has changed just enough to be annoying. I was finally getting to the point where I could easily navigate through the website that I only used to confirm registrations and sign up for classes, and Purdue decided to change it so I would have to look somewhere else for each of the tabs that I need to use. At least in the old MyPurdue the font was big enough to read. I feel like I need a microscope to find what I'm looking for now.

MyPurdue is changing much like Facebook did not too long ago. They think they have a problem, so they change it over night and confuse the hell out of everybody who was used to using the old version. Of course, it will grow on me, and I will be able to figure out how to navigate through the new just as well as I could with the old.

There are still tutorials on how to use MyPurdue. I'm more of a do-it-yourself person who just figures it out on my own, but I'm sure the tutorial would make things much clearer.

Why...

All I want to ask when it comes to looking for a job is why is it so hard to find an entry-level position job? I recently sent my resume and cover letter to a baseball team who was looking for a someone in public relations. It was first posted as an entry level position with most of the qualifications being recommended, but not required. Of course, I thought that this job looked too good to be true, but I applied anways because I need to start somewhere. Literally the next day after I applied for the job they took the posting offline and changed every requirement they had originally posted. The one qualification that really irked me though was that they were now requiring 5+ years of experience. What I would like to know is where are we supposed to be getting this experience from? Everybody is requiring experience, but nobody is offering it. An internship helps with maybe one year of experience, but after graduation you are still looking for an entry-level position unless your internship offers you a full-time job.

Don't get me wrong, it's obviously not impossible to find a job and there are some companies that are willing to give you that experience you are looking for. Since I am looking to get into sports PR, my example is of the Atlanta Braves trainee programs. They have a trainee program for just about every position available, and the one stipulation is that you must have a 3.0 GPA. So, yes, there are some companies nice enough to give us a shot, but I hate getting excited about a possible job only to find out that you need 5 or more years of experience just to be considered.

Finally moving on from dial-up

Throughout high school, I was used to having a slow Internet connection. It didn't phase me at all that I had to wait 3 minutes for a web site to come up because that was just the way dial-up is. However, when I got to Purdue and started using wireless my wait time decreased to just seconds for each new page to pop up.

Now when I go home I feel like I am disconnected from the world. (Thank the lord for my Crackberry!) In my first 3 years of college, I refused to get on the Internet at home because we still had dial-up thanks to our lovely tree line behind the house. We called EVERYBODY to try to get a faster Internet connection. EVERYBODY said no because of our tree line.

About a year and a half ago I asked my mom if we could get a wireless usb from Verizon that we could just plug into our computer and it would connect to the Internet and it would surely be faster than the ancient dial-up that was a complete waste of money. Of course, my mom said no when I asked, but about a month ago when my mom and sister were tired of using the slow computer they had the brilliant idea of getting the wireless usb from Verizon. They were so excited that they thought of it on their own until I burst out into a vocal flashback of me begging for this usb to give us the Internet.

I still don't use the computer at home because Verizon only allows 5GB of downloading and other things done on the Internet. I figured I'm on the computer enough at school to make up for the down time at home. I'll just stick to using the Crackberry for the small things like e-mail.

Hoping to start something new in West Lafayette/Lafayette

I am one of the directors of development for Boiler Communication, a student-run PR firm affiliated with PRSSA. So, basically I'm trying to increase our funding by coming up with some different fundraising ideas and implementing them. Here's my idea...one of our clients is the Lafayette Theater, and they are looking to get more involved with Purdue and the local community. I think it would be awesome to start an annual Battle of the Bands for people in West Lafayette and Lafayette. I'm hoping this will attract a lot of bands whether they are kids in high school or students at Purdue. It's still a work in progress and probably won't happen until next semester. I'll be pitching the idea soon though!