As you may have presumed, I have decided on a Calvin and Hobbes theme for my blog. Calvin and Hobbes, for those that don't know, is a comic strip by Bill Watterson which began in 1985. Growing up, I became enamored with the adventurous, imaginary world of Calvin and Hobbes.
Let me introduce myself/give a little background on me and my Communication studies. I am a current 4th year student at Oregon State, having arrived 4 years ago as a Freshman majoring in Computer Science. I switched my major multiple times, finally settling in Speech Communication. But I'm sure you're wondering, "why Speech Comm.?" My favorite part of all of the jobs I have held has been customer service and interactions with guests and customers in my work environments. I held a passion for communicating with customers to sell or recommend products, resolve issues, and generally ensure all around satisfaction. In taking Interpersonal Comm. as a Freshman with Dr. Gallagher, I began to take notice of, not only these work instances where I was utilizing communication, but also instances with my family, friends, and, essentially, everyone I was coming into contact with on a daily basis. I came to the conclusion that, since I enjoyed utilizing Communication so much already, I would love to study it in fine detail and be able to explain the way it is shaping my life on a day to day basis.
I recently did an internship at Disney World in Orlando, FL, which sparked my interest in Tourism and Hospitality Management. As I mentioned above, I love working to ensure customer or guest satisfaction, and my favorite part of my internship, of course, turned out to be working with the guests and ensuring their satisfaction and happiness with their visit to the "Happiest Place on Earth." I would love to do this as a permanent job at a large hotel, theme park, or tourist location. Many tourist locations have a Guest Services Coordinator, or similar position which interacts with guests regarding inquiries, suggestions, or issues, and always ensures the satisfaction of guests, as well as employees. I could also see myself as a Community Relations Coordinator, or something similar, where I would be in charge of an organizations outreach with the community, which would include many Marketing and PR aspects. I have interest in this area from my current job at OSU Career Services, where I am a Career Assistant focusing primarily on outreach to the Oregon State campus community regarding Career Services and related events.
Communication will be a large part of whichever job I settle into after graduation, and even other jobs I may have in the future, as well as in my life outside of the workplace. Outside of school and my job at Career Services, I love to go on hikes with my puppy Teddy, and I'm also a huge soccer fan, so I like to go to Timber's games and play FIFA (a soccer video game for those of you that don't know)! I have a few really great friends that I love hanging out with and, while we do have our fun nights where to do adventurous things, we can also just sit around and talk to each other about our lives and be perfectly content and entertained. I think this sort of demonstrates my very laid back, easy going personality.
Though the world of Calvin and Hobbes is imaginary, Bill Watterson writes of Calvin's various experiences, which readers see as relatable. As a child reading Calvin and Hobbes, I simply related to the humor found in the comics. Now, as a young adult reading Calvin and Hobbes, I notice that much more is relatable, and that Calvin and Hobbes actually generates a deeper thinking about life.
Check out these blog articles on the top lessons learned from Calvin and Hobbes:
I'm excited to explore different Communication Theories and discover Calvin and Hobbes comics that may provide support for these theories. I'm also excited to start blogging more, because I always seem to start blogs and never keep up on them!
Here's a cool trailer I found that was just posted on August 2nd for a film called "Dear Mr. Watterson" which recognizes Bill Watterson and his work on Calvin and Hobbes.
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Some pictures from my internship in Florida!
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Drenched from yet another Florida storm! Downpour, thunder, AND lightning EVERY DAY in June...    |
