It's never too late for an internship

In a previous blog I offered some advice for any students who weren't graduating this semester. One of the tips I offered was to get an internship. I never had one and it is something I highly regret. The job market is tough enough as it is right now and it's going to be so much harder to get a job with no experience at all.

An article I found on CNN.com spoke about college graduates who have been laid off getting internships rather than jobs.

Graduation Gifts Part II

After I posted about the three best graduation gifts I would like to receive, I got a response from someone who is not in this class, finally! Dana Schultze is a fellow blogger who has used her blog as a resume. She commented on my post by giving me a link to a website she has used to help her find gifts for graduates. Gifts.com is a great website to use when looking for specific gifts. I found 3 cute ideas ranging from $10 to $1000. In order from cheapest to most expensive:

1. Words of Wisdom Books: I think this is a really cute idea to get a graduate for a couple reasons. First, we are all scared about entering the real world and failing miserably. A little book with some real-world advice doesn't cost a lot and can help more than you think. Second, let's be serious, I know I am not getting a job when I graduate and I still need to exercise my brain so why not get me some nice reading material so that I have something to do while passing the time.

2. Some stocks: I like this idea because stocks right now are fairly cheap. It is the best time to buy so why not buy a few hundred dollars worth of stocks as a gift to give to a college graduate. This way when the stock market rises, the few hundred dollars you invested could turn into a few thousand!

3. A computer: In a previous post I blogged about how much I needed a new computer and how it would be a great graduation gift. Apparently I am not the only one who thinks this is true. A computer would make a better gift than most would think. Most teenagers get a computer after graduating high school to transition into their college career, but after 4 or 5 years, a computer gets filled with a lot of useless junk (I blame the downfall of my laptop on Limewire). A computer is a great gift, especially since my $16,000 of debt inhibits me from splurging on one for myself.

So, thanks to Dana Schultze, here are a few more great gift ideas for college graduates. I hope this helps!

Gonzo Journalism

In one of my classes today we talked about Literary Journalism and the 1960s. I have to say, I am obsessed with the era of the 1960s. The hippies, or counterculturalists as they are often called, amaze me. It's so interesting to think about the fact that the people that were against war and inequality and for civil rights and peace could be referred to in such a derogatory way. I mean, I do question the idea of communal living, but that aside. These days being a hippie is the norm. Wearing tye-dye and promoting peace is not only acceptable, but stylish and encouraged. I myself have caught the "peace and love bug" and I am not ashamed to say it.

Now my question is, with the age of newspapers "dying" as some like to say, why can't we go back to the age of Gonzo Journalism? Can't we all learn a little something from Hunter S. Thompson? Gonzo journalism is something that people want to read! Vivid descriptions, in-depth interviews, and using first hand experience to write a great story. Since many of us college students have all caught the "peace and love bug" why can't we all just graduate from college and take journalism by storm? I propose we start a movement. A Gonzo Journalism movement. Who's with me?

under pressure

So I am going to use this time to vent about all the stress that has consumed my life and basically feel sorry for myself. School is killing me! I have so much work to do. My research class is so much work. It's almost impossible to conduct a full blown research project in 5 weeks. I have so many papers to do and so little time. I have to somehow find copies of original newspaper articles on The Dred Scott Case of 1876 which also is nearly impossible! Two more weeks! I just keep telling myself that. If anyone has any suggestions on how to find old articles let me know!

practice makes perfect

Just when I thought my financial woes were over I am rudely awakened. Since I am preparing to take the LSAT, I have been told it is essential to enroll in a prep course and take lots and lots of practice tests. I have already read Kaplan's LSAT prep book which was helpful, but i definitely need more. I have found some really great prep courses such as Princeton Review. I have seen some advertisements around campus for MyTestPrepAce.com. I know Princeton review charges $1000 for a tutoring class and a lot more for individual tutoring. That's a lot of money! I did find, however, that UMBC offers a LSAT training course for $600, plus they take off an extra $50 if you sign up 6 weeks in advance. I will continue to search for the best rates around and keep you updated!

relief

As criteria to graduate from Towson, every student must take a research class in the area of their major. So, me being a Mass Communications major, I am currently taking Mass Comm. Research. I don't care who you are or who your professor is, any class that involves SPSS and data reconfiguration is hard. I would say 2/3 of my class failed the first exam miserably. In fact, so many people failed (myself included) that she had to give us all 4 extra points just so we all wouldn't cry.

Well, we had our second exam yesterday and I studied for 2 days. When I actually took the test, I thought I was going to fail. Even afterwards I didn't feel confident. Especially since our professor kept saying "if you failed the first test and you fail this test, you probably won't pass the class." OK that helps calm my nerves... Especially since me not passing the class means me not graduating and it means a lot more money out of my pocket.

Well lucky for me she's a quick grader and I got my grade back today. Drum roll please... a B!! Barely, an 80% in fact, but still its a B! I am elated to say the least. There is hope for me yet. You all have a great weekend. I certainly will!

I'm International

It finally happened! My blog has gone international! According to google analytics, I have one visit from India and one from the Philippines. According to analytics, I also got the most hits and the most comments I have ever gotten on my April 7th post on limbo. granted, some of this may be due to the fact people were searching the other type of "limbo," the religious type, but it still gave me hits! I also implemented some of the tips I offered in my last post. When I researched google hot trends, one of the topic that came up was graduation gifts, so I wrote a post on graduation gifts. I didn't get any comments and my hits were not severely increased, but it might take some time. I will certainly keep you updated on how well these SEO tips are working for me!

Increasing Traffic

For all you bloggers out there, I am going to post a list of 5 tips I find are useful in increasing traffic to your blog. Now this was an assignment for a class, but I think I did a very good job and I think these tips can really be helpful.

1. Use Google hot trends: Google Hot Trends gives you a list of the top 100 words currently being searched for using Google search engine. If you can somehow find a way to implement the keywords into your blog, it will allow your blog to come up in the search results, thus increasing traffic to your blog.

2. Use Google Keywords Tool: Google Keyword Tool is helpful in telling you what your competition is doing. For example, if your blog is on hotdogs, you would type in the word hotdogs and then click “get results.” A list of other keywords associated with hotdogs will come up, such as “kosher dogs” or “turkey dogs.”

3. Use Google Webmaster Tool: According to Google, Google's free webmaster tools provide you with an easy way to make your site more Google-friendly. They can show you Google's view of your site, help you diagnose problems, and let you share info with us to help improve your site's visibility in our search results.

4. Use Negative Keywords: Negative keywords help to target a more specific audience. For example if your blog is on a writer named Tom Bobama, but you don’t want people searching for Barack Obama being directed to your site, then you can use Barack Obama as a negative keyword. You can do this with the help of websites or by adjusting the html of your specific blog by customizing the settings.

5. Do not use doorway pages: Doorway pages are designed for robots only, not humans. Search engines like to index human friendly pages which contain context that is relevant to the search. While these can be helpful for businesses, they are not helpful for blogging.

The three best gifts

To all my friends and family out there who may be reading my blog, I would like to remind you that there are only 39 days to graduation! I would also like to mention the top three best gifts that I personally would love to recieve 39 days from now.

3. One gift I would love to recieve that I have always, always wanted but could lever afford is a Louis Vuitton purse. A real one. Now I know this seems a bit shallow but let me argue my point. If I am going to get a serious job, I need serious attire and I truely believe employers would take me more serious if I have a nice purse with me on my interview.

2. The second gift I would love to recieve would be a new laptop. I haven't had one in about 2 years now. You know, because all the time spent writing papers and doing school work finally burnt it out!

1. The the third and final gift I would love to recieve, and the ultimate gift, would be a trip out of the country. Maybe to India or Indonesia. I would love to go somewhere exotic, but also somewhere I could learn about another culture. I wouldn't want to just go to Mexico or somewhere beachy.

So, Mom or Dad, if you're reading this, you better start saving!

looking forward to limbo

There is nothing I am looking forward to more than limbo. You know, that place you find yourself after you have graduated and finally reached the light at the end of the tunnel only to find that once you reach the end of the tunnel there is nothing more then a very, very long road to nowhere. I have no time to go to the gym. My poor dog gets so excited each time I pick up the leash, hoping I will take her to the park like I used to once upon a time, only to realize I am merely picking it up just to dust the leash off because I haven't used it in months. All I do is go to school, go to work, go to bed, wake up and repeat. I want to be lazy! I digress. Only 45 more days until I can happily rest, diploma in hand, in limbo.

Is it May 22nd yet?

As the semester rolls on by, I find myself asking more and more, "is it May 22nd yet?" It's down to crunch time with term papers and exams and worst of all:my Mass Comm. Research project! My group and I are dreading completing this project. Our professor doesn't seem to be much help when it comes to helping us compile a professional survey. She has only ever taught graduate courses and I think she tends to forget that we have never done this before. Ohh well! I have two tests and a paper due this week. Yuck! Is it May 22nd yet?

struggling students

I found this short clip on CNN.com when I was browsing through the other day. It interests me because I am constantly worried about if I will be able to get a loan to go to law school or grad school come September. I am not the only one that worries about this. In the clip, CNN news anchor Kiran Chetry says the lack of loans "could be the biggest threat to our economic future."