the last one

Over the past few weeks, I have been doing a series on interning. I talked about my experiences and various roles, ways to be a good intern, and what to wear at work. Like any experience, interning is what you make of it and what you personally invest. 

As a closing thought, I want to encourage any current or future intern to invest yourself into what you are pursuing. Whether you find yourself in a best case situation or a stepping stone toward something else use every experience to learn. Not all situations will be ideal, yet these opportunities can be the best way to learn something new. It can be difficult to find internships that have the ideal qualities you are looking for, but do not lose hope. Put yourself out there in order to find what you are searching for. Whether that means contacting a company directly or networking in a unique way, take initiative for what you want to accomplish. You never know what might come up and the worst you could hear is a simple "no." You might receive an opportunity that you did not have intentions for and later realize is was the best situation that could have happened. 

Life has a funny way of working itself out. What is meant to be will work itself out you just have to be patient and work hard. It's cliche, but true. 

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17

Your Favorite Redhead

what not to wear

When interning, fashion can be more important than one may realize. Specifically, when interning in events fashion is key because outfits will vary from casual to business causal and all must be functional. Here is my top tips on what NOT to wear as an intern.

1. It's all about the shoes. Working in events, close-toed comfortable shoes is an absolute must. You never know what the day may bring and odds are the day will include being one your feet for an extended amount of time. 

What TO wear: Keds, Sperrys, or ballet flats

2. Lose the jewelry. Big statement necklaces are not a great idea although they are currently in style. Save bigger jewelry pieces for outside of work and special events. 

What TO wear: small necklaces or scarves

3. Dress in layers. As an intern it is easy to go from sitting in a cold office to breaking a sweat stacking chairs. Dressing in layers allows for more comfort no matter what task given. 

What TO wear: cardigans are great and can be paired with anything from dresses to jeans

4. Pick pockets. Pockets are always handy when carrying around keys, phones, and the miscellaneous items. 

What  TO wear: colored jeans, skirts and dresses with pockets with pockets, and pullover rain jackets with from pockets are always convenient

Your Favorite Redhead

13 interning tips

So you want to be an intern? Interning is an important part in developing skills and a resume for a career. Here's a few tips on how to be the best intern possible.

1. Dress the part. Like they say, dress for the job you want. Why not start now?

2. Be eager with all tasks. Keeping a positive attitude is so important and makes less fun tasks slightly more enjoyable or at least bearable. 

3. Do more than what is expected of you. Go above and beyond what is asked of you because what do you have to lose. 

4. Work hard.  "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." Colossians 3:23-24

5. Be excited about having an internship. Internships are stepping stones to a future career. Be excited about exploring the possibilities and opportunities in your field of choice. 

6. Learn as much as you can. What better way to learn than by a hands-on experience. You will learn so much more than you would in a classroom. Be a sponge to the endless possibilities. 

7. Be confident in your work and your abilities. Eleanor Roosevelt got this one right. You are capable of so much if you believe in yourself. 

8. Be yourself. Why be anyone else when you are "fearfully an wonderfully made." 

9. Keep your personal life personal. Unless asked, save the drama for your mama. Stay present and focused when working. 

10. Show up on time and meet deadlines. Clients are depending on you to provide for them what they payed for- take this responsibility seriously. 

11. Stay positive when things don't go your way. A lot will go wrong or different than you planned. Use these opportunities to learn and think critically. 

12. Stay fiercely motivated. Life gets busy and tough, but remind yourself of what you want to accomplish and what your goals are. 

13. Keep on keeping on because "hey now hey now (interning) is what dreams are made!" How could you disagree with Lizzie?

Your Favorite Redhead

The Internship

Over the next few weeks I am going to be doing a blogging series about being an intern. This series is primarily for a business class I am in where we are studying about the impact of information systems and how social media is a factor in that. I am going to try to explain what being an intern entails and what has benefited me in being an intern.

As I have previously written about (http://maleahhodge.blogspot.com/2014/08/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none_26.html), I am currently an intern with University Events at Abilene Christina University. When people ask what I do it is difficult to explain because my job requires me to wear many hats. The better question would be "what do I not do?." I have had a wide array of opportunities ranging from making copies to designing events.

I have had the opportunity to be apart of the logistics and implementation of ACU's Open Assembly which starts the new school year.

{Since I did not get to carry the Oklahoma flag in the parade this year I naturally had to snag a picture with it.}

Opening Assemble was the first event I got to work and I was on a trial run throughout the weekend prep leading up to the actual event. I was pretty excited when I got to wear a walkie talkie at the event, even though it didn't actually work.

{Pretty official, am I right?}

A few weeks into working at UE I got to have an official ACU name tag of my own and I wear it any chance I get. 

{I had to call my mom and tell her about my exciting news of getting a name tag. Much official. Such intern.} 

Along with getting an ACU name tag, another goal I had when I got on campus was to drive a golf cart. The gator is close enough. 

{Name tags and gators-the ACU dream}

I also have a set of what I generally refer to as "janitor keys". Although I never seem to have the keys that I need. 

{Got keys?}

I got work a concert event in Moody Coliseum for a vocal music group called Home Free. 

{Rock on}

I get to design center pieces every so often. 

{It's fall y'all}

I get to plan events. 

{Read more: http://maleahhodge.blogspot.com/2014/12/cookies-for-santa.html}

Sometimes I get to buy 40 poinsettias from Lowes. 

{I got some weird looks}

All in all, the adventure of interning in events has been a roller coaster, but it has been so worth it. The past 6 months have been crazy and filled with ups and downs. I knew as soon as I got to ACU that it was exactly where I needed to be and I know that is also true with this internship as well. 

It is crazy and exciting and everyday is a new adventure, adventure being the key word. People are always telling me "wow your job is so cool" and to be honest, it really is. I tend to work a lot and get sent on some wild goose chases sometimes, but I wouldn't change a thing. 

So here's to interning and all that comes along with it. Here's to the journey it has been and continues to be. 

Your Favorite Redhead

conflict to blessing

It's been three weeks for me to finally find the energy to recap this semester. What a semester it was. Everything that could have been thrown my way was. Juggling being a full-time student, working 12-30 hours a week, pledging (what an experience), a relationship, a breakup, and thats just the major happenings. Life came and happened. 

Throughout the events of the past four months it was so hard to function normally and process everything. It was hard being busy to the point of having every moment of your day planned, not to be overly OCD, but to fit everything in you needed to do. It was hard trying to be the person people around you were expecting you to be. It was hard. 

I naturally have mixed emotions and feelings about going back to real life. While I love being home, having nothing to do, nowhere to be, and can catch up on the sleep I didn't get in the fall and won't get in the spring, I know that I need to get back to school. Not for the actual school part because I am dreading that part, but to be with my friends again. It is hard to find the motivation to be excited about going back to school after this past semester. See, every semester has gotten harder. They say it gets easier in time, yet it hasn't and that's scary to think about. 

While I find myself apprehensive about the next six months of school, I keep having the though go through my head that it is going to get easier. Life in general will get easier. I cannot imagine what a semester harder than one filled will pledging could look like. Here I find myself in the great unknown and it's not the outside looking in or end of the journey looking back, but the journey. Yes, it is fun and exciting and there is really cool activity happening all around me, at the same time it is scary and large and intimidating. 

Making the right choices has become harder on a daily basis. For someone who already had trouble making decisions, this causes me to question my every move. It is hard to keep in perspective that no matter what path I choose it can work for the greater good because God is with me. If God is with me than I cannot fail.  So reflecting on this past semester I have hope that while there were positives and negatives and ups and downs and it was an adventure to say the least, I have grown from the struggle and the hard times faces. Donald Miller says in his book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years "There is no conflict man can endure that will not produce a blessings." I love this quote because when struggle is reflected on, the outcome of situation is more impactful than the hardship. 

As cliché as it sounds, struggle makes our lives more impactful than they previously were and help us become and discover who we need to be. I lived this the past few months and although this semester left me discouraged and frustrated, I have learned so much valuable knowledge. While I cannot see what is behind recent events someday I will be able to look back and realize the bigger purpose and meaning. 


Your Favorite Redhead

What team? LeBron!

In recent years, LeBron James has become synonymous with the word basketball, the NBA, and ESPN. If you do not follow basketball you probably have a general sense of what his most recent public relations scheme has been. Earlier this week I got an update from Sports Center about an interview he had and it simply read “LeBron was talking about himself.” Now I cannot take away from his athletic abilities because he is a talented athlete, but media bias is present within this situation. Particularly ESPN has created this media bias situation. There are special segments dedicated to him on a regular basis when he has not done anything special. While he has significant accomplishments it is not fair to dedicate a large amount of time to solely him and take away from other talented athletes. Targeting one athlete, particularly as ESPN targets LeBron, also takes away from reporting about basketball.

            Basketball can be bigger than the sport itself. It is kind of odd that I am a basketball fan myself considering I grew up dancing competitively and have never played a game of basketball in my life. I did however grow up in Oklahoma City. A place where it was not a possibility to have an NBA team until Hurricane Katrina and nevertheless a title contending team. The city of Oklahoma City has transformed from a larger than average farm town to a promenade city. The economy has grown, the population has increased, and for once it is cool to be from Oklahoma because of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. All of this was possible because of the game of basketball. It does not have much to do with the teams record or and one player, but the moral boost the NBA presence brought to the city.

            Something as simple as the sport of basketball can have a greater impact than targeting one person. I have seen this happen firsthand in OKC. The NBA has programs in place targeting giving back and individual teams have their own programs targeting needs in their specific city. These programs and the positive impact brought by the NBA and other professional athletic organizations are important. Basketball is important. It makes a difference and that may be difficult to measure in numbers at times. It might be difficult to understand how a team with a losing record is turning a profit. When it is examined in further detail, you can see that there is a kid who begs for tickets to a game because he wants to be an NBA player. Or the girl who wants to be a cheerleader for the team. Or the little boy who plays in neighborhood pickup games in his favorite NBA jersey. These kids are who are truly impacted by the game of basketball and who it makes a difference for.

            Basketball is bigger than one person and bigger than LeBron. Highlighting one person for their accomplishments is great and I have great confidence LeBron appreciates the attention. The media bias ESPN has created is taking away from the potential difference ESPN could make. Spreading the coverage to a broader scope of events within the NBA could be more beneficial and more relevant to viewers. As with twenty-four hour news coverage, a problem with having so many outlets for ESPN to reach viewers and users is that the coverage becomes mundane and unfocused. Choosing to pick and choose stories that could have a greater overall impact on viewer’s verses highlighting one person or just LeBron. LeBron James, you are a talented athlete, but let’s see some other athletes once in a while.   

Just a small blurb about basketball from yours truly.


Your Favorite Redhead

Cookies for Santa

Christmas time isn't complete without a little plaid and some Christmas cookies! The two are a perfect pair to create a classic homey feel. I was given a project for my internship toward the end of the semester for a Christmas themed table complete with not only a center piece, but also a name plate and party favor. After researching on Pinterest, I decided that my inspiration was a mason jar. Yes, a mason jar. From there the rest of the concept of the table fell into place. 

Starting with the mason jar I decided that I was going to make a cookie mix to go into the jar and attach a label with directions to make the cookies. This craft is fairly common and found all over Pinterest. I also did this for a project in 5th grade too. It's great because it is super simple an cute and cheap. Plus who doesn't like cookies at Christmas time?! The ingredients needed to make 12 pint sized cookie mix filled jars include:

-3/4 cup flour

-1/4 cup sugar

-1/4 teaspoon baking soda

-1/4 cup brown sugar

-red and green M&Ms

To make the jars you'll need a funnel of some kind or you can use a plastic baggie and cut a hole in the bottom corner. Using a baggie worked pretty well for a makeshift funnel. At this point I added the flour, baking soda, sugar, and brown sugar. The order isn't a huge deal and can go almost however you want. I would recommend putting the flour first as it is messy and the most of any one ingredient. Lastly, I filled the remaining empty jar with the M&Ms. Here is what the jar looked like at this point.

Being pint sized, there were super cute on their own, but needed some kind of label. I went back and forth on what to do for the label. After several ideas floated around in my head I ended up drawing this.

I immediately became obsessed with my little drawing and started brainstorming ways of mass-producing my art. I found myself at my schools "maker lab". This is basically a crafters heaven as they kind of specialize in projects and MAKING stuff. Normally I wouldn't use the word stuff, but in this case it's appropriate as the maker lab makes all kinds of projects. After taking to a maker lab "maker" she suggested that I make my drawing into a stamp. Yes, a stamp. So i scanned in my drawing and it was put into Illustrator in order to make the white sections as white as they could be and the pencil marks as dark as they could be. It was then sent to a lazer printer and burned into a stamp material.

After the printer finished its work, I super glued it to a piece of wood.

So to make the actual tag I used a white stamp ink and black card stalk. The only recommendation I have for the stamp ink is to use waterproof ink. After stamping the card stalk, I let I dry and then touched up as needed with a white gel pin.

{this was for a letter project using different colors}

When everything had dried, I cut the tags down to a smaller size leaving a small black edge. I then took a piece of chalk and covered the tag with it in order to give it a chalkboard look. Then so the chalk would stay, I sprayed the tags with some hairspray. The card stock will curl slightly so be careful with your project. To attach them to the jar I hole punched the tag and tied it on with twine. The final project turned out like this.

For the name plate I hand wrote the names on the same card stalk I used earlier. I wrote them in chalk and touched it up and make it bolder with a white gel pin. Covered in chalk, hairspray, and folded in order to stand, they made pretty good name plates.

The bulk of what I spent and made was for these pieces. The center piece was mostly put together with items found around the storage room and really came together with the linens. Here is what the final table looked like when if was complete.

Like I said the linen brought the whole table together. The entire table was covered in a basic white tablecloth and then three plaid runners were put over them. The napkins were neat because they were not only plaid, but had a burlap like part on the inside. The main part of the table has tree stumps with candles and acorns as well as several pine cones. The center of the table had a piece of burlap, to tie in the burlap on the napkins, and coffee berries.

I was very pleased with how everything turned out and had some fun in the process. How cool is it that I get paid to not only do Pinterest projects, but make my own. Happy Pinning and Merry Christmas!


Your Favorite Redhead