THE IMPORTANCE OF PERSPECTIVE

                                                               A brighter future...   (source: Wnrn.org)

It didn’t really cross my mind what impact Thursday afternoon’s all-star breakout session would have on my path. In what was a lightning-quick two hour session, Frank Armstrong injected our class with key insight about our prospective futures. Divided up amongst graduates, we were able to hear their story; their journeys through the IMC program. It was invaluable.

We managed to pick the all-stars’ brains, dissecting their individual experiences. I was excited to see how they waded through the work to eventually find success in the real world. For me the sessions presented a sort of “life roadmap” – here is where you are, here is where you can end up if you play your cards right.

For the sake of advertising and IMC, it was interesting to examine how graduates integrated with the advertising/marketing world and how elements from the program were essential. The knowledge imparted on behalf of the grads definitely set me up in terms of knowing what pitfalls to avoid over the course of the next three years.

On my end, the sessions affirmed my faith in the program; that I had made the right choice in rebooting my early adult life. I can look back to the day I accepted my offer of admission with even greater confidence, knowing I wouldn’t change a thing…

                                                                     SLC's IMC at OCMC

BACK IN THE KINGSTON GROOVE

There was something pure about up-and-leaving a place. A renegade action if there ever was one. Taking the wheel and driving off to some new location and life. It seemed like the ultimate plan B should anything go awry – break glass in case of emergency. I’d ditched Ottawa and the last 3.5 years of my life as a university student in an instant. No hesitation. I was Kingston bound. 

Entering college, a 23 year-old first year, with a few years of university under my belt, was going to be an interesting experience. The immediate anticipation and fear was that I’d be the oldest person in the room. A glance around the room during orientation day only added fuel to the fire. There was an “oh god…” moment that crossed my mind as I saw the young faces. 

As orientation day pressed on, fancy terminology for “an hour later…”, my fears were immediately quenched as I met fellow students in section 101. We were all in the same 18-25 demographic as Kip, and actually every instructor, would explain. The numbers 18-25 were hammered on us on a seemingly daily basis that still continues to this day.

It was a good thing. I think.

Blogging was something I’d never fully considered in the grand scheme of advertising. To be honest, I’d grouped it with the Twitter-addicted cell phone tweakers, people who come to look like meth addicts from the constant refreshing of their twitter feeds and speed-freak button mashing of their mobile devices. It seemed like a superfluous engagement. 

I was wrong. I think.  As classes rolled on it became increasingly apparent that blogging, Twitter, and mobile technology all served important parts in the machinery of advertising. As such I’ll push one of my videos in this blog post – nothing like shameless self advertising, right?  Whatever, I still hate Twitter.

College itself was a brand new experience. Kingston, on the other hand, was not. It was, however, my homeland. I always enjoyed Kingston living. I recall an awkward realization in the car ride home with my brother from St. Larry’s, it hadn’t fully dawned on me that Kingston was once again my home until we passed by the Cineplex, a common site of congregation amongst my peers in the summer. I was back baby! Kingston is my home again. 

                                                           A video project I did this summer.