It's Bittersweet Saying Goodbye

I couldn’t be more grateful for my experience as a telecommunications student at the University of Florida. Being apart of one of the best colleges of journalism and communications in the country is an honor and I’ve gained invaluable skills during my four years. With graduation in a week, I’m a mix of emotions – happy, sad, excited, anxious, and the list goes on. It’s bittersweet knowing what I’m leaving behind, but because of the education and experience I’ve had as a journalism student at UF, I feel confident in my skills as I head out into the real world. The Center for Media Innovation and Research is just one example of how wonderful UF is and how dedicated they are to facilitating their students in the best way possible. UF is clearly a leader when it comes to teaching this generation of students about journalism and communications.

We receive so much real world experience, especially with the new Integrated News Facility. You actually feel like you’re in a real newsroom and I mean, essentially you are. It’s a fast paced environment with the integration of TV, radio and web all in one, using each other as resources to stay up to date on the most breaking stories. Nothing could beat the time I spent in the INF, nor the feeling I get knowing that I had the best college learning experience. Anchoring the live newscast at five o’clock for WUFT-TV was one of the highlights of my time as a telecom student at UF and I will cherish that for a very long time.
The amazing education and opportunities I’ve had at UF are not lost on me and I can’t wait to come back and visit in a couple years and see how much more advanced they are and how much greater the learning experience has become. It doesn’t seem possible considering how fantastic it already is, but if there’s one thing I know about the University of Florida, it’s that anything is possible.

Will the Trend "Tip"?

The Tipping Point was an interesting and easy-to-read book. Malcolm Gladwell did a lot of research to come up with this analysis of how trends are sparked and how they do, or don’t, take hold. He explains how some trends receive wide-scale popularity and others fade away. I thought the three key factors he identified as playing a role in whether or not trends gain this popularity were really interesting and also spot-on. The Law of the Few contends that before widespread popularity can be attained, a few key types of people must champion an idea, concept, or product before it can reach the tipping point. He breaks this concept down further, describing the three types of influential people as Connectors, Mavens, and Salesman and describes the role of each of them and how they influence people to reach the tipping point of a product or concept. The Stickiness Factor is the quality that compels people to play close attention to that idea, concept, or product. The Power of Context is pretty broad but it helps determine whether a particular trend will tip into widespread popularity. Every little thing and every little second matters. The situation can change before, during or after the tipping point has been reached. Gladwell demonstrates his point by using the example of Hush Puppies, which I thought was funny but definitely gets the point across. Hush Puppies went from being an unfashionable look to a hugely popular one. Gaining exponential popularity, the company’s sales skyrocketed. All it took was a few people to start wearing the shoes and it slowly became a trend as other people started wearing them too. Once fashion designers gained interest and made a big fuss over them, they reached what Gladwell refers to as the “tipping point.” This is the point of the book exactly; sometimes all it takes is for a trend to reach a few of the “right” people for it to get to that tipping point.

While this probably isn’t a book I would have chose to just read on my own for fun, I did find it insightful especially as an individual wanting to pursue a career in the media. Trends begin and end with the media. Hey, you never know, my blog for this class could start trending. It would just need enough attention and someone to believe that it had a compelling idea or concept. Ideas and messages can spread just like viruses. Sounds weird buts it’s the truth isn’t it? In today’s society, where social media allows news, ideas, and trends to spread like wildfire, anything is possible. Twitter even has a “trending” section where you can see what people are talking about most on any given day. All of the information in this book is clear, concise and to the point so that you can understand the main idea. I would definitely recommend it to others. It opens up your mind to an idea that we all might have already known but never really thought about or explored as deeply as Gladwell.

Introducing A Few More of My Classmates

When I was looking through some more of my classmates websites I found a few that really stuck out to me. I really loved Kaitlyn McGrath's blog all about the University of Florida Dazzlers. I've always had a passion for dance and while I'm not on any of the dance teams at UF, I appreciate Kaitlyn's dedication to her team. I also love looking at all the pictures shes posted of the girls at different community and sporting events. Speaking of sporting events, I've discovered that Robert Lopez and I are both New York Yankee fans. His blog is totally sports related and its nice to have a classmate to keep me up-to-date on any sports news I might have missed out on. Finally, I really enjoyed reading through Lauren Lettelier's blog. She, like me, chose a fitness topic which is cool because its fun to see what tips other people have about exercising and keeping a healthy diet. I've actually learned a lot about crossfit lately and would love to try it out. She goes into great detail about the program and shes recently become a crossfit athlete which I think is awesome!

Meet My Classmates!

So enough about me, let me introduce you to some of my awesome and talented peers who are also blogging about really fun things. My blog is all about staying fit and these three girls happened to be blogging about great foods...I'd say those two things go hand in hand, right? ;)

Cassandra Liening has some delicious posts on her blog ranging from hearty meals to tantalizing desserts. What I love is that she includes some great recipes so if I want to try out any of her meal ideas I have easy access to just what I need. The banana bread muffins and brownies are definitely my favorite.

Katie Gillen also shares some awesome recipes on her blog. What's different about hers, and what I really love, is that she combines food and sports. Really, you can't have one without the other. She shares some great stories about where she's visited and the foods she has had in those cities which I think is a really neat way to incorporate the two together.

But if cooking isn't your thing, another classmate of mine, Juliana Valencia, has a blog dedicated to great dining options in Gainesville. In each blog post she talks about a different restaurant in Gainesville where you can get delicious food and/or desserts. She even gives some suggestions of yummy options/foods shes tried at each place.

I'm glad some of my classmates enjoy a good meal every once in a while just as much as I do. And I'm excited I now have some new recipes to try out!

A Little Bit About Me

I'm a 4th year telecommunications-news student at the University Florida. I will be graduating in May with a Bachelor of Science in telecommunications and an outside concentration in sports management. I am currently a news anchor for the evening news show, First at Five, for the North Central Florida PBS affiliate. I have a passion for media and entertainment and ideally would like to pursue a job in entertainment news. A full list of my professional experience and skills can be seen on my resume, which is also posted on my blog. I was born and raised in South Florida and would love to end up living back there at some point in my life. I have a very tight knit family. I'm extremely close with my parents and younger brother and of course, our loving Shih Tzu, Muffin. I love spending time with my friends and family, going to the beach, dancing and working out, which you can see from the topic of my blog, Commit to be Fit. I like to live each day to the fullest, with no regrets and believing that everything happens for a reason.

My Digital Resume

Samantha Kerrigan's resume.

Top 5 Foods That Don't Deserve Their Bad Raps

This top 5 list is awesome because it may give you a new found perspective on some foods you thought you shouldn't be eating. After reading this I kind of want to go and make my own healthy pizza.

1. Pizza. Pizza has a bad reputation because when you have it, you're usually eating the unhealthy kind made with white crust, a lot of cheese and and high fat meat toppings. If you make a pizza at home from scratch, you can use a whole wheat crust, fresh vegetable toppings and add as little or as much cheese as you want.

2. Peanut Butter. Peanut butter gets a bad rap because it is very high in fat. But it is high in healthy (unsaturated) fats. These fats have been shown to decrease your risk of heart disease. While you shouldn't be eating whole jars of this stuff, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich can be very healthy.

3. Eggs. Eggs get a bad reputation because they are high in cholesterol and have a bit of saturated (bad) fat. But if you do not have a cholesterol problem, eggs provide a high amount of good quality protein and are low in calories. Eggs may also be a healthy choice for food before or after a workout. If you're interested in finding out if eggs are in fact something good to eat before or after you exercise, check out a great video I posted onn my blog, Commit to be Fit, a couple weeks ago.

4. Beef. Since beef is high in saturated (bad) fat, many people stay away from it. Beef is also high in good quality protein and iron. You can buy lean ground beef that has as much fat as ground turkey. Lean ground beef is also usually less expensive and tastier than ground turkey. You can also try organic beef.

5. Carbohydrates. Low carb diets label bread as unhealthy because of the high carbohydrate content. Carbs come in two categories: good and bad. Bread can be good or bad so lumping all bread into the bad category is like stereotyping. If it is made out of 100% whole wheat flour, it is good. The whole wheat flour is high in fiber and nutrients while white flour is not. This is true of all foods made from flour including snacks and pasta.