Always Improving & Moving

 My family and I (including my twin sister, Andrea who is also living with CF) have actively advocated over the years mainly for children living with medical disabilities at the state government level. For me, advocating means giving a voice to many who share the same concern and want better for themselves and their community. Through advocating, it has taught me to see both sides of an argument and understand each piece of facts and the worth behind them. As I am in college, I am finding many different ways to put my passions into practice. It is essential for me to create a career path that will not only make me proud but also help many other groups of people. Advocating started when I was young. At age eight, I had the opportunity to represent the Nationwide Columbus Children's Hospital in Washington, D.C., advocating with the National Association of Children's Hospitals for children and youth with special healthcare needs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddzniM17MOs...

Guy Kawasaki and Peg Fitzpatrick wrote the first "textbook" that we used in the Social Media Principles class. The Art of Social Media provided many tips and tricks that could benefit both personal and professional social media. In this blog post, I am going to give my opinion on the book and the information I found to be helpful and beneficial. The book was leaning more toward the out of date side, but there were parts of it that are timeless and meaningful in 2019.                The first chunk of info I found to be interesting was the chapter on how to perfect your posts. In today's technological world, it can be hard to get your marketing or branding goals to come across well if they are not bold, organized, brief, or even multilingual. I have found myself better enjoying the advertisements that are eye-catching or have the ability to get the point across in a short amount of time. In the social media industry, you also want to connect wit...

This past weekend was parents and siblings’ weekend. Many college campuses have a weekend like this, so the family can experience how college is going for their student. Families can visit whenever, but there is a set-aside weekend with planned events.  Andrea, my twin, is my only sibling. She also attends Ohio Northern University. Every weekend with her is siblings’ weekend! Our parents came to Ada for the weekend, and they brought family friends with them! Kris and Andy are like our second parents and McKinley (age 13) and Haley (age 8) we consider sisters as well! It was nice to show them around Ohio Northern and for them to meet all of our friends! We went to Padrones for dinner, went to the fearless shenanigans show and took McKinley and Haley to Aladdin on the Tundra. Kris, Andy, and our parents stayed at the Inn at Northern, and the girls stayed in our dorm with us! The next morning, we went to breakfast at McIntosh. It was fun to watch McKinley and Haley figure out how th...

There are many ways to decorate a dorm room! Only in recent years has it been a trend to have a theme and decoration board all for a dorm room. When my sister and I chose the same college and knew we were roommates one of the things high on our list was to plan the dorm room. Our parents thought we were crazy. They told us when it came to their college experience, they didn’t talk with their roommate, they brought their own stuff and were all set. For me, the idea of a dorm room theme came to be what felt most like home. The little feeling of home in a new place for me was vital.            So the brainstorming began! We knew the wood in our dorm room was light wood. ( Yes, it was an important fact when it came to the planning). Andrea was very admitted on not too bright colors for fear it would be distracting to live amongst. I didn’t want really anything the color blue although it is my favorite color I didn’t want it to look l...

When many people ask me what my favorite season is, I usually say all of them! I enjoy each season for their different characteristics. Summer is a nice break from school, warm sun, and swimming. Winter is a favorite for many reasons, such as snow, my birthday, and Christmas! Spring is for all the flowers that grow, sunshine, and awakening from the winter cold. Fall has always held a special place in my heart. For me, it symbolizes many things. Football is a Hoffman Family go-to sport so watching both colleges, high school and NFL, football on more times than not. Another reason why fall is my favorite is the foods that come with the cooler weather. There has been a family recipe for chili that has been passed decade to decade, and it soothes the soul on a beautiful breezy day! Other foods that I enjoy in the fall are buffalo chicken dip, jalapeno poppers, and candy corn. For me, the temperature range that is my favorite is between 50  and 60 degrees! A gentle breeze even makes i...

For my podcast, I really wanted to highlight the college student and how social media is affected.  ] I believe your social media reflects very much of yourself and your character. I brought a few of my friends by the dorm room last week to talk about an article called Is Your Social Media Hurting Your College Acceptance Chances? After reading the article, I found this statistic to be very highlighting stating, “In a recent  study , the director of the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth found that “21% of colleges used social-networking sites for recruiting prospects and gathering information about applicants.” Furthermore, another study that included 500 top colleges found that 38% of admissions counselors have looked at applicant’s social networking sites and said that “what they saw ‘negatively affected’ their views of the applicant.”  While preparing for the podcast and re-reading this specific section, the questions ...

Many say that you do not have the opportunity to meet life long friends right away in college. I do not believe that to be very accurate, I have met great friends, and their names are Kate and Shay! I initially met them over the freshman Facebook page of Ohio Northern, and we mutually followed each other on other social media platforms. Once we got on campus, we hit it off and became friends almost immediately. I formally introduced them to each other and introduced them to my twin sister, and we have been an unstoppable group ever since. Our favorite activities so far included: Movie nights, attempting to eat meals together as all of our schedules are different and going to many events and activities on campus! We all have the same wild personality but also know when it is time to work and get business done. Kate is a Musical Theater and History Education double major with the hopes of performing for a while than settling down and beginning her teaching career! Shay is a Music Educa...

I have a disease called Cystic Fibrosis or (CF). Cystic Fibrosis is a life-limiting disease that affects the lungs and digestive system.  Thick, sticky mucus builds up in my lungs, pancreas, and other vital organs of my body. On the outside, I look like an average college student, but behind the scenes, there are many things I have to do to maintain my health.  I do daily treatments consisting of inhaled medications and airway clearance, as well as take a variety of medications and supplements in order to improve the absorption of calories and vital nutrients --all of which are done just when I am healthy! The life expectancy of CF is in the mid to late forty’s.  I do many activities, and I do not let this limit my capabilities or life goals. I plan to have a very successful career, have a family, and live my life to the fullest. Many of you may be reading this and wondering why I am sharing this with a blog. This blog is all about my professional and personal life. Cf i...

I have had the opportunity to be in a position to help my community and school with socializing events! Growing up within the surroundings of many different types of event planners, I have learned the Do’s and Don’ts when it comes to planning and executing a successful event. Make sure the invites are sent out at least a month in advance and make sure the forks are on the right side of the plates are just a few average reminders. Older generations may not think about the social or social media side of events, but this can launch the event and make it even better. There are many things on the social media front that I know and have learned a lot about. For instance, make sure that your grammar is correct and remember you are posting on behalf of the company or group. I had the opportunity to have an internship with the West Ohio Annual Conference in their communications department and got to witness how social media is run and controlled through an organization. Part of the experi...

After my first week of being a Polar Bear, I know I’m in the right place! I am enjoying my class load this semester as it is about many things public relations and social media! The advantage of smaller class sizes and one - on - one attention helps me to grow as a professional but also as a person. While being here for a week, I have signed up and plan to get involved with many organizations on campus. Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA)   is one of them.  “In 1968, the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) founded PRSSA to cultivate relationships between students and public relations professionals. PRSSA aims to foster understanding of current public relations theories and practices, encourage the highest ideals and principles, instill a professional attitude, and encourage PRSA Associate Membership and eventual Accreditation in Public Relations.”  To me, the history of PRSSA is what sold me on joining the group and becoming a member. I am ver...

Being physically active growing up was not a problem for me. The sports I was involved in ranged from soccer, cross country, track, and softball. I did many of those sports in the same season. I have also have had a pretty successful running career! I am pleased to say I have run 4 ½ marathons! Many teens my age-let alone many adults-cannot imagine training for a half-marathon.  My twin sister and I were intrigued and inspired by our aunt, who previously had completed two races herself.  We then decided to run, alongside her, in our first half-marathon, the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus Marathon in the fall of our freshman year of high school. We ran six days a week and increased our mileage and pace as we progressed. There were many bumps in the road (literally and figuratively) and days where we didn’t want to run and doubted our abilities.  On October 19, 2014, we accomplished our biggest goal in life at that time--completing a half-marathon, finishing in a...

My personal use of social media started in March 2019. Growing up in a social media-heavy era, it might be surprising to some that I only started to create accounts in March. It was both my choice and reliable advice from my parents. My dad is a United Methodist minister, and my mom is a middle school teacher. Throughout their lives, whether they were on hiring committees or saw the effect of social media in negative ways, they always told me and my sister it was our internet image and what is posted will be found forever. I knew I wanted to wait until I needed a social media footprint to create my accounts. I decided March was a perfect time as I could announce where I will be attending college and join the freshman ONU Facebook page. Currently, I have Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, and Pinterest. I am very cautious of what I post, who is viewing it, and what all of my profiles will look like to peers, professors, and future employers. I have the same profile picture and si...