I am back in Boca for graduation this weekend. Oh how I miss FL weather! I forgot how ideal the Lynn lifestyle is! Yesterday I soaked up some sun,worked out in Lynn’s fitness center in the Lynn residence hall and then went to Mizner Park.Then made a midnight spontaneous beach trip and built a sandcastle. Oh the joys of being on the Florida coast. What a location to go to college- you just can’t beat it!

A bit of spontaniety + a truly wonderfully amazing best friend + cheap tickets dot com = Back in Boca!

Right now, 10 AM on Monday morning, I, Ashlea Evans, Master of Science in Communication graduate, sit in the comfortable little office in the Office of Marketing and Communication on the beautiful Lynn University campus. Oh, how I have missed this place! I do feel truly at home.

Well, clearly this was not a planned trip, and I do fly back to DC first thing tomorrow morning, but being back makes me realize how many things I miss.

1. The weather!!! (yes, I am nicely bronzed after a day on Delray Beach)

2. Summer clothes

3. My Lynn Family! It is so great to walk around campus and see people you know. I have had atleast 50 hugs today (and I do expect more)

4. Support - That is one thing the Lynn Family gives you: Tons of support, people who believe in you and lifelong friends

5. In D.C. I walk the entire city and no one even sees me, at Lynn I walk to Christines and back and have to stop several times for an update

6. Did I mention how beautiful this campus is? One takes things for granted when you see them everyday, but arriving on campus this morning, all the flowers in bloom, the fountain fresh and sparkling in the sunlight, everyone bustling to class from the caf, security guards smiling and waving as you enter… these are these mundain things one takes for granted.

I am not going to lie, I have seriously considered not jumping on that plane tomorrow, but I have to. I have to stand on my own two feet and go off in to the big wide world and make my little Lynn family proud. I miss Lynn so much! I think it’s the wonderful faculty and staff that make Lynn so special. You know, my professors still keep in touch, regularly ask about my job search and how I am keeping. I am absolutely certain that I would not get that treatment anywhere else! I think another great thing is that one gets support from Alums too, In D.C. Nelson Lewis and I get together every few days. It’s nice to have someone else that went to Lynn so close by.

I have seriously considered enrolling again! I wouldn’t mind doing the whole thing over. mmm… I may just go and check out the application process all over again I could do with an MBA.

Well, I am off to Christine’s for some tea… it’s just too convenient having a coffee shop on campus (and the fact that I don’t have to bundle up to walk over there!).

So, I am finally in the DC area. I’m in a little town in the country called Oxford, Maryland. It is so beautiful, peaceful, and scenic here. It is such a change from college life… I don’t know what to do! I’ve bought a nice new fiction novel to get lost in… it’s the first time in months I have had a chance to pick up a good non-educating book!

Well, the job search continues! As it has been the holiday season I haven’t had much response. I am getting rather anxious, and want to get settled into an apartment - which I can only do once I have a job. For the mean time I am staying with family friends, who have kindly taken me under their wing.

Well, I definitely funded the end of year bonuses at USPS with all the resumes I sent out, as well as the resume paper company’s increases, and the business card business! December has always been the month of giving, and boy did I give! My end of year surprise was my laptop crashing!!! But thanks to my apple care plan, and their very efficient customer service, I will be receiving a brand new laptop in just a few days! And then I will be able to post some photos of my travels! So, stay tuned!

So, I just got back from a week in D.C. It was my first step to my career. I had two interviews, made some wonderful contacts, and attempted to prepare myself for the cold!

Whilst in D.C. I met up with Lynn alum, Nelson Lewis. Nelson works on Greta Live Wire at Fox.  He achieved the Mary Henke Excellence in Communication Award from Lynn, the same award I won last year. Nelson has really done extremely well, and I have every faith he is going to go on to achieve many great things.

We met up for lunch and a “4 questions for” interview by the Capitol. The interview came out wonderfully (so keep checking the website for its launch). Nelson gave me a tour of the very impressive Fox newsroom. And, I of course left him with one of our Lynn Bobbleheads: Lynn Knight (who is not only well-traveled, but an avid enthusiast of surfing, the arts, and politics). You can request to be Lynn Knights friend on facebook, and if you have any great photo ideas, send him a message and he may visit you.

One of the last big projects I completed was The day in the life of a Lynn student-athlete. Kyle Conrad, a sophomore on the Lynn soccer team was my victim. Carolina, our student photographer, and myself followed Kyle around for a full day, documenting his every move. He was a wonderful subject, and his personality really shows in the photographs. I had always wondered what went on in the day of a student-athlete, so it was an opportunity for me to learn more about campus life too.

The video can also be found on our Lynn Facebook Page… where you can find many many more video projects and photo albums too.

The ground has been broken, and construction has begun! The World Performing Arts Center is about to become a reality, and a very beautiful one at that. I attended the groundbreaking ceremony last week. It was great… in fact I put together an audio slideshow, which is now also on the Lynn website.

The last few weeks have shot by! I have been so preoccupied with work and school and my thesis! Finally it is the Thanksgiving break! A break for me to get some work done! Right now I am sitting on a beach chair in the middle of my stark bare living room! Moving is not an easy task… especially when you are someone, such as me, who does things extremely prematurely… such as selling all your furniture a month or two before you plan on moving! So, I have to deal with the consequences… such as no TV, no couch, no nothing (except a bed… the sole item of furniture remaining in my apartment!). Learn from my mistake! It’s not worth it, honestly!

Anyhow, here I sit on a beach chair, lent to me by my best friend who clearly pities my current living situation! I am working on the last two webisodes of my thesis, trying to get them complete before the break… highly unlikely! Anyway, stay tuned to lynn.edu… there should be a new slideshow I just completed appearing on the main page. It was an audio slideshow of the Wold Performing Arts Center Groundbreaking from last week. It was a tremendous event and well worth a few minutes of your time to catch the slideshow!

Remember that top secret project I was telling you about a few weeks back? The one I had been working on for the State of the University Address? Well, here it is!

The Lynn University commercial blooper reel launched on our Facebook page last week. There has been a fantastic response, and everyone loves seeing the behind the scenes, the out takes, and the many bloopers!

So, go to our Lynn University Facebook Page and check out the Blooper Reel! There are some serious explosions!

For the past week I have been working on a project for the State of the University Address in October. After completing the initial project last week, we evaluated it, and thought perhaps we should try a think or two different this year. So, I set out to grasp innovation (a word that truly defines Lynn University).

After Jason, Laura, and I (the Media Team) put our thinking caps on and bounced a few ideas around the room, we came up with something quite novel. However, I obviously cannot spill the beans just yet as to what this fantastic idea was… however, as I sit in the Marketing and Communication Office right now, two lap tops in front of me, one for editing, the other for blogging, I am putting the final touches on what may be a very exciting start to a series of videos.

I will give you one hint, but you’ll have to wait till after October first to see the final production.

Photographer: Sophomore communication student, Mark Falcone.