Erin

catching up! where has the summer gone?!

popee — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 13:07:00 GMT

Well, I know it's been a little while since my last blog, but I've finally been able to sit down for more than 30 minutes and get some stuff done! A quick recap before I go into detail...

-busy at Children's
-busy databasing
-summer birthdays
-moving out
-trouble with tuition...again
-surprise parties at work
-LAS VEGAS/21!

Okay...so busy at Children's...yea, that's a given. But there's been some really good things going on! I've gotten SO much more experience than I thought I would. It's been amazing and I've never been happier at work. I began to realize that whenever I came home from work at my other jobs, I've always been exhausted and cranky. I think that's because I hadn't found my niche. Now, I'm finding myself coming home with new stories and excited for more. The 40-hour work week was a little hard to get used to, but after 2 weeks, I found that I love that schedule! A couple things that were really cool.

1st- I completed my first article in Columbus Parent. Catch the August, September and October issues of Columbus Parent magazine for the Pediatric HealthSource article that I wrote.
2nd- I completed an entire story by myself. Sounds pretty easy, but let me tell you! it wasn't as easy as it sounds. First, we received this email from someone at the hospital about gaining media attention from a project they were doing. So, I pitched the story to a media outlet hoping that they would like to do a story on it. A couple days went by, so I figured oh-well that happens all the time, but then one day right when I got into work, the reporter called...she wanted to get the story in that day! So, I start making tons of phone calls to get everyone's schedules for that day and luckily, after 2-hours of calling, it finally worked out. So the reporter comes, I take her to go interview the nurse, then the reporter leaves to go talk to the Columbus Police Department (the other interview I was trying to line up) and we're all set. So, the 5 o'clock news comes on, and they do this 2-minute story on what I pitched! That was awesome because normally those kinds of stories don't get that much air-time, so I was thrilled! It was frustrating and rewarding at the same time, but it worked out so well at the end.

So, I am specifically the Media Relations intern at the hospital, and I come to find out that they're actually hiring a full-time Media Relations Specialist. First off, I'm EXTREMELY bummed because that is exactly what I want to do. Second off, my supervisors keep telling me that if I would've graduated, I would've had the position. So, by that point, I feel honored that they would think of me for that, but then again, it's like dangling something you can't have right in front of you saying HAHA. I eventually got over it and had to tell myself that at least they think that highly of me, I don't think I'll have a problem finding another job. I now have the title, "Super-Intern"...gotta love it. I know my co-workers at Sunny are probably reading this so, yes, I can share the title between both companies :) This internship is slowly winding down, and I hate the fact that I'm almost done. I work with great people and love the job so it's going to be hard to say goodbye.

Databasing...still doing that for Sunny, so that's taking up most of my time at night when I get home from Children's. Not the greatest job, but hey, at least I get paid to do it.

Summer birthdays...well, probably like most of you, A LOT of my family/friends have summer birthdays...including myself, but I'll wait for that one! It was my little brother's birthday in June...17 years old. That's not weird. Then, it was my niece's 2nd birthday, so Chris and I went over there for her party, then it was my roommates and other friends 21st birthdays. We went out that night, so I'll watch out for pictures towards the end of the blog. Then it was my step-dads 49th birthday :) Haha, almost there Greg!! So, it's been a busy summer with work and birthdays, but still always fun.

We've been in the new apartment for almost 2 months now, and I still love it! It's quiet and a safe neighborhood, two things that we were all looking for. I actually got to enjoy the pool for the first time yesterday, despite the overcast skies. I can't even begin to tell you how relaxing that was to just sit back and relax and not worry about anything else. This is the first weekend I have had completely off, and it's reaaally strange for me! This never happens because I like staying busy. but it's the weekend before I leave for Vegas and my birthday, so I thought I'd give myself a break!

Trouble with tuition...a little bit about school here. A long story short; thought we had the FASFA all filled out in April, evidently there was something wrong and it didn't go through. So, had to re-do that, and then wait for my scholarship letter. Got it back, said I had more than enough for school this year. That didn't end up working on either, I guess I still owed some and by this time, it was the date where everything had to be figured out. So, go online, apply for a loan. That goes wrong too. Something to remember...Chase customer-service is TERRIBLE. They were extremely rude and not patient with me at all. So, I think everything worked out after a week and a half of doing stuff with them and school, so we'll see. Always fun right?

Now, to the fun stuff! We had two surprise parties at work! One for my manager; it was her 30th anniversary...yes 30th, how crazy! and she is going to be a grandma soon! and the second was for my supervisor; she's getting married next week so we threw her a wedding shower. The first one was so much fun because she had NO idea. We invited her whole family, so it was great. The second one, I had a bigger role in. My other supervisor and I were in charge of the planning, so it was a lot of work! One night, instead of paying $450 for catering, we made fruit skewers ourselves. Oh man was that a crazy job! But it was still really cool because I got to hang out with my supervisor away from work. Both the parties were a huge success...I'm definitely going to miss them!

SO! My birthday is on Tuesday...and I'm pretty sure I mentioned this in my previous blogs, but I'm heading to Vegas! I am SO excited! I leave tomorrow with my mom, step-dad and my twin brother! What a great way to spend your 21st birthday! I'm not sure what they have planned, all I know is that we have to be at the airport at 7am tomorrow morning...I am totally sleeping on the way out there! Unfortunately, you wont' be able to check out pictures from my trip because this is my last blog. You'll have Chris back though! It's been so much fun being able to share my experiences with prospective students (and co-workers aparantly!) so I want to thank Krista for giving me this opportunity! BTW! Congrats if I don't see you! I can't wait to see your baby boy/girl?!

I hope everyone was at least a little entertained by this blog. I know it was fun for me to write! So, I'll leave you with some random pictures! Hope you guys have a great rest of the summer! Be safe and have fun!

all moved in...well sort-of!

popee — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 00:34:00 GMT

Well move-in weekend was a little crazy. From rain and dirty trucks to broken elevators and gash in my arm, I'm all done! I woke up and saw clouds so I called my friend over right away to get the beds over ASAP before the rain starts...and fortunatly, it worked! Only a few sprinkles on the 15 minute drive over, so I can't complain! However, when we got here...the elevator was broken so we had to walk up 2 flights of stairs to get everything in. I definitely got a good workout this weekend! So now that I'm all moved-in, Meg and Jenna followed shortly! Meg moved most of her stuff on Sunday then Jenna moved her stuff on Tuesday when she got back from Colorado.

I am SO happy that moving is done. I'm excited that I have 14 months until I have to do it again...but that would be the time where I don't know where I'm going. I guess we'll have to see where everything takes me!

Speaking of changes...our media team is bringing on a media relations specialist. BOO. If only I had graduated this year, I would be golden; however, my supervisor gave me a sigh of relief letting me know that they would be looking into hiring a visability specialist next year. So we'll see what happens! I still LOVE my job, but when I get home from work, I'm tired. An 8 hour work day gets to you when you start at 8am and have to wait in 25 minutes worth of traffic getting home (I'm still getting used to the new drive home...don't like it so far.) I'm finding new ways of coming home everyday!

Other than moving in, I got to see Chris again. His game was cancelled on Friday night due to the excessive rain that we had towards the end of last week! The front page of the Dispatch, I think it was Thursday or Friday morning, was insane. I man treading through what seemed like 2-3 feet of water through German Village. Crazy, I didn't think that Central Ohio was able to flood. Luckily, it's cooled down and nice that we don't have to use the AC.

Last night I went to the Settler's opening night and I was wearing jeans and a hoodie and I was still cold! Crazy! However I'm not complaining! I could live with this weather forever! Unfortunatly, they lost, but Chris is pitching on Saturday and I'm looking forward to seeing him play then! I think his parents are coming down so I'm excited to see them! It's been since Christmas time.

Work has been busy as always, and I actually was able to stand in on a surgery on a baby boy that was barely 2 days old. His condition is called Hypo-Plastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS). It's where the left part of the heart does not work, so blue blood (I think) is not pushed into the right side of the heart (I tried to comprehend what the cardiologist was talking about during the interview...trying to sound smart here, so gimme a break!) But it was really cool! Can't say I've done that before!

We had another intern start this week, so now all of the interns are in place! The work comes and goes, especially with the media part, and it definitely has improved my organization skills...which are already pretty good! I've realized something while I've been there though. Since I started in PR, I've always thought I wanted to go into an agency. I'm all about learning new things and getting my hands in a lot of different projects, and that is something that I have gotten to take part in at Children's. I'm working on several news releases, media escorts, VNR's, pretty much a little of everything! So, I'm starting to get a whole new outlook on the world of PR. I've been lucky enough to see all different aspects of PR, agency, marketing and now non-profit, and I'm learning that I enjoy being at a hospital. I'm not only learning more about PR, I'm learning about advancing medical research, different medical conditions and meeting a lot of great kids and families along the way. It's rewarding in a weird way. I'm not making an impact on their life with treating them or taking care of their illness, but I'm making their condition or their story open to the public so people know what kids are going through. I get a tear in my eye everytime I see a video at Children's because there are so many amazing children that have gone through so much and they're always so happy. They're great kids, and I think many people can learn from them.

Although I'm tired when I get home from work, and feet are sore from the heels, I love my internship and I have already learned so much in just under a month of being there. I can't thank PRSSA for giving me the opportunity to attend the OSU PaRtner's Conference to get this opportunity and all the many doors it has opened for me so far!

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer! I'll see you next time :)

OH! By the way...not only will Chris be blogging for ODU next year, as a part of his internship with the LIcking County Settlers, he will be blogging about his experience there as well. You can find it by going to their website www.settlersbaseball.com

Take care!
-Erin

cleaning and working and visa versa

popee — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:16:00 GMT

So I've been a little behind on a lot of stuff lately!

Last week was SO busy at work. I really mean it this time! We had three of our doctors on the Today Show TWICE in ONE week! Which is GREAT for anyone! We had such a big media week and I am so happy I was able to experience that! This past weekend was of course, really hot. I hate global warming...or "climate change" as the political gurus would say. I worked at SuperGames this weekend for around 10 hours in one day of work! We don't have air conditioning back in the warehouse, so it was REALLY hot. I think it got up to around 90 degrees in there. So, I was the event host that day, so it was my job to help the party hosts whenever they needed me and if there were any problems, I was the go-to person. So, with the temperature that high and kids running around for 2 hours straight, I was a little worried. I made sure all our fans were going, put pitchers of water out so they had plenty of water to drink, and reminded them every 10 minutes to get a drink. At the end of the day, everything was fine...except my body! LOL I was so tired after that long of a day in that great of heat.

This past week was a little slower which was nice...at work that is. At home is a little different. I'm moving this weekend, so I've been packing and cleaning like no other. Boxes and newspaper, etc greeeat fun. I hate moving! My mom was SO nice to come over and re-chaulk our shower. So, I'm definitely going to take her out to lunch one day! Other than that, I'm having one of my brothers come over bright and early Saturday morning to help me move the big stuff to the apartment. I love him for his truck :) Plus, he's a great friend! Plus, I'll have Chris and my family helping me out! Chris came home last weekend to come back to Ohio to play summer ball in Granville. It's so nice to have him in town this summer...maybe we'll have a somewhat normal summer like every other couple! Speaking of which, I'm heading out there Friday night to watch their home-opener...weather-depending! This rain needs to hold off for a while! It's supposed to rain Saturday too, so I'm not looking forward to that!

Well, I'm going to get back to packing and cleaning...my life the last couple days. I'll have pictures up for the next post of our new apartment! CANNOT WAIT!

Take care-
Erin

keeping busy at Children's!

popee — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 23:34:00 GMT

Well, I got home from work today and felt like I just left. From running to the hospital for media escorts and getting my 2nd TB shot and having meetings at the office, my day was filled with excitement!

Since I am the media relations intern, I am responsible for escorting media around the hospital as well as handling media inquiries. So today we had a health reporter from Ch. 6 come in to talk with one of the researchers about a recent study. Yesterday we did the same thing with Ch. 10 and tomorrow we'll be back again doing the same thing! It's really great meeting reporters to develop that relationship that I will soon need when I get a real job. I love my internship so far! I've been so busy with different projects and they keep coming. It feels great that my supervisors keep giving me projects to work on because I feel like I'm actually doing something important rather than the typical 'intern' jobs. It's good to know that they can come to me with that kind of stuff because I want them to know I can handle anything.

A part of working at a hospital is getting up-to-date immunizations. So, last week I had my first TB shot and today I had my 2nd. I hate shots. They scare the crap out of me, so of course, I warn the nurse that I'm not good with them, and the first one pretty much laughs in my face. I was really thrown off because this is a children's hospital and even though they're in employee health, they should at least be aware of people not being good with needles. So, a week has gone by and I still have a bruise from the first one, so now I'm just waiting to see the next one pop up. Great, looks like I've been beaten.

Most people would be weary of getting into an 8-5 job, but I love it! I love the fact that I'm working all day doing something that's has some results. Plus, again, I have my nights which is great. Chris thinks I'm crazy because I love my job and hours (he's all about baseball and does not want by ANY MEANS an 8-5 job). Speaking of which...he'll be in Ohio this summer which is great! He's playing in Granville for the Linking County Settlers. His opening night is next Friday so I'm looking forward to that...and him coming back on Sunday!

Other than that, I've been packing and getting ready for another move. We have less than two weeks now, so things are coming off the walls, cleaning a little more, etc. I'll definitely have pictures of the new place up!

I'll be back next week with some more updats:)

Take care-
Erin