Words of Windham

Did you hear? I got a job.

aprilwindham — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:43:29 +0000

It is January. January 2012. I have no idea where August through December went, but they are apparently gone and we are here. In 2012. Welcome everyone. I have a lot of catching up to do, obviously since I have skipped, oh I don’t know, 6 months now with no posts, few updates on any social media outlets, and well it’s because I forgot. “How do you forget about your social media sites?” you ask. Easy…when you are running the social media sites for a company. Yes, I am doing that.

I got a job in late September doing Public Relations for a company called Intergraph in Huntsville, Ala. Part of my new position is basically controlling the social media outlets for my division of the company. This includes a blog, a facebook, a twitter, 7 linkedin groups, and a few other PR things that come up: press releases, articles for other people, marketing emails, etc.

Not only did I get a new job, but I have moved into a new apartment and its great to have my own little space, even if it is little.

I am also volunteering with the Alabama Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society to get ready for the North Alabama Bike Ride on June 9, 2012. The National MS Society has put together a campaign called “We Keep Moving”. It is so important for everyone suffering from MS to do everything they can to keep moving. Check out the videos here. So friends, family, and readers, please join me in Joining the Movement!

Here is a We Keep Moving video about a 19 year old girl who has been living with MS since she was 15. Being in your 20s, 30s, 40s, could you imagine suffering since HIGH SCHOOL? Please share it with your friends, family and even strangers. Post it on your facebook, twitter, blog, google+. Sign up for Walk MS or Bike MS, or just donate to the cause. If you were living with MS, wouldn’t you want someone to do that for you?

Newspaper flowers

aprilwindham — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 21:19:06 +0000

This afternoon while going through some of my newspaper work samples, I discovered that I had an overwhelming amount of extra newspaper lying around. So, I decided to find a way to use some of it instead of just throwing it out. So here is what I made:(Sorry for the low-quality photos, I took these with my iphone.)

Dear Ollie

aprilwindham — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 17:02:55 +0000

Yesterday was sweet Ollie’s first birthday. Unfortunately we couldn’t have her party yesterday because she is still in Seattle, but we will be celebrating in about two weeks when Amanda and Ollie make their way here in the process of moving to Starkville. So, I will post those adorable pictures of her birthday party after the party. In the meantime, here are some amazing photos (photo credit to my awesome father, Danny Windham) from Ollie’s first trip to the beach.

Ollie's adorable way of asking to be picked up

Ollie and I getting in the water.....she doesn't look too thrilled

My parents: my support group: my entertainment

Ollie and GiGi

Ollie and G — I think she has stolen his heart.

My beautiful family at the beach

Still hunting

aprilwindham — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 00:02:57 +0000

Well, I haven’t exactly updated much since graduation — and by much, I mean not at all. But it wasn’t for lack of interest in Words of Windham or lack of time, it was for lack of things to say. After graduation I took a vacation to Orange Beach, Ala. to spend a few days relaxing before returning to the job hunt and well, haven’t left yet. I grabbed a job at Live Bait, a local restaurant, as a waitress for the summer rush and just quit last week, resulting in my job hunt to resume. I have broadened my search to include the entire “southeast” and the longer I sit on the balcony at this condo and stare at the ocean, the more I want to move to the East coast — Charleston, Hilton Head, Savannah, and non coastal cities: Charlotte, Raleigh, maybe Chicago — obviously I am fairly open to a new location and a lot of change. The only major issue is that it’s semi hard to find a job in a city in which you don’t live and don’t visit often. Also, it has been a bit of a challenge since I don’t know anyone in any of those cities.

On a different note: during my time away, I decided to change my blog design (if you haven’t noticed). I am not exactly all the way sold on it or finished personalizing it, so stay tuned to the changes that will most likely occur in the next few weeks since, hey, I have nothing else to do. Also while I am on the job search, I am finally starting to design my website for www.aprilwindham.com (which I purchased but haven’t exactly activated yet). I’m still working on the perfect design, but I will say that as soon as I get it done, I am going to attempt to move this blog to that host (hopefully smoothly without losing any content).But, I will try to continue to update this site until that site is ready to be launched.

I really don’t have much more to update, but hopefully I will have lots to say when I find that perfect job in that perfect city that I am going to get soon — I hope. I’ll keep you updated…well unless nothing interesting happens.

Until next time,

This is real life

aprilwindham — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 01:50:42 +0000

Today, I presented the Public Relations campaign I have been working on for the last four months to my client. My group and I have worked our butts off all semester to create this 90 page plan book, a logo, a brochure, a flier, a t-shirt design, an advertising concept and an event plan. We passed along all of our hard work and I must say, we did a dang good job of it. That was one stress reliever I can wipe off my shoulders. I also have a 90 page PR campaign to show future employers my super hard, excellent work. Go me.

Also today, I completed (with the exception of a few minor adjustments) the final client website I had to make for my digital communications class. Please check it out HERE. Please ignore the few errors that are still there, I should have those fixed by tomorrow afternoon. It is a website for my father’s future photography business.

A friend asked me today about what a resume should look like. Yes, I was a little surprised/frightened that this friend had made it ALL the way up to 4 days before graduation and wasn’t sure what a resume should look it, but I told her and helped her out and I hope my expertise will help her get a job soon. So, I started thinking that she might not be the only one lacking the knowledge of how to create a good resume. So here are a few tips I have picked up along the way.

1. Your name should be the largest thing on the page. You want people to remember your name and making it stand out is a must. Now, that doesn’t mean you need to make it 60 point and everything else 12 point font. Make it a few sizes bigger than everything else and that will make it jump out enough.

2. Contact information. Your contact information needs to be right under your name. The potential employer needs to know how to get in touch with you without having to look very hard. Just think, if he/ she picks up your resume and wants to schedule an interview with you but can’t find your phone number right away, they might decide it isn’t worth the trouble.

3. Font and appearance. I for one am a journalist (you know this) and fonts are a big deal to me. When applying for a journalism job, quit trying to make it look fancy. Use a normal serif font that is easy to read. Make sure it is easy to read and a large enough font that employers (who might have forgotten their reading glasses) can read. Also, watermarks, colored paper, colored text, etc. is difficult to read when in a hurry. If an employee gets hundreds of resumes for one position, they will be going through them quickly and you don’t want your resume trashed just because you were trying to make it “look pretty.” Appearance is everything.

4. Job experience. Your work experience in the field of choice (mine being journalism) is the most important thing on your resume. I have heard conflicting opinions from multiple sources about what should be the first thing on your resume under your name/contact info between experience and education. I decided on experience. Let me tell you why: employers don’t care where you received your degree or what your grade point average was or when you graduated, they want to know WHY you are qualified for that particular job and that is in your experience. Make sure your future employer knows you are what they are looking for.

5. References should ALWAYS be on your resume. No matter what. No one wants to go through the trouble of contacting you to ask for references and then having to contact the references when they could easily have looked at your resume and had them off hand. Seriously. I have heard multiple times that “references available upon request” is the best way to go, but think about: do you really want to make someone go an extra step when you are asking them for a job? I didn’t think so.

6. You resume should only be one page. Now, the more experience you get might push your resume to two pages, but it is going to depend on the employer whether or not they are OK with that. Right now, getting your first job means you don’t have a whole lot experience and you should be able to fit everything on one page. If you can’t, delete something.

7. High school information is useless to employers. They don’t care if you were on your high school yearbook staff or worked at McDonald’s all through high school, I promise. Take off everything you have from high school: activities, honors, education. everything.

8. Education: put your education under your experience. While employers could care less about your GPA or when you graduated, they do want to know that you did earn a degree. So make sure it is visible.

9. Skills, activities and honors need to be listed on your resume, at least at first. Put your skills first. If you have experience when AP style or computer programs like InDesign or Photoshop, make sure that is one of the first things listed. While employers care that you were involved on campus and in the community, they want to know what you can do that other applicants can’t.

10. When it comes to objectives, I think they are somewhat pointless. If you are submitting your resume it is obvious you are asking for a job, so what are you going to put in the objective spot that is going to say more than “I am applying for this job at your company because..” You want a job and you want to get paid. We know that.

Hope this helps, it sure helped me. Any questions?

UPDATE: I still do not have an official location of where I will be moving at the end of the month. Keep waiting, because that’s what I am doing.

AW.

One week from right this second

aprilwindham — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 13:39:39 +0000

I get to see my sweet baby Ollie a week from today. And my sister. And my mom and dad. And my grandma. And my Aunt Betty and Uncle Terry. And my grandpa. And Jean. And Aunt Sherrie. Oh right, because a week from this exact moment, I will be preparing to walk across the stage at GRADUATION.

That is all.

Poem from creative writing, yo.

aprilwindham — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 23:08:15 +0000

I took a creative writing class this semester for an English elective. We had to write an “I am” poem. So here is mine.

Whiff of Fresh Air
April Windham

I am waves of the ocean on a windy
day in mid-March.
I am the orange sunset over a calm
summers’ day pond.
I am the smell of Downy April fresh laundry
right out of the dryer.
I am Ma Bib’ handmade quilt
rubbing against my legs at night.
I am the cherry Gummy Bears in a sea
of grape Jolly Ranchers.
I am the cool side of a pillow
on a hot August night.
I am the rain on the hot concrete
during a long May shower.
I am water with lemon when craving
sweet tea — a refreshing surprise.
I am fresh baked Baby Ruth cookies
during a Tuesday midnight snack.
I am a newspaper right off the press
on an early Sunday morning.
I am waking to the peaceful sound of birds chirping
at six a.m. outside my two-story window.
You are the dream I awake from
after a sleeping night on the mountain.

Holy moly, me oh my

aprilwindham — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 03:00:57 +0000

Blogs. Blogs seem to be the one thing that gets cut from my busy schedule when I get too busy. Which is obvious because I haven’t updated Words of Windham in more than a month. Go me. So, here is an update:

I only have 4 days of classes left.
I have two presentations the week after Easter.
I graduate from MSU in 13 days….yes 13 days.
I have one final portfolio, one final planbook/presentation, and one website/presentation until I am officially finished with my college career.
I have senioritis and have only started on one of those assignments.
Instead of working on these assignments this week, I went to the beach.

Besides being overwhelmed with school work, I have been on the job hunt. I originally went on and on about how I was going to end up in Nashville, Tenn. and how I was going to move even if I didn’t have a job…blah blah blah. Unfortunately, I have yet to find a job in Nashville…or even interview for any. While I have not lost hope, I have broadened my search to a few other places.

I have been doing everything I can to keep myself from just quitting school these last few weeks. I am pretty sure I can make a complete zero on most of my assignments from here on out and still pass with flying colors, so that has been difficult to continue to keep a strong work ethic.

I have also been apartment shopping for multiple locations that seem appealing in my “spare” time. Speaking of spare time, I passed the torch almost two weeks ago to the new editor in chief of The Reflector, Hannah Rogers. While I didn’t spend every second there for the last two weeks, I have somehow still been overwhelmed with the amount of work I have been doing outside of The Reflector…I actually don’t know how I did it now. I feel like I have no time as it is, weird how that works. Although, I did get to watch Modern Family last week for the first time in about 3 years…awesome. You can read my farewell article HERE.

The most exciting thing about this graduation thing is watching my “to-do” list continue to shrink. It started with about an entire page of things and as days go on, I am down to 5 things on my to-do list…all to be done in the next 3 days, so it will soon be gone and I have NO idea what to do without a to-do list.

Speaking of that to-do list, I am going to get back to it, just wanted to do a short update on life. I will be back in the next few days with the big news of where I will be moving! Get excited. Until next time.

Halfway gone

aprilwindham — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 06:11:28 +0000

Sometimes I wish my full-time job was to be a writer. I have all of this fantastic ideas and by the time I actually get a few minutes to sit down and I write them, I am either too tired to write them or don’t remember what I was thinking. When I first started college, my goal was to start a novel my first year and have it in the publishing process by the time I graduated. That plan was going great until one night at the end of my freshman year when I had about 5 chapters done, I started reading through what I had been calling my masterpiece and decided that it was awful. It read like a college freshman had written it. And at the time, I was discouraged and instead of getting a professional to read over it and give me suggestions, I deleted it. All of it. From that moment on, I wrote about 15 pages every few days and every few days I would delete it. I couldn’t come up with anything good. Absolutely nothing. And now, as it is too late for my plan to be working out, I am trying to find a job, but unfortunately, none of the jobs I qualify for are “full time fiction writers who dont have anything published.” Rats. Oh well. I still have the beginning of a great novel. Eight pages worth of a beginning. I had about 37 earlier today…but I deleted it. I really should learn how to just start a new word document, but why start that now? This beginning though, this one is something special. And that short story I wrote for class, yeah, that thing is going places. You wait and see.

So next week is spring break and I haven’t written much the past few weeks because I haven’t had much to say other than I need a job, school is kicking my butt and oh, did I mention, I need a job?

Not that I really have anything to say at the moment, but I will send you somewhere else: MY WEBSITE, YO. I made this handy dandy site for my digital communication class and its due tomorrow so I am hoping its done. check it. I am going to write some more of my new awesome novel.

Until next time,

AW.

Don’t take it for granted

aprilwindham — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 04:36:43 +0000

Time. Time is one of those things that I don’t think about much. I don’t count the amount of hours it takes me to do my laundry or worry about the three hours it takes to get home on the weekends or even time the amount of sleep I get a night. But, I also don’t count the amount of time I get to spend with someone before I lose them.

Graduation is approaching and I have less than 70 days until I move away to who knows where and only catch up with my friends when I get a chance and am not working my butt off in my entry level job. I got a small taste of what it’s going to be like when some of my senior friends graduated last year and moved away and I only get to text them randomly when I’m not in class and they aren’t slaving away for their bosses.

But, one year ago tomorrow, I will have lost a good friend…for good. I can’t call him when I think about him and I can’t text him when I had a bad day. He was one of the few people in my life that I could call at any second of the day and I knew he would answer. And he would be able to say some off the wall thing that would make me laugh even if I had the worst day of my life. I have lost friends before, but no one that I was super close to and saw on a daily basis. But Adam, Adam I saw everyday.(To visit my original post after Adam’s death, click HERE.) Even days that we didn’t have to work, we would go up to the office just to joke around and hang out.

The Thursday before Adam died, we were working late and everyone was super hungry. I wasn’t really busy, so Adam and I volunteered to go to Abner’s (the local chicken joint) and pick up everyone some dinner. Earlier that day, Adam had gotten a cupcake from the Fountain Bakery that had a huge pink plastic ring on it because it was close to Valentines Day. He put the ring on and wore it all the way to Abner’s, then he flaunted the ring in the girl’s face at the window until she finally complimented him on his fashionable ring and we got a big kick out of if for the rest of night.

Also, the next day, I was heading home for the weekend and Adam and I were texting most of the way. He was always a good person to talk to on a long drive because he always found a way to entertain you. He sent me a photo of our friend Bob in some short jean shorts and a few funny comments to brighten my day. He had a sense of humor to him that no one can compare to. He makes me laugh every single day because I think of something ridiculous he did and laugh all the time.

I have gotten to where I tell everyone how much they mean to me. Because I never had the chance to tell Adam how much he meant to me. He knew we were good friends. He knew we were more than co-workers. But I never got to tell him that I considered him one of my best friends. I never imagined I would wake up one morning and not be able to see him again, but it happened. I don’t really have a moral to this story, other than make sure your friends know that they mean a lot to you, because you might never get to tell them.

So to Adam, I want you to know that you were one of my best friends and I will never forget you. I will never forget your laugh and your smile. I will never forget the post it notes you left on my desk. I will never forget the random text messages calling me inappropriate names. I will never forget the days that we danced around the office and sang at the top of our lungs. I will never forget the day you brought me a cup of coffee because you knew I had a bad day. I will never forget the day you went to the Union in a straight jacket to see how people looked at you funny. I will never forget the day you put on Julia’s scarf and read Cosmo, posing like a woman. I will never forget the day you sat outside the Reflector office and made up stories about the people walking by with me. I hope you know how much you meant to me; I will never forget you.

Visit Aubra Whitten’s posts about Adam HERE and HERE. If you have a funny story or memory about Adam, feel free to post it as a comment. We would all love to hear wonderful stories on a sad day. For those of us that knew Adam, we know how much he meant to the world, so telling the rest of the world of memories of Adam, will show the world how much they were missing out.