Moments to Reflect On

      As part of my last post for this blog, I feel it is a good time to step back and just think for a moment.

My Post-grad journey at Sheridan College started last summer and to say that life has changed.. just might be an understatement. I think that coming to college has made me a better version of myself. For example: I thought that I was good at organization and time management, now I realize I was maybe okay at it, now with six courses per semester and endless assignment, I can proudly say that my skills have been taken to the next level. I sometimes, marvel at how I got through university…. the amount of work I have had to put in, these past seven months, makes my four years of undergrad feel like a vacation.

That being said, it hasn't been all work work work. There have been fun days and through out this journey, I was never alone. I had my professors, my wonderful class of eight students and then some :)

School isn't over just yet! I have got my notice of graduation and the countdown has begun - April 24th is officially my last day at Sheridan. There are a few things I would like to say to future post-grad students:

- For starters, don't be afraid to ask for help on assignments. I will admit there have been time where I look at an assignment and think… W T F….. once I am over the shock, I will do whichever sections I can and the rest, I have gone to my teachers or friends for a little bit of assistance. The catch here is - you have be proactive! Don't ask for help on assignments the night before…. we both know that isn't a good idea.

- Secondly,  CHILL OUT!! I know we have multiple assignments due every day of the week. So? You aren't the first to have this happen and you won't be the last. Stop Stressing and take a break. It is amazing what taking a moment away from your laptop can do for you.


Make the most of your year. It really does go by so fast - I am done in three weeks…. that hasn't fully sunk in.  I know that I will be telling people about my time at Sheridan College for years to come. As cheesy as it may be, these have been the best months - projects and all.



Massive shout out to my amazing professors and classmates and new friends :) Thank you everyone <3

Super Legit Press Conference

One of my favourite classes this semester is our IMC (Integrated Marketing Communication) Course. Even though this class takes place at 8am… ON A MONDAY!!!! I still like it, so that should give you a good idea on what the course is like.

This week, we hosted a mock press conference. For those who don't know what a press conference is - Let me break it down for you :)

It is basically an interview given to journalists (the media) by a prominent person/company in order to make an announcement or just to answer questions.

For this class, we held a mock presence conference because we (Nestle Purina) wanted to announce an event we are hosting in late august.

We wrote a news release and even compiled a media kit. This media kit is what we would give to members of the press. It was a Purina One branded backpack with lots of Purina One Swag like a water bottle, lantern, Purina products - just everything you need if you participated in our event :)

As fun as this sounds - the key component here is attention to detail. There had to be consistency across the board. Whether we were writing something on paper, to a pdf file on a usb, everything had to be branded and had to show our key message.

What made me smile - is the name cards we made for ourselves. I felt that is what made the press conference feel real. We were all assigned roles and that was reflected on the cards.

Check us out looking fresh as ever! not bad for 8am eh?

(from left to right - Migs, Me, Rebecca & Maria)

And the second half of our class - looking oh so beautiful :)

(from left to right - Rachele, Lindsay, Fredo & Bhavukk)

I wished we did more fun assignments like this in our post-grad year. It gives you an idea of the real world and it's fun! Isn't that what school should always be like :)

Break Week - Ha! I Wish

It is March Break, but as a post-grad, that doesn't translate to sleeping in during the day and partying it up at night. If only…. That was back in the good ole days!

As a post-grad, you legit have to work. Honestly, this break couldn't have come at a better time. Stress levels have peaked and personally I utilized this break to catch up and plan for the weeks ahead.

I want this post to be about how you can make the best out of your reading week! It wasn't all bad, I promise! I still made time for fun activities with friends :) 

But First! School Stuff - Take a good look at what is due in the upcoming weeks and make a list. 

Secondly, Make another list of things you want to accomplish this reading week and get it done! This could be everything from homework to side projects and everything in between!

Organization & Lists are OUR FRIEND! Make them your best friend if you need to, they are lifesavers that can school less stressful for you. I get an insane amount of clarity when I make a list :) Try it for yourself if you've never done it before! It is so satisfying to cross them off one by one.

Apart from a truck load of homework, Sheridan did let us sign up for agency tours! We had a choice of five different agencies, one for each day of the week. I chose to go to 2 out of the 5 of them - PHD Worldwide & Havas. I highly recommend going on these tours. It is a fantastic opportunity to network and also just to get a feel of the industry. An exclusive inside look at your possible future!

After Homework & Agency Tours, can you believe I still managed to hang with some friends! Betcha didn't think I had a social life! Jokes on you because I do :)

How did you spend your reading week? Any more productivity tips? Share some in the comments below :)

A Day In The Life At….. The Hamilton Spectator - Part 1

        This week, I had the pleasure of spending a day at The Hamilton Spectator.

         During industry networking night a few weeks back, There were door prizes for attendees to participate in and let's just say I'm lucky #200 ! I had emailed my contact the very next day to schedule a meeting and a few email exchanges later, here we are. I arrived at 9am and was ushered right into the Publisher's office - Holy Incredible View Batman! My picture below doesn't do it justice but it gives you an idea. The meeting at the Publisher's office was a little welcome talk and he basically gave me a brief overview of what I could expect today.

Cool Fact #1 - They made up an itinerary for me (I think that's pretty cool!)


After the meet-and-greet, the next item on the agenda was a tour of the building. For as long as I have been in Hamilton (around 6 years), I have driven, bussed and even walked past the Hamilton Spectator building, so I am aware of how big it is. However actually seeing the building is just a whole different perspective. My God - it was incredible. Bill, who gave me the tour, was very knowledgeable about the inner workings of the sprinting press. He described how the plates are created, how it is pressed on to the paper, how inserts and put between the sheets and I even got to see where it is all dropped off and ready to be shipped. Literally everything from start to finish.

      The picture in the top left - what looks like a roll of paper - I literally froze when I saw it. THAT IS A LOT OF PAPER! I tried to be cool with taking pictures but all that went right out the window when I saw the paper roll. the center is all the ink and the right are the plates. This is what gets stamped on the blank sheets of paper

Bottom Row of pictures is simply how the paper is unrolled, stamped and cut. It was magnificent to watch, It was really loud but I was in total awe of everything so the noise didn't bother me.

After the tour, Bill handed me a copy of today's issue of the Hamilton Spectator and wait-for-it

Cool Fact #2 - He handed me an issue of Niagara News that had tomorrow's date on it ( so what I'm saying is that I got a paper from the future!) This may sound lame to some people, but when I got it, I couldn't stop smiling :)

Stay Tuned for Part 2 :)

Collaboration & Communication

One of the biggest and probably most important aspect of this semester is collaboration. I have the same group of four for 5/6 classes.

Luckily my classes are pretty small and I have had a chance to work with them previously. This has made me a bit more aware of their work ethic, their style and basically what I can expect. We got assigned into groups on the first day of class itself and I am happy to say so far everything is working out pretty well with my group!

We each have our own strengths, so I feel we can create something great together. As awesome as my group members are, there may come a time where you may not be happy with who you are with. Not just in class but maybe in life too and the best thing that you can do is COMMUNICATE!!

I love that my group talks about everything. We are always messaging over Facebook and talking in-person and we even have weekly meetings where we work on our projects. It is really great to know what everyone is up to, what you need to be doing and what is due and when!

There needs to be an open communication policy amongst your team or else, there will be tension and that is not a road you want to go down.

Check out my group members' blogs, They have some great tips and tricks for you future post-grads :)

Maria's Ads & Abs

Rebecca's Thursdays At Sheridan

Migs' Life In LED

That's Us in the front row :)

Photo Cred: Advertising Account Management 2015

Toronto's Advertising & Marketing Week

Last week, Toronto hosted their FFWD Advertising & Marketing week, which is Canada's largest gathering of media leaders. The whole week's schedule was an array of keynote speakers, galas, panels, presentations and awards.

I had the opportunity to volunteer for 3/5 days at the TIFF Lightbox where a few of the eventide were hosted. My shifts were quite early ( 7.30am-12.30pm) and I will admit it was difficult to get up before sunrise and commute and then my day wouldn't exactly end after my shift. I still had school to go to. Honestly, I don't even know how I got through my whole week - it was exhausting but I did make a commitment and was determined to see it to the end. Early wake up calls aside, I did have fun volunteering. There were administrative duties we had to take care of but when things slowed down, we were able to sit in on some of the presentations. My interest was captured by what was happening outside the theatres. Some of the companies that were sponsoring a few events at FFWD 2015 had booths and space outside the theatre to promote their company/products. For example, Canada Post had a photo booth that let you would take your picture and your face would appear on a stamp! To say I was amused by that is an understatement.

Microsoft was situated near the lounge area where they had set up a green screen and let you appear in different movie stills, commercials or ads. My friend Rachele & I opted to be in the car behind Matthew McConaughey. 

Here are a few more pictures from my super fun week! Did you guys attend any of the events, let me know what you thought in the comment below!

Industry Networking Night

Recently, Sheridan College hosted their Annual Industry Networking Night for advertising students that are graduating in the Spring 2015.  There were representatives from more than 30 companies from all areas of the media, marketing and digital communication industry that participated.  


Nights like this are worth attending as students can learn about the different positions that are available in a company, possibility of internships and even connect and learn from industry professionals. At this event, students could even have their portfolios reviewed. As if that wasn’t enough – there were door prizes! Each student got two tickets that could enter them in a draw to win, ‘ A Day in the Life Of’ for different companies.

The night itself is important but leading up to the event is what I found to be the most crucial and a tad stressful. You need to prepare! I had my Resume reviewed by a career counsellor at Sheridan College and I also prepared business cards, did my research on the companies in attendance and even (in advance) put together my whole outfit. I wanted to make sure I was really ready – being prepared gives me the confidence I need to get the job done.

On the actual night, I found the representatives to be very easy to talk to. I did have a game plan going in. I had chosen a few companies I was eager to talk to and one by one, I made my way through the crowd. Side note: It can get really crowded, I am not a clumsy person, but I managed to bump into students a bunch of times while trying to move around the room.

When the night is done, please don’t forget to connect/contact the people who met within 24 hours. I did send out emails but there were 2 people that I felt I really connected with, so with the business cards they gave me, I actually called them to say thank you for talking to me. They took it really well and were pleasantly surprised to hear from me.  

I believe there is another networking night coming up in February. I usually find out all the details via Sheridan's SAA Facebook page. So if you are reading this and have any suggestions or advice on how to make the next networking night even more successful, comment below! 

Two-week Blur

Second semester, it is the first week we are back in school, and it is already intense. Each class gave a very thorough background on the projects that will be assigned to us, what is expected from us and how we will be marked.  All the professors seemed very excited while us as students just kind of stared at each other.

The projects are interesting, I am not arguing that but we found it a big difficult to process how much work was involved and therefore this left no time to be excited for what was to come. Maybe some of us were still in ‘holiday’ mode, personally, I was a bit overwhelmed.  All six classes had something unique to offer but honestly, the lectures blurred together.

I am happy to say the second week got a bit better – especially since we had our first assignment due. I found it amazing to see how all of us went from, ‘ I have no idea what is happening,’ to,’ It’s Game Time,’

I think coming into week 2, we had some time to figure out a few things and almost get our feet steady on the ground. Once the first assignment was handed in, we were already planning and strategizing for future assignments. One of the skills you will definitely take from this program (whether you like it or not!) is time management.  If you want to do well, you will figure out how to manage your time more efficiently. I promise!

Just breathe! You’ll be okay J