MY MAJOR SPOILS ME

How lucky am I that I get to work in a media innovation and research center every single day that is nicer than most real-life centers? It is truly one of the most amazing places to work and learn at. I am able to work on editing videos and graphics, all easily accessible at the tips of my fingers. The facilities that are provided to us students are incredible and second to none…not even local news stations that employ hired professionals. I have learned to use the prestigious Final Cut editing software that well-known news stations use such as ABC and NBC. Because of these amazing facilities being provided, I am able to enjoy the time I spend working on projects and during news shifts. It is one of the most hands on, educating experience to be a journalism student at UF. We have one of the top Journalism programs in the country and our CMIR directly reflects that. As students, sometimes we take for granted what we have provided for us. This is something that I have tried to stay away from because I know not every single news station will be as well equipped as this one is. I have the utmost respect and honor for everyone who put this news center together. It has changed my life and I cannot wait to take the skills I have learned here through taking online and TV classes to a real career. I have learned so much here at UF. From learning how to record radio stories to going out as a reporter and writing a story for an online medium, I feel more than ready to work for a real station in the real world, thanks to the University of Florida and the CMIR. 

This is an example of a Newsroom camera we use for live shots and cutaways in the newsroom.  

Final Cut Pro Application opened up on one of our hundreds of Mac desktops provided for our own use.

One of the cameras we use to record our voices over video footage.

 

Now, aren’t you all jealous you aren’t Journalism majors at the University of Florida? 

The tipping point – an opinionated book review

I found The Tipping Point to be an extremely interesting non-fiction book. It was solely based off of the reasons why certain ideas and trends become popular and successful, where other ideas never break through. Within the book, the author Gladwell talked about how people can help a brand or company bring it to the attention of the masses. I found this particular part riveting because there are so many different ways to get the word out about a new product or idea. There are people that persistently research the product until their talk about it spreads to people. Another type of person that spreads the word are connectors. These people do not necessarily know much about the product, but they have a lot of connections and love being social. These are the people that get the word out to the most people. The other type of person is the “salesmen”. These people convince us to buy something when we are skeptical as consumers. All three of these types of people are essential to companies and businesses in order to grow and become a force within the consumer market.

The book is also a great insight into how people socially work. The sociology of people and the spreading of ideas is so complex and amazing, yet it happens without us thinking about it. Fads come and go – like Beanie Babies, Hush Puppies, Furby, and hundreds of types of bracelets. All of these things come and go. They fulfill a need that the consumer has – whether it is because of how popular it is or how useful the product will actually be. Products are able to take the world by storm, and the idea of the tipping point could not be any more perfect when we apply it to our society. For example, Hush Puppies shoes used to be popular but went out of style. Once the fad ended, they were only sold in small local stores that were not well known at all. A group of kids decided that these shoes were suddenly cool to wear again, and it quickly boomed across the country and gave every kid another fad to cling on to. Beanie Babies were extremely popular when I was growing up. They served nothing but filling a case full of stuffed animals and giving kids a chance to compete with each other about who had more or who had the newest animal.

In the world we live in today, small things can quickly become phenomenas. This book may not completely explain why things become popular, but it does give us reasoning and how things get to where they get within society. It was a very easy read and went by quickly for the amount of ideas it covered. I would recommend this book to anyone who is thoroughly interested in sociology and how humans work within their ability to communicate. I truly did enjoy this book and I learned a lot about the tendencies of people and their need to be caught up in the latest trends and fashions.

Celebrating your hard work

If you have been inspired by my blog and have been living a healthy lifestyle, you should definitely be rewarding yourself!!! Whether this means a pedicure or a new outfit, my friend Ashley Mondesir definitely has the best advice out there. 

I am a true believer in natural beauty, and one of my colleagues Sarah Reichert has blogged about how much photoshop and fake beauty can give people something that is not truly you.  

And to keep you motivated, another colleague of mine Steph Strasser posted an entry on her blog about her teammate that never gave up. It is so inspirational. 

March Madness

With all of this basketball madness going on in the month of March, I hope all of you are getting inspired by the athletes competing in the NCAA. I know there are only a few days left in March, but I am going to challenge each of my followers to their own month of madness. Whether you start today or on April 1st, it is never too late to start living a healthy lifestyle. It will ALWAYS take time to adjust and become used to your new habits (it takes 21 days on average to create a new habit), so just stay positive and inspired.

To keep up with the March Madness, follow my friends Benjamin Bornstein’s blog about everything basketball and then some.

If you are going too mad and crazy over the March Madness, follow Jesse Pagan’s blog about which movies you should and should not be seeing to get away from the busy world out there.

If you are like me, and an AVID Gator fan, my fellow classmate Savannah Olinger has a blog about which spots you should be checking out in Gainesville and where they are. SO helpful, especially for my fellow rowdy reptiles.

Get to know me…even better

As you all know, my name is Elizabeth. I literally JUST finished my collegiate swimming career yesterday (March 23rd) and I have yet to stop crying. It was so emotional knowing that I had swam my last races for the best university in the country just a few days ago. I have learned so much about myself over the past four years and I would chose the University of Florida over and over again. Here are a few accomplishments I have collected for myself over the past few years, all in one resume.

Get your body spring break ready

Since spring break 2014 is right around the corner for some people, looking good is always something vacationers are concerned about. With this easy workout plan, you are guaranteed to get that summer body back, just in time for spring break. 

If you feel like workout plans never work for you even though you are eating healthy and working out, consider this as a reason why you aren’t feeling your best. 

Best of luck!!!!

Simple, Healthy Dinner

In case you missed one of my last dinners I posted, (which you should still check out for yourself), here is another one that can please everyone sitting around the table.

For someone looking to stay lean and eat healthy, this dinner is the one for you. It is simple, easy, and nutritious.

Ingredients: peas, whole grain rice, broccoli, chicken breast, teriyaki sauce, and pineapples.

I steamed my veggies in a pot and made my rice according to the packaging. I grilled the chicken on a grill and added the pineapple on the grill as well. Once everything was cooked, I served the food and added some teriyaki sauce onto the chicken and voila!!! An easy, fast meal that your body will be thanking you for.

For those of you who are vegetarians, here are some recipes that you can try out too!

All About ME

For those of you who don’t officially know me, my name is Elizabeth Beisel. Hope you all enjoy my blogs and you are able to learn something about me here!

SEO’s – what and why you should be using them

SEO’s are something that lead to the web content to your specific blog or site. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. You can find out what the hottest trends on the Internet are by visiting sites like google.com/trends. After discovering what the hottest trends and searches are for that particular time, you should include those key words in your site or blog to create more traffic to your site. Each word that you choose to include in your blog that was found through the trends, you need to link those words to similar blogs and sites that relate to yours. The words themselves should be linked; never link the words “click here” to lead to another site. The sites you link your key words to should be sites that are completely relevant to your site. The sites should also be credible and authentic. Sites like this include .gov and .edu sites. These types of sites will gravitate more traffic towards your own site.

Overall, if you want your website to grow and become a highly visited site, using SEO’s are extremely helpful and important and so easy to use!

For my blog, it is all about living a healthy lifestyle. It is imperative that you pass along your healthy habits to friends and family to ensure their well being. Exercising is one of the easiest ways to stay healthy, and there are a number of ways to keep moving and staying active.

To find an easy recipe, here is one I posted a few weeks ago.

Olympic Inspiration

With the 2014 Olympic Winter Games going on for the next two weeks, I have found a new inspiration to stay fit during the month of February. The amount of hours and work these athletes put in to compete at the highest stage of competition in the world is incredible and their bodies show for it. Watching them race and represent their countries is something that gives me the chills every time I watch on TV. So, I am going to dedicate this post to all of the Olympians competing in Sochi and for all of them, I am going to post a video of inspiring victories. Whether your goal is to finish a 5K for your first time or win Olympic gold, it is still a goal and a path you have committed to taking. I hope this video inspires you to go out there and live a healthy and inspiring life. Follow your dreams.