Optimizing Your Digital Presence Through Twitter

Over the past month, I have been spending an enormous amount of time on Twitter. Through this experience, I have observed several tips and tricks to optimize a person or digital business presence on Twitter.

1. It's You Scratch My Back; I'll Scratch Your Back Kind Of World:

In the world that we live in, nothing comes for free. In other words, to gain a following you must be willing to engage in a two-way communication process.  As a business or persona, one must be willing to engage with others content on Twitter. Doing so follows the principals of reciprocity, and while it may not always work, it is worth a shot. In the perfect world, by engaging with a persona or business’ content, they might, in turn, retweet or like your content, which can go a long way. However, while any brand exposure one can get is positive, there are ways in which a persona/ business can get more out of retweeting or liking content, through strategic engagement.

2. Executing A Strategic Engagement Plan :

No matter the industry, there is always people and or organization within it that have a prominent voice in social media. These thought leaders can lend a helpful hand in spreading your message. The question is how do we find these people or organizations?

Start by making a list of all the keywords that are important to the message you are trying to communicate. For example, say you are a car dealership. Some important words related to your industry include automotive, dealership, fuel economy, car safety. Once you list down these words, put them into hashtags, and begin to take note of not only the conversations that are taking place but who is leading them. 

One might be tempted to go on to assume that the person or organization that have the most engagements on their posts is the brand to follow. While this might be the case, you’ll need to do some research first. Through research, you may discover that even though this person might be popular, doesn’t mean that they know the right people. How then do you determine the quality of a potential thought leader?

Look at who is following that brand. If it is a business are the key trade journals or publications following them? If not, what about other people who are partaking in the conversations on a regular basis, are they  following that business? If neither of these is the case, this business might not be the most useful in the long run. However, don’t count them out entirely. The same mindset goes for personas.

Now that you have gained a general understanding of the background of your respective industry it is time to start setting up your account to widen your audience. 

3. Gaining Exposure Through Your Account: 

Remember how earlier when you listed down the keywords that were related to your industry? Narrow that list down to your top 5-7 keywords and include these keywords in the form of hashtags in your profile description. Why is this?

When searching for hashtags, Twitter acts much like any search engine and pulls up results that contain keywords.  One of the tabs you can choose says, people, click on this tab and you will find people who either have these hashtags in their profile description or have the keyword(s) within their Twitter handle. 

If I were to take an educated guess, I’d say that the order and or ranking of these results work like the Google search engine, in that based on how many times that profile was viewed, the keyword frequency within that page, and how often they post determines ones ranking. The ultimate goal would be to move up on that list.

As of now, you have accomplished three main components that go into optimizing your Twitter account. First, you started by recognizing that engagement with other content on Twitter can be valuable for both parties involved. Secondly, you complied research identifying keywords, conversations, and thought leaders. Thirdly, you set up your profile to be searchable through keywords that you utilize within your description. The final step is putting it all together. 

4. Success Is Around The Corner:

Now that you have compiled all this research and other background info you can start tweeting out content. The type of content that you post should be reflective of what you have learned from your research. At the same time, there needs to be a twist to the content. A unique quality that’ll make you stand out from all the others who are discussing the topical areas in your industry. Not sure where to start?

Start by joining in the conversation in your industry. Share what you are most passionate about, and what you want others to know about your brand. Converse and engage with thought leaders within the industry, and in time you will begin to understand where you can fit into the mix.

What strategies have you implemented in optimizing your Twitter presence? What advice do you have for others looking to grow? Comment below.

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My Evergreen Snowflake

She twinkles like a snowflake, falling from the heavens above.
Every time I see her, I try and catch her eye, yet she drifts away with the coming breeze.
In time she melts away as the seasons pass.
If only time could mend, then I could show her my true colors.
I stand true and stiff, as the evergreen that I am.
Hoping that someday she will return from the heavens above.... 

Senior Year: The Last Hurrah

It is hard to believe that my senior year is nearly halfway done.
It seems like yesterday I was graduating from high school and getting ready to embark on my journey as a college student.
What a journey it truly has been.
From the early days of freshman year, as I navigated and adapted myself to a new lifestyle and mindset.
In my sophomore year, in which I became a more globalized citizen through my study abroad experience.
Then in my junior year, I came to appreciate the camaraderie of brotherhood and friendship I was able to build with my suitemates; a year I hold near and dear to my heart.
Finally, I've come to my senior year which is the ultimate culmination of all my experiences and education.
College was just a stepping stone towards the future, and although it seems daunting, I am excited to embark and see what's waiting for me around the corner. 

Leadership

In the northwest corner of the world, there was a village in a forest.
The village was led by three powerful men, who proved to be fierce warriors and hunters.
One day one of the younger men of the village was tasked with preparing and cooking the freshly caught fish for the village.
One of the village leaders came by to tell the younger man to skewer the fish and roast them over the fire.
The young man began slowly cooking the fish over the fire rotating them every so often.
A few minutes later the second village leader stopped by to check on how cooking the fish was going.
He asked the young man why he was roasting the fish as opposed to baking them in aluminum foil.
The young man told the second village leader that he had been told to cook the fish that way by the first village leader.
The second village leader insisted that his method would be a more efficient way cooking the fish.
So then the young man switched methods of cooking the fish for several minutes.
The third village leader came along to check on the young man.
He asked the young man why he was cooking the fish in aluminum foil when they had frying pans.
Again the young man explained to the third village leader that he had been instructed by the second leader to cook the fish in the foil.
The third leader told the young man to cook the fish in the frying pans.
After the third leader left the young man was left very confused.
While he understands that there are multiple ways he can complete this task he is unsure of who to listen to.
So he decides to cook the fish as the third leader had instructed him too and brought the cooked fished to the village.

What does this teach us about leadership? 

    

The Importance of Employee Brand Advocates Social Media

Over the past decade, social media has become mainstream within society. Each every day millions of users across various platforms such as Facebook and Twitter alike are sharing their thoughts and content. With this trend, it is essential for businesses to have an active social media presence. Companies must not only create content that is relevant to its consumers, but it also must strive to encourage its employees to be brand advocates.

Buffer Social conducted some research on employee usage of social media with some interesting results:

• 33% of employees post messages, videos or pictures about their employer from time to time with no encouragement from their employer
• 39% of employees have praised their company on social media
• 16% have posted something negative about employer

With only 39% of employees posting on social media this leaves  61% of your employees unengaged with your brand. So how do we work to fix this?

David Hassel, the founder of 15Five.com, a web-based employee feedback solution, offers five ways to solve this problem:

(1) Develop A Persona

A persona is a profile identity of your consumer. This profile includes the wants and needs of the customer. It should also include various personality traits that this persona has. By providing this resource to your employees, it'll make it easier for them to create messages that resonate with that persona.

(2) Make it easy for employees to share content

Trello is an incredible asset that any company could benefit from. It allows users to create tasks or lists in an organized fashion easily. In this case, 15Five.com utilized Trello to encourage its employees to use Trello as an open forum for social media content.  Employees could post everything from videos to photos to memes. It encouraged a culture of open communication.

(3) Provide Encouragement:

The last thing you want to do is to make your employees feel as if this is something else that has been added to their workload.  Instead, you tell your employees to not go out of their way to post content.  Rather, whenever they see something of interest, they can post it to Trello.

"Empower employees to be themselves."- David Hassel

How then do most companies encourage their employees to engage on social media?

• 55% offer easily accessible tools for their employees to use in social media
• 50% provide messages about the employer for the employee to use on their social media channels.
• 35% allow employees to use social media at work
• 39% ask employees to stay alerted to social media posting about company
• 35 % provide employees with social media updates so that they can stay current with the tools
• 39 % provide training on how to use social media effectively

Why does this matter?

If you remember from before, only 33% of employees post messages, videos or photos without any encouragement. Brands who do encourage their employees to use social media have better results than those who don't. As they are providing their employees with the resources, they need to be successful brand advocates.

(4) Consistency is key

The person who ultimately, posts the content to social media must make sure that they maintain a consistent voice. Otherwise, you will have trouble maintaining a brand image with your customers on social media.

(5) Share Social Media Statistics with team so they can see their impact

Showing your employees the social media statistic will make them feel like they are making a difference. Everyone wants to be recognized for their great work, so why not praise the team for their efforts?

 

Does your organization encourage its employees to post on social media? What strategies does your organization use?

 

Why We Should Be Concerned With Virtual Realities Emergence

It is scary to think that virtual reality is becoming a bigger technology in our day to day lives. While it is certainly amazing that we have developed a technology that brings a vast amount of opportunities, it frightens me.

Virtual reality will provide an even greater disconnect in the world around us. It'll discourage us from going out and exploring the world and learning about new cultures. Instead, all we would have to do is put on a pair of VR goggles, and we are walking along the Great Wall of China or swimming in the Great Barrier Reef, without ever leaving the comfort of our home.

On top of that, if Facebook's vision of Facebook Space comes to fruition, we will have an even greater disconnect socially. Already social media has lessened our face to face communication, but this new platform seeks to further that disconnect. With Facebook Space, users will have the ability to meet friends virtually and do things together. While it would certainly be an amazing innovation, it begs to ask what does the future hold for VR?

The technology already exists that allows users by a few clicks of a button to find an encyclopedia of information stored on the internet. What is to say that won't someday become a part of VR?

The need for formal face to face education would disappear. Instead, it would be replaced by an artificial intelligence that would teach us. Valuable life skills that we develop from the classroom would disappear.

Over the next decade or to we need to tread carefully and make sure VR doesn't take over our lives and begin to replace what makes us unique as human beings.

How to Market a Company on Instagram

Here are 6 quick tips that you can use to better market your content on Instagram:

(1) Hashtags:

When considering the type of content you are posting on Instagram, it is important to take into consideration the hashtags that you use. Hashtags will allow your content to reach more viewers than content without.

To find the most effective hashtags, do some research on your industry. Determine what keywords are most important. You can do this simply by typing hashtags into Instagram, and seeing what sort of content is coming up.

Look at what sort of messaging people or organizations are posting about on those related hashtags. Consider how their audience is engaging with that content. What other hashtags are these people or organizations posting? Are these hashtags prevalent to your content?

The most important practice, I learned through HubSpot Inbound Marketing is to include your key focus word or phrase within a hashtag. This keyword or phrase is found within your title of the blog post and will help improve your Search Engine Optimization(SEO).

(2) Call To Actions (CTA):

Call To Actions, are content that entice your prospective viewer or follower to engage with that content. Content that have no CTA from personal experience do not perform very well.

As a professor of mine always emphasized in his lectures, you need to consider the acronym WIFM(What is in it for me?). If audiences have no CTA to interact with within your content why should they bother liking or commenting on your post?

So how can you get more people to interact with your content? Consider asking questions within your content that will get your viewers or followers thinking about an idea or concept. Since you can't include clickable links within your Instagram post, consider making the question or content around a particular blog post or idea on your website that you want to draw attention to. Then simply include the hashtag #linkinbio, and this will indicate to the viewers or followers that they can look in your bio to find the clickable link to your website. In turn, this may result in your followers or viewers into becoming either a Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) or a Sales Qualified Lead (SQL) somewhere down the line depending upon where they fall on the lifecycle stage.

Another forum of CTA that you may consider aligning with your other content is to include quotes that relate to the blog post or idea you are trying to convey. From my experience, these have generated lots of interest, especially if the person you are quoting from is well known.

(3) Short and Sweet:

You may have the most elaborate idea to draw people into your content, but the reality is most people's attention spans are pretty short. Try and aim for no more than 300 characters.

(4) Personality:

Consider trying a more personal approach to your posts. This can include a wide variety of methods including posts about but not limited to: meeting the team, a day in the office, employees out in the community and etc...

By taking this approach you are far less robotically and will allow you to connect with your viewers and followers on a more intimate level, than some of your other more business type posts.

(5) Images with People:

Images that simply have stagnate visual representation like images of just text, do not perform as well, as opposed to images with action shots, such as a group of people out in a field playing catch.

(6) Instagram Business Analytics Tool:

Instagram's Business Analytics tool allows marketers to analyze key metrics including reach, impressions, engagements and demographics.  

These key pieces of information will help you market your content more effectively.

If you are unfamiliar of how you can set up this useful tool you can click here.

How do you use Instagram to engage with your audience? Are there ways in which you can improve?

The Journey of A College Student

"Life is a journey and it's about growing and changing and coming to terms with who and what you are and loving who and what you are." 

- Kelly McGillis, American Actress  

Freshman Year- The Year of Exploration

As a freshman in college, you are exposed to a whole new environment that offers a lot more freedom and responsibility than you ever had before. The social comforts you once had, such as friends and family become distant.  However, this gives you a new opportunity to reinvent yourself, as you head down your educational career.

Within this new environment, you have to figure out how you will fit into the "ecosystem" of the college.

What role will you fill?

Are you going to join clubs on campus, and if so, do you plan to take on a leadership role? Or will you be an active member?

From an academic standpoint what interests you the most?

You'll start taking classes in your desired major and eventually determine whether or not this is the path you want to continue to peruse.

However, a better understanding of what your major is and what you might be doing won't come until the towards the ending of your Sophomore Year.


Sophomore Year- Understanding Your Major

So you made it through Freshman year? Phew!

By now you have a familiarity of how the college life works.  Most likely by now you have figured out what role you are playing within the "ecosystem" of the college.

The next step of the journey is understanding your major. As you progress throughout your classes you will start to get a better understanding of the opportunities are available within your field. Then it'll be time to start researching various career opportunities, usually starting with applying for internships.

What kind of internship are you looking for and what do you hope to get out of it?

What skills do you have that will make you stand out from other applicants?

By the time your Junior Year rolls around it will be time to start applying to internships.


Junior Year- Field Experience

So you landed your first internship! Great work!

But wait you just realized that through this internship that this field isn't something you want to pursue. Don't sweat it! This is perfectly normal, it is apart of the college students journey.

On campus there are tons of resources available that will help you find the right fit for you!

On the flipside, let's say that you absolutely love your internship, what do you do then?

Well you become the very best intern you can be.

This means be willing to take all opportunities that you are given.

After all you are there to learn and get hands on experience.

Maximize your time by branching out to as many relationships within your internship as possible. The larger your network is the more easier it will be to land a job in the future.

Constantly update your resume with new skills and abilities you acquire, so that way you are prepared for the final part of your undergraduate academic career.

Senior Year- Career Bound

It is amazing how time flies! Seems just like yesterday that you were a freshman trying to orientate yourself within the college "ecosystem".

At this point in your college journey you have to make an important decision about your future.

You may decide that you want to explore graduate school or go straight into your industry.

Either way you choose, the journey takes a similar path.

The biggest thing to consider is how are you going to market yourself to a potential employees or graduate schools.

This could be from industry experience you had while at a internship or any other relevant experiences that you might have.

Preparation is key  in these last few months.

Your cumulative experience at college has prepared you for the road ahead. Each part of the journey helping you grow into a more educated and well rounded individual.

Denotation vs. Connotation

What are we if not just an assimilation of thoughts, ideas, dreams and our ever growing imagination?
Are we nothing more than a mere spec on the wall or do we have the ability to become something more?
Are we a mere denotation in the eyes of society or are we our own individualistic connotation ?
If we choose to live by our own individualistic connotation is this necessarily a good thing?
Or is it better live your life as a literal definition?
  

2016 the Best Year of My Life

On this Thanksgiving evening, amidst all the holiday cheer, I've found myself reflective of this past year. It is hard to believe that 2016 has nearly come to the end. It feels just like yesterday, I was celebrating Christmas with my family. Then before I knew it we were on a plane heading to London. I remember how anxious and excited I was to be able to go. Little did I know then, of how much my study abroad experience would change me. Studying Abroad, made me into a more adventurous and ambitious individual and for that I am forever grateful.

The summer rolled by quickly, and I was excited to return to Curry and be with my best friends again. Move in day came along and I was eager to reunite with my best friends whom I hadn't seen in what felt like forever. Weeks turned into months, and I was having the best time of my life. Who would have thought rooming with your best friends would have been such an amazing experience; from late night movies, to video games, to other crazy extravaganza's, I am truly grateful to have friends like them!

2016, has hands down has been the most memorable and life changing year. I am forever grateful of the people who made this year possible. Here's to 2017, and many more happy years to come!

How Adapatabilty in Travel Can Relate to Crisis PR

Whether you have traveled abroad or within the United States, one aspect that will always be prevalent is how you adapt to an unfamiliar environment. Where ever you go in this world, there will always be different people around you who might not necessarily understand what you are trying to communicate; This might be the result of a language barrier, cultural differences or even words lost in translation. Regardless of this inevitable scenario, how you choose to communicate your messages is vital.

While I was in Florence, Italy, I found myself in a situation in which, I was not able to fully communicate to those around me, due to a language barrier. I became lost, while trying to find my hotel. No one around me spoke any English, so I had to use what limited Italian I had learned ahead of time ,to get where I needed to go. I wanted to panic in this situation for sure, but I knew that I had to keep my composure and use what resources I had with me to get to where I needed to go.

Similarly, to Crisis PR, you are not always going to have all the information about an incident in the present moment. However, you must react promptly to get your organizations message out, before the incident becomes construed by either the media or the public.  

River Veins

I stand idle upon an open road, not a soul around but mine.
I look down upon the open road and study its imperfections.
The cracks in the road remind me of river veins that run like time.
Each river vein held no semblance to one another.
Yet I found myself lost.
I found my eyes scanning the river veins, looking for some meaning to an end.
However, every time I would find a logical end, the river veins would split off to another direction.
I looked further down the road and noticed a patch of road, seemingly unfazed by anything.
It was smooth to the touch, like a freshly painted wall.
I began to wonder, why has this patch of road had stood the test of time?
Was it because the cement was made better? Or was this road was freshly laid?
Yet I came to realize, a couple days later that upon further inspection, that this perfect patch of road wasn't as perfect as I thought it was.
Indeed, it too had river veins running through it, that now little to no sense.

As a nation, we are far from perfect.
We have made our mistakes and tried our best to find semblance.
Yet as of recent events, somehow we have found ourselves searching for a logical end to the river veins that lie in the road ahead.
Mending these river veins will take time, but what we must come to together and find our beginning.
Only then with patience, will we be able to see clearly down the river veins that we once were.

Autumn Calling

Autumn leaves in full blossom, hue the morning sky as they slowly drift by.
Down by the river the weightless leaves freely glide; only to be disturbed by an occasional breeze.
In the trees they hang with a sense of delicacy and patience, waiting for that inevitable moment in which they are set free once and for all.

A Run in Richmond Park...

An open plain laid before me with blades of grass of varying hues.
The road before me was made of lightly packed dirt.
As I began running, I took in what was around me.
In a nearby tree I could see a group neon green birds surveying the land.
The wind began blowing, humming its soft song slowly into my ears.
As I continued running, deer's roamed freely about; some were busy grazing the open fields, others were at play.
I came upon a body of water as blue as the morning sky.
Swans, ducks and geese swam eagerly about the pond.
As I got closer, a path opened up with a row of trees leading the way.
Curiosity beckoned me to press on.
I continued to run and came upon a field filled with dogs frolicking about.
In the distance you could hear a woodpecker working his craft meticulous and methodically.
The sun was slowly beginning to set and I began running faster.
A hill was on the horizon and my feet were beginning to become tired, but I pressed on.
Upon reaching the top of the hill, in the faraway distance the city of London laid before me.
I stopped for a few moments to take in its beauty and watched as the sun slowly set.
I turned back around and ran back in the direction from which I came, only leaving behind London and my own footsteps...

A Band of Brothers

"THE CLOCK IS TICKING, DAN, THE CLOCK!" I hear being screamed by my suite mates at all hours of the day and night.
Let us just say we are tight niche of friends, brothers really.
We are always getting on each other's cases about everything.
We spend an enormous amount of time hanging out in the suite, with everything from video games to cooking.
When it comes to video games we get really competitive, often times screaming at the TV when the game doesn't go our way.
Cooking is always an interesting event in our suite.
Heck the other day, we spent over two hours just gobbling down bacon and pancakes!
Yesterday we spent the entire day watching football on NFL Red Zone.
Earlier in the week we had all placed bets on who we thought was going to win each game.
At the end of the semester whomever has the most wins will win the money and a portion of the money will go towards an end of semester party.
Let us just say there were many victory cheers as there were walks of shame!
Later in the semester we are also planning to go to various concerts, sports events and other related venues.
Overall, it has been a really fun semester thus far and I cannot wait to see what comes out of it!

In Her Time of Need...

I knew the morning of the first throw up, that my life would soon be altering.
At first she was in denial that I was leaving her, but then she began to see the bags and boxes moving upstairs and she knew then that something was amidst.
For the first few days she gave me the cold shoulder, barely talking to anyone, however, in secret every night she would express her concern to my father.
Days rolled by and more and more boxes were being brought upstairs.
Her behavior began to drastically change.
She began pouting about the house and sleeping more than usual.
Some nights she would sleep up close to me, others she would sleep elsewhere.
She began to eat less, and soon became a ghost to me.
I kept trying to comfort her, telling her everything will be okay, but she would just turn her back and not hear me out...
She confronted me as the day of my departure drew closer, yelling at me, asking me why I was leaving her in such a dire time of need....
And I told her that I was off on a journey that she could not accompany me on, but that I still loved her and that someday I would return a changed man.
Although adamant about me leaving, she told me that in order for me to leave I had to give her one last belly rub and so I did.
I loaded up the car and took one last look at the window in the house and there she was looking at me, trying to conceal herself behind the curtains as I slowly drove away, ready to embark on the next chapter of my college education....

Top 6 Reasons to Study Abroad

1. A New Found Identity

Studying abroad will give you an entirely new perspective on the world around you. Quickly, you will become very aware of the differences between your own home country and the country in which you are living in. In many ways, I'd compare the experience similar to that of freshman year of college, as you are finding yourself in new situations, you have not been before, all the while experiencing personal growth.

2. Learning Another Language

Believe it or not, even in Great Britain where the language is English, I found myself constantly looking up various phrases I had never heard of. None the less knowing another language can become very valuable.

3. An International Network of Connections

While abroad, you will meet a wide variety of people from different backgrounds, which will only prove to be invaluable in the road ahead.

4. Testing Your Limits

This may seem like an obvious one, however, there is a lot to be said about expanding ones horizons. For me, I traveled Italy all by myself during my spring break. Prior to being abroad, I would have never considered taking on such a daunting task, however, in doing so I only grew into a more ambitious individual.

5. Ability to Travel

Do not simply limit yourself to your base country. Go out into the world and get a new appreciation for what is around you, whether it is art, food, culture or anything in between!  

6. An Increased Awareness of the World Around You

This was particularly true for myself, as prior to my arrival abroad, I didn't see myself as a global citizen.

A Summer Day

Summer skies christening the morning are much like an intoxication of life; it is an addiction really.
An addiction fed by the given warmth, much like how a hot chocolate warms and soothes the soul on a cold day.
Flowers are in full blossom with busy bees tending to the flowers.
The smell of freshly cut grass fills the morning air.
The children are nearby playing in the sprinkler.
Dad is watching the children as he starts to fire up the grill for lunch.
Mom is neatly tending to her garden and the dog is barking at the mail man.
The birds are eating away at the bird feeder, as the squirrel sits nearby eagerly awaiting the right moment.
The cat sits in the window intently watching the birds.
The sky is clear and the day is warm; the humidity can be seen rising from the nearby pavement.
The aroma of freshly cooked hamburgers brings everyone in as they gather around the patio.
The kids quickly gobble up the burgers and go back out to swim in the pool.
Mom sits nearby on a lawn chair watching the kids, as Dad cleans the grill.
Nightfall soon comes and Dad gathers the kids to go star gazing in the field nearby.
They all lay in the field, watching and gazing upon the starry night as Dad points out the constellations that tickle the night sky.
Soon thereafter the kids roast marsh mellows in their back yard.
Mom and Dad tuck the kids into bed and say goodnight.
All is peaceful and all is quiet as Mom and Dad gaze out into the sky watching the moon as it glimmers throughout the night...

Somewhere over the rainbow...

"Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high

There's a land that I heard of, once in a lullaby

Somewhere, over the rainbow, skies are blue.

And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.

Someday I'll wish upon a star, and wake up where the clouds are far behind me.

Where troubles melt like lemon drops, away above the chimney tops.

That's where you'll find me.

Somewhere, over the rainbow, bluebirds fly.

Birds fly over the rainbow, why can't, why can't I?

If happy little bluebirds fly, beyond the rainbow,

Why, oh, why can't I?"

No matter who you are, we can all agree that we are all in search of that place somewhere over the rainbow at some point in our lives. This place is not always right in front of us. Instead we must journey down treacherous paths in order to get to where we need to be. If anything, the Wizard of Oz teaches us a very important lesson, about how we find this place over the rainbow....

As many of you are familiar, the Wizard of Oz story involves Dorothy and her unlikely friends trying to make it to the Emerald City in order to seek out, the great and powerful Oz. Each of them are in search of something different; a brain, courage, a heart and a way back home. Yet as they come to find out most of what it is that they seek are in some ways intangible; as courage, wisdom and heart are not something that can be given, rather they are acquired traits that develop over a lifetime. While they might have receive little mementos rewarding them for their actions of saving OZ from the Wicked Witch; these are merely symbolic of a bigger picture, which reveals that whether or not they knew it or not, they already had courage, wisdom and heart within them; as these were the driving forces that guided them towards achieving their ultimate goal.

On the flip side, when it comes to finding that place over the rainbow, we need all these traits in order to find it.

First we must have a place in which we belong; a way back home as Dorothy was seeking. Then we must have the courage to take that first step towards the place over the rainbow. Next we take what it is that we know (our wisdom) and apply it practically. Finally and most importantly is to have the heart and determination it takes to find our place that is somewhere over the rainbow, no matter where that place might be....    

A look back at England

It is hard to believe that just a little bit over a month ago I returned home to America, after spending the past few months studying abroad in England. The strangest thing I have come to find is not riding the tube on a daily basis like I use to. I mean sure the tube can become monotonous at times, but there are always interesting things going on. Like for instance it always baffled me as to why no one really interacts with each other. The locals live amidst a wave of different ethnicities and cultures, yet it seems that curiosity had killed the cat.

Fashion was also an interesting facet of riding the tube, especially for Men. I always stereotyped business fashion as clean cut blazers of blue or black. However there was always a variety of colors and styles that I would not have considered wearing myself.

I also miss aiding people on the tube when they needed help getting somewhere. It was always interesting to hear were they had to go, because it was always somewhere different, which kept the experience fresh and allowed me to learn about other areas of London, I had not been to.

Seeing the advertisements on the tube was always a highlight of my day. I would often sit and analyze who the target market was for the message being sent, and this often times would entertain me for several minutes.

As annoying as it might of been, I also miss hearing "Mind the Gap between the Train and the Platform" as well as other little safety announcements throughout your journey. It is a courtesy that is not shared within the states, as far as I have seen.

Most of all I miss the feeling of the unfamiliar, the spirit of adventure, the freedom to explore...and the people whom I met along the way. Someday soon I will venture back...