So, you’re finally not a freshman anymore. You have finally gotten the hang of college! Congratulations! But wait…junior year flies by…then you’re a senior in college. You’re signing up for Capstone courses and relatives start to fire off questions all about life after the G word…graduation.

You just didn’t think you would make it, did you? Maybe you haven’t made it here yet but, I have. Your parents just weren’t kidding when they said college would fly by. But before you start to even think about any sort of career, you need that solid foundation, a place to gain some real-life working world experience!

You need to find an internship. I’m almost positive I’m not the first one to bring this up to you either. Maybe you’re a freshman or sophomore and are thinking, “This doesn’t apply to me! That’s so far off.” Yeah, that’s the mindset I had as well. It’s never too early to start looking, make connections, and keep your eye out for that perfect apprenticeship. I managed to find an amazing year-long internship with a wedding planner in Wilmington. Making connections and reaching out is one of the most important skills I’ve gained while at UNCW and it’s what I owe thanks to for finding this opportunity.

So, enough about that. I’m going to dive into the quick and dirty tips on how to manage to score that hands-on involvement that adds a shining gold star to your resume. And I promise it’s not all just fetching coffee and making copies…

1.Alright, okay, I get it. So, where in the world can I find that perfect internship?

Take advantage of your resources! UNCW is blessed with a beautiful resource known as…the Career Center. These lovely people are literally here to help you in all of your professional endeavors. If you don’t happen to have connections to score an internship. They will help you personalize your search and help you home in on your interests and your goals. Starting early is the best way to ensure that you will score even the most competitive internship opportunity. Stick with what you’re passionate about! But also, don’t fear going out of your comfort zone, it may be something that you end up wanting to pursue a career in.

The Career Center utilizes a resource called Handshake. It is the leading online career platform used at over 500 colleges and more than 250,000 employers. This platform allows the Career Center to better target career information, internships, employment opportunities, and career-related events to students & alumni based on major, degree type, and interests.

2. Okay, found one! So…what makes you think they’re going to choose me as an intern?

Well, you’re going to have to prepare for it. It’s going to take a little legwork to convince your potential mentor that you are the obvious pick to be the best intern. You deserve this position. Show them! Get started on a portfolio and resume early on. Don’t wait until you are struggling to collect your best writing or awards you receive. Chances are you are going to do some of your best, most time consuming, works of literature, photography, design…whatever you make…in the first few years of college! Keep them, save them, hold them close! Stay organized. Those works are going to prove that you have the skills and put in the work to be the best candidate. This also is going to prepare you for prepping your professional resume and the entire interviewing process.

3. Wait, I have to go to an interview??? For an internship?? But…I’m not even getting paid…

Yes…you will most likely have to interview for your intern position. But it’ll be okay, if you do your research! Look up the company or person that you’re going to be interviewing with. Pick up on what their values as a company or business are, know what they are interested in, these are good talking points. Know what  your potential bosses interests are!

You won’t have to worry about that awkward job interview silence if you have things to pull out of your back pocket to totally wow your interviewer. Wear something you’re comfortable in and that’s appropriate for business! Something your grandparents would be so proud to see you wearing. Here’s a helpful link for all the do’s and don’ts of interview attire: https://career.ufl.edu/so-what-exactly-is-business-casual/

So, that’s where I leave you. As I near closer and closer to graduation, I hope that this information was helpful, eye-opening, if not at least a little entertaining.

Now, time’s running out! Go find that internship!

-Olivia DiNome

Works Cited:

UNCW Career Center: https://uncw.edu/career/jobsearch.html

 

By: Erin Duncan

Picking what college to attend is far from easy for most. A lot of factors come in to play when figuring out what school is best fit for you. I went to Mallard Creek High school in Charlotte, North Carolina. A BIG football school… we went to the state championship 3 out of my four years there. That’s what my high school was known for and that’s what drew in a lot of money and PR for the school. When deciding where to go to college, at first, I thought having a football team was everything until I came across UNCW. UNCW is unique in its marketing strategy it tends to attract the masses without relying on the one thing most schools do when attracting newcomers: College Football.

Big schools like Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Michigan State and many more use their football teams as the face of their marketing campaigns. The University of Alabama’s football team, for example, brings in MILLIONS. In 2016 reports say the Crimson Tide’s football program reported $103.9 million in revenue and posted $47 million profit. The University takes pride in their successful team and uses it to attract new students, fans, and donors based off the repeated success the department sees each year. Across Alabama’s various social media platforms its evident the football team is a top marketing strategy they use when trying to attract new students and supporters. For example check out this AD:

The University of North Carolina at Wilmington takes a different approach. UNCW’s brand is known for being by the beach and its “laid back” close knit environment. UNCW is lacking something 625 other Universities have… football. Football is one of America’s beloved sports so the ultimate question everyone is asking is WHY? Who wouldn’t want to go to school with football and the beach? It sounds like a no brainier. After some research all I can tell you Seahawks is it’s all about the money. There’s just no way our small university can come up with the funds to support it. John Browning, the University’s Senior Associate Athletic Director, is saying that all the employees would love to have a team, but no one really understands the extent of funds needed to make that happen. UNCW gets recognition in other areas that they use as part of their strategic marketing campaign. We are far more than just a beach town school, UNCW has made headlines for the following:

– UNCW ranked 6th among public universities in “Best Regional Universities in the South,” by U.S. News & World Report.

– The University ranked 8th on The Education Trust’s list of most impressive gains in graduation rates nationally among four-year public universities

-. The prestigious Fiske Guide to Colleges featured UNCW in its 2015 edition, and Consumer’s Digest ranked UNCW 10th on its list of the “Top 50 Values for Public Colleges and Universities.”

– Best Value Schools ranked UNCW 15th on its “30 Most Beautiful Coastal College Campuses” list.

– UNCW was named to the 2015 list of “Best Southeastern” schools by The Princeton Review, making this the 11th consecutive year the university has been honored with this designation.

Bottom line is brand communication is huge for any University but especially for smaller schools like UNCW. Not having a huge a football team makes it an even bigger marketing communication challenge to tackle for our costal campus. Although we have 19 sports programs here at the University, only 3 are fully funded and we have the lowest budget in the CAA.  UNCW continues to make headlines and stay relevant even without a huge athletic program. UNCW’s unique marketing campaign relies on the beach, the vibes, and the academics. It also features our teams that have also been increasingly successful like our Basketball team and Baseball team. UNCW’s popularity increases every year, making it even more competitive for incoming students. It looks like for now, the school is doing just fine without a big football team and some of the bigger schools like Alabama could learn something from our marketing team because it takes a greater talent to attract as many students as they do without relying on athletics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMAGE CREDIT: 1.https://www.google.com/search?q=uncw&hl=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj4l6_A8dfeAhUHUt8KHRJGB7YQ_AUIECgD&biw=2049&bih=865#imgrc=5hiPi3NeeKJjbM:

2.https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=&url=https%3A%2F%2Frolltide.com%2Fsports%2F2017%2F9%2F7%2F125th-season-of-alabama-football.aspx&psig=AOvVaw0zO-bo0BlxbA2q9-I3V8PK&ust=1542422633240150

Sources:

https://uncw.edu/strategicplan/documents/UNCW%20Strategic%20Plan.pdf

www.TheSeahawk.org

https://money.cnn.com/2017/01/09/news/alabama-clemson-championship-revenue/index.html

 

Do you consider yourself to be a creative?

Artwork by Timo Kuilder

I believe people struggle with this identity because it’s not as simple as stating a fact. I’m 20 years old, I am a UNCW Communication Studies major, I’m an extrovert, I love dogs: these are easy. Saying you are a creative goes deeper than that. Being a creative, to me, is recognizing that you have a mind different from any other mind in this entire world. It is realizing that you are possibly the only person who has had those thoughts and all you want to do is bring your unique ideas to life. Your idea may be a brilliant plan for creating support and understanding amongst the people in your company, or arranging the pieces within a room in a new way to promote a more peaceful atmosphere. Your idea could be filming a documentary to promote awareness around an important cause or even producing a work of art from your imagination. Merriam Webster even describes the term with the example of “managing to get around legal or conventional limits”. Being a creative, or innovator, doesn’t entail being any sort of genius like Albert Einstein, Salvador Dali, or Steve Jobs. In fact, I think a lot of people are creatives who don’t even realize it.

I love the definition Tanner Christensen wrote for Creative Something’s blog. It states,”Being creative means solving a problem in a new way. It means changing your perspective. Being creative means taking risks and ignoring doubt and facing fears. I means breaking with routine and doing something different for the sake of doing something different.”

After a quick scan of the internet, I quickly saw that many people have an issue with the term “creative” as a noun. There are the people who claim that the word ends in –ive, logically making it an adjective. Then, there are the people saying it is unfair to describe others who get around the law or incorporate a new business plan as being on the same level creatively as an artist.

To argue the first point, speaking as a creative, I am going to reiterate the fact that I prefer to think outside the box. Under my circumstances, and grammar rules aside, (because what rules are made not to broken) the term creative is perfectly just. I believe that while language is used to communicate and understand, language is also used to illustrate. If the term “creative” as a noun better represents what I am describing, then that is the term I will use.

As for the second kind of person against the noun—the people who believe it is unfair to categorize others as possessing the same level of creativity as artists. Well, I realized most of these people are artists. Maybe they’re prideful of being more creative in their eyes than people of other professions. Maybe they are greedy and want to claim all terms relating to creativity as their own. To all those artists: I thank you for your work and love what you do, but I personally, do not believe that is the only kind of creativity.

If you still disagree with me and believe creative should stay in its place as an adjective, then I guess we will have to agree to disagree. No matter what you believe about the actual word, I think we can all agree that these types of people are important. We need more people in the world who will speak up and generate new outlooks. I want people to test my views, move me to see things I have alway looked at in a new light. No two people are alike and in a world with so many minds, nothing should be impossible. We have been taught throughout history that conformity is not the answer and the world is in desperate need of open minds and new perspectives. That is your cue creatives. I challenge you to ask yourself what makes you unique, what new ideas can you bring to the table and what are you inspired to create?

Artwork by Gökhan Kodalak

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-Claira Carnevale

S-P-I-R-I-T, Spirit, let’s hear it!

Have you ever been curious as to where we got our fabulous school spirit and pride? The answers might surprise you…or at least peak your interest in the school we all know and love.

As students at this great university, we often show our support and school pride by wearing our school colors or sporting the UNCW seahawk. Did you know that our beloved color teal was not one of our original colors at all? It wasn’t until 2009 when Chancellor DePaolo and other university officials declared teal as our primary color. UNCW’s first batch of signature colors were the classic kelly green and yellow. These colors were actually decided upon by a group of students and were supposed to symbolize the ocean and the sand across the shore. However, there are many schools and teams that also showcase green and yellow as their own. In 1992 navy blue was added to enhance marketing opportunity and three years later, our current teal, gold, and blue were introduced as our brand.

Although learning or knowing about our school colors may seem arbitrary, it is important to all aspects of what make our beloved school more than just a place of education. UNCW is a place we as students and members of a community can come together as one, to learn and grow as people and to be united as Seahawks. Our university has come a long way from their green and yellow beginning, and so have the members that make it up.

Today you can find Seahawk gear in all kinds of colors, ranging from blue, to grey, to even pink. If you are interested in purchasing UNCW spirit or learn more on our schools history or traditions check out these cites:

https://www.uncw.edu/aboutuncw/aboutHistory.html

https://uncw.edu/licensing/documents/athletics_logo_StyleGuide.pdf

https://uncw.edu/bookstore/

– Olivia Austin

UNC by the Sea? UNC Wrightsville? The University of North Carolina Wilmington has heard it all. Being located in a popular beach town, UNCW has often been branded as a typical “beach school”. Students walk barefoot down Chancellor’s Walk, ready to catch a tan and surf the biggest waves after class; the typical stereotype of a UNCW student. But, UNCW has much more to offer.

UNCW takes priority in providing students with a quality education. With over 60 majors across 5 different schools on campus, the university has plenty to offer students wishing to pursue a higher education. UNCW also makes sure that the students are a priority. Students should get the experience that they pay for. Giving students the opportunities to build a community with one another, UNCW makes sure that their students have fun and stay engaged through various campus organizations, clubs, and events that bring students the best experiences possible.

As a university mascot, the Seahawk represents the true nature of UNCW’s students- the drive to soar for success. As Seahawks, we are not afraid to take the steps necessary to better our futures. Whether we know it or not, the Seahawk will always be an important part of our own personal brand. UNCW has taken great strides to make sure that the university brand is something that is taken serious. The university makes sure that they hold themselves to high expectations regarding the quality of their academics and campus life compared to its perception as a “chill”, “laid back” school for beach goers.

 

–Logan Matthews

Being one of the most successful and influential musicians of the 20th century, there are few musicians as critically acclaimed as Sir Paul McCartney. Today, the man is 76 years old and still touring around the world as if he was in his prime with the Beatles in the 1960’s or Wings in the 1970’s. Though McCartney is certainly beloved and appreciated for his music, he has not been as relevant in recent decades since the 1980’s. Paul’s album Tug of War from 1982 was the last time he scored a number one hit on the U.S album charts… Until this year.

On September 7^th, 2018, McCartney released an album he had been working on for a few years called Egypt Station. Not only did this become his first number one album in the U.S charts since 1982, but it was the first Paul McCartney solo album to debut at the top of the U.S charts. When I heard McCartney had scored his first number one U.S album in 36 years, I had to give the album a listen. When I did, I thought the album was… well… good?

Don’t get me wrong, as to be expected with McCartney, it was a really good album. However, to me it didn’t really seem to stand out any more than Paul’s other 21^st century releases such as 2013’s New or 2007’s Memory Almost Full. To me, it was just another good McCartney album to add to his resume of countless other good McCartney albums. So then why did this one do exponentially better than its predecessors from recent decades? I was baffled initially, but then it all became clear. It was the stellar promotional marketing strategies that McCartney and his team were putting into play.

Promotional marketing is a sort of message that motivates an audience to make a purchase or investment with a brand. McCartney’s promotional marketing for the album all began in June, when teasers for a new McCartney project were being posted in the form of pictures of McCartney playing various instruments as well as cryptic symbols (that later ended up being pieces of the album cover) all over his social media pages.

About a week later on McCartney’s birthday, Egypt Station was revealed. The marketing strategies leading up to its release continued. McCartney continued to keep his social media pages overflowing with little teasers and bits about the album. On June 19^th, two singles (“Come On To Me” and “I Don’t Know”) were released to the public.

James Corden’s “Carpool Karaoke” segment in June featured himself and Paul McCartney driving around Paul’s hometown of Liverpool singing Beatles songs and exploring historical sites relevant to the Beatles and McCartney. The special ended with Paul playing a surprise concert in Liverpool’s philharmonic Dining rooms. This special was broadcast in conjunction with the release of the Egypt Station singles, where it was viewed over 100 million times (with 34 million views on YouTube as of the time of this post).

The following month he also held a social media contest where fans were asked to post a short video on why they should be chosen to attend a secret Paul McCartney concert with the hashtag #UnderTheStaircase (cryptically referring to Abbey Road studios having a large staircase that leads down into the studio rooms). The winners were treated to a private McCartney concert at the famous Abbey Road Studios where the Beatles recorded most of their songs. Paul ended up playing four songs from the Egypt Station album at this concert. On top of all of this, McCartney announced his 2018-2019 “Freshen Up” tour (He’s coming to North Carolina in May 2019)!

McCartney was all over YouTube between June and September with various interviews and events such as a WIRED autocomplete interview, a GQ interview about his songwriting throughout the decades and a gritty unfiltered interview with Howard Stern. He was even featured on 60 minutes. Then on the day the album launched, to finish of his excellent marketing strategies leading up to release, he played a “surprise” concert at grand central station in New York where it was live streamed on YouTube.

I don’t think anyone expected a former Beatle to score a number one album in the year 2018. However, Paul McCartney’s Egypt Station is proof that if you are strategic and smart with any sort of promotional marketing, you can end up with results that blow all expectations out of the water.

-John Williams

All-natural/organic products are quickly making an appearance and dominating the shelves in many convenience stores. With millennials having a rise in interest and promoting a healthy lifestyle, it can be challenging for companies to devise  marketing strategies to keep their products afloat. Obviously, the demand is high for all-natural products, even despite the potential cost difference of other non-natural products. Here is how organic companies are marketing themselves to stay competitive:

1.They market through story-telling

Have you ever been attracted to a certain product or brand through the story it tells? This a common theme among brands in the organic market. Through story-telling, brands are able to connect with potential buyers and create a lasting bond. This technique often creates customer loyalty. For example, Dr.Bronner’s soap company has been around since 1948 and advocates “that we must realize our unity across religious & ethnic divides or perish: “We are All-One or None!” Still family-owned and run, Dr. Bronner’s honors its founder’s vision by continuing to make socially & environmentally responsible products of the highest quality, and by dedicating our profits to help make a better world”. The brand speaks on doing what is right and relays their story of the company in hopes to connect with their audience. Dr.Bronner’s is now a well-known all-natural soap that many use today.

2. They Keep it Simple

Organic products usually include very simple ingredients, therefore, brands tend to keep their campaigning very minimal. All-natural brands know that potential buyers may not know what “organic” or “all-natural” even means, and utilize basic words that are universal to everyone so that the meaning of the ingredients are easily understood. Keeping packaging and messages simple, help brands to better reach a wide variety of people across the world.

3.They find an influencer

Brands who find an influencer, increase word-of-mouth for their products. YouTube celebrities have been found to be effective marketers towards millenials and increase traffic for certain all-natural brands. Brands have to strategically think who would be a perfect candidate to endorse their products. For example, Ingrid Nilson, a famous YouTtuber, partners with brands all the time and endorses products she loves. She is known for a minimal lifestyle and using all-natural, GMO-free, and cruelty free products. Brands must be aware of who is endorsing their products and know that they truly value what the brand stands for.

4. They Utilize Social Media

Many of the well-known natural brands know the importance of social media now-a-days and are sure to make and appearance. They know that consistently posting on social media spreads awareness of the brand and the benefits its all-natural ingredients have on one’s health. Brands like Tom’s of Maine, interact with their audience daily and are able to directly answer individual questions as well as generate a sense of community.

 

Overall, all-natural brands are killing it when it comes to marketing. They are creatively getting their message across while still educating their audience of the wonderful benefits using organic/all-natural products offer. Next time you are in the store, pay attention to the marketing tactics these brands are using.

-Tally Pavel