Blog #3 Generative Research

Close to Me

What I can’t live without

My family – My parents are divorced, but I still have a really good relationship with each of them. My mom and I are incredibly close, and I can’t imagine life without her! She’s my go-to person for advice and support. I also am so fortunate to have my two younger brothers living in the same city with me now! I’m so appreciative to have such great siblings. As the oldest sibling, I always felt like I looked out for them growing up. Now that we’ve gotten older, they equally look out for me. Just in the last week, this has happened: “Megan, want me to grill you dinner? Megan, you have a nail in your tire and you don’t have time to get it fixed? Don’t worry, I’ll go! Megan, need me to walk your dog?” I’m so loved, and I’m so lucky! I would do anything for my brothers.

My dog – I come home everyday to this sweet, cuddly and perpetually cheerful dog! Bentley leaps into my arms each time I walk into my apartment, and it makes me so happy! Bentley is three years old now, and he’s my buddy. When I moved out of the dorms and finally into an apartment my senior year of college, I really wanted a puppy. Bentley came to every college tennis match that I played in, and he thoroughly enjoyed college life. Bentley was loved by so many pet deprived college students (we were required to live three years in a dorm on campus). He’s a big fan of graduate school and life in Austin because there are so many dog friendly places.

Coffee – My addiction! In the last ten years, there has probably only been a few days that I haven’t had a cup of coffee.  A caramel macchiato is currently my favorite drink. My mornings feel so much brighter once I’ve had my caffeine fix.

Having good health – I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve never had any major health issues. I used to play tennis competitively. I unfortunately was plagued with minor injuries (a stress fracture in my foot and seemingly chronic tennis elbow). Luckily, these occurred separately but both lasted for over a year each. It made me appreciate playing a sport so much more when I was healthy. Playing without pain is such a good feeling. I want to be able to stay active! I never take my health for granted, and I want to always be able to live my life to the fullest.

What I care about

Exercise – This is an important part of my life. I don’t consider myself naturally very athletic, but rather I am disciplined when I want to learn a sport. My family plays tennis, and it was something I started doing at an early age. I played competitively for most of my life, and the last two years I have taken a break. I really want to get back into it! Now, I practice yoga four times a week at a nearby Austin studio. I enjoy exercise that provides a mind/body connection. I exercise because I think it’s fun! I have always enjoyed individual sports, but also like being part of a team!  

Travel – I wish I could travel more! I had never been outside of the United States until I decided to study abroad. While working towards my undergraduate degree, I was able to take a two-week business course in Europe. Then, I was able to spend an amazing semester in Sydney, Australia.  I was also fortunate enough to work on my language skills while spending a summer in Madrid, Spain. Every opportunity to travel has been such a learning experience for me.  I enjoy learning about different cultures, and gaining an understanding for how people live in different parts of the world. I also like the sense of adventure, and the feeling of accomplishment after trying new things (i.e. food, watersports, skydiving).

Education – Speaking of learning experiences, I always want to challenge myself to learn more. Maybe it’s a little nerdy, but I really do enjoy it.  It’s always been my goal to earn a master’s degree, and I’m less than a year away from achieving this.  Although this is probably the last of my formal education (not doing the PhD route), I want to continually be a student. I could see myself taking a cooking class, trying an online course outside of communications and getting a Google analytics certification.

Digital Ecosystem

Web search: I search the web as my main source of news and information. If I have a question about something, I will immediately look it up. I use Google to search for relevant news related to class topics, and often look up news during my internship. I frequent AdAge and Adweek on a daily basis. I prefer searching the web from my computer, but find myself looking at mobile websites because I am on the go.

Social media (Facebook/Twitter): I use this all the time! I’m always commuting somewhere, and Twitter is such an easy way for me to get quick snippets of news. I often scroll my Twitter feed when riding the bus to campus. I don’t tweet very much content. However, I do like following business people, my friends and news sources that interest me. For example, I follow:  Ted Talks, Fast Company Design, Forbes, E! News, Advertising Age and Freakonomics. I check Facebook more out of habit rather than as a news source. I rarely post status updates, but I do like sharing and viewing pictures of my friends.

Blogs: Since I’ve been trying to learn web analytics, I’ve been trying to read more blogs relating to digital insights. I’ve been trying to read more of Occam’s Razor by Avinash Kaushik. I also try to browse relevant advertising blogs. I think it’s interesting when brands create blogs that are a combination of noteworthy content coupled with subtle promotions. I like reading blogs that reveal a personality about a brand or company. I contribute to my company’s blog, and often read an array of thought-provoking content posted by my coworkers.

 My typical weekday

1) Wake-up/Getting Ready for the Day.  I wake up to the sound of multiple alarms going off, and my dog is nudging me to take him outside. I never want to wake up, but I force myself to get out of bed between 7 to 7:30am each day. I try to wake up by using my phone as a source of information. First, I check my email. Then, I look at my social media feeds (Twitter and Facebook) to read local and national news. I also look at my calendar for any new event notifications applicable to my internship. There are numerous new daily calendar-meeting invites! I also check the weather to see how I should dress for work. It’s also nice to know it’s not raining before I walk outside with my dog! I definitely take in a lot of information as I’m trying to wake up and prepare for my day!

2) Internship. I’m at my computer most of the day.  I’m checking my email and calendar to stay up to date with the meetings scheduled for the week. I often browse the web, national news, entertainment activities, and community activities as they pertain to my job and client. I try to keep up with current industry trends, and send my team a weekly email with relevant articles that I’ve come across during the week. I use different databases to access advertising information for certain periods of time. I also check social media campaigns of competitors of our client, and synthesize this information for my team. I access a lot of information during this time!

3)Making dinner. I’m not much of a chef, but this gives me the chance to unwind from the day. My best friend from high school and his girlfriend now conveniently live in the same apartment complex as I do. We make dinner (also with my brother) at least once a week together. Sometimes, we’ll go grocery shopping together as we plan our meal. We swap new recipes that we’ve found online; we talk about our busy schedules, and discuss interesting news.  I usually like to talk about news pertaining to the advertising industry, and they like to discuss public affairs and financial news.  It’s an interesting information swap! We’ll have the TV on as background noise, and sometimes we’ll put on a movie.  If our dinner looks really good, one of them will snap a picture to post on Instagram or Facebook. After dinner, I usually am back on the web to start doing homework for the rest of the evening!