Back again!!

Hello again everybody!
I feel like it has been ages since I last entered a post on this blog! Even more weird is that I am now blogging about MY LAST YEAR OF SCHOOL!!!! WHAT?! What a crazy concept! Its almost hard to believe! Not that I've had too much time to dwell on the subject considering school has started just as busy as ever! I've started my thesis project! As of right now I'm thinking of basing my thesis on something to do with the low income sector of the American population. However, there are so many avenues to cover with this subject it's going to be tough to narrow it down to a manageable thesis question... So it's going to take a considerable amount of further research to decide what I really want to focus on. But I'm ok with that because I feel very passionate about the subject which makes it easier to devote so much time to it.
Anyway, to discuss a less stressful subject I'll tell you about my last semester abroad! Simply put: it was incredible. I was so amazed by everything I saw over there. Every single day I was there it was hard to believe what I was seeing and all of the new things that I was doing that I never imagined I would actually see and touch and experience! I loved the city of London itself but I also enjoyed how easy it was to travel from one city to another and see the rest of Europe! While I was over there I traveled to Prague, Berlin, Dublin, Scotland, and Spain. All of them were so different and incredible.
I think the most interesting thing about going abroad though is how much it teaches you about your own culture and what it really means to be an American. I think seeing other cultures, and other cultures' views of my own culture, really opened up my eyes to looking at America and the customs and beliefs I grew up with in a whole knew way.
For anyone thinking about going abroad I DEFINITELY recommended it! I think it's often times a different experience for everyone but I haven't met anyone who hasn't enjoyed or benefited from it. I think it definitely changed my ambitions for the future and opened my mind up to global possibilities I hadn't even considered before I left!
Well that's all for me at the moment! I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the end of the summer weather! Talk to you soon!
Leeanna

Leeanna in London

**Leeanna is studying abroad in London this semester through SU Abroad. She may not be able to keep up with her blog because she will be so busy! Please check back with her next semester. In the mean time, check out all the other blogs, including two other Interior Design majors - Nikki and Breanne.**
~VPA

Hey everybody!
Today we had our work study party! There was so much good food and it was nice to get together and hangout once and a while since I don't usually get to see all the work study students very often. Plus its not bad getting paid to eat either. Actually I found out that one of my work study friends is staying here for the summer to take summer classes! This was pretty exciting since I was thinking about spending the summer here too to find an internship and take some classes but I was worried about spending all my time alone since no one else would be here. But now I know some people staying in the area so it might be really fun! It will also take a lot of stress off of my senior year which will be nice.
This is the last week of classes! Yay! Luckily for me I worked really hard the week before Thanksgiving to get ahead in my projects so I'm not even that stressed at the moment! I even had time to get all of my Christmas shopping done this weekend! I have a HUGE family so Christmas shopping is a long process but my friend and I went to the outlets on Sunday and I'm finished! Things are looking up for the end of the year! Talk to you later!

Only three weeks left!!! Ahhh!! I can't believe the end of the semester is upon us so quickly! And its even more weird for me since I won't be coming back here at the end of Christmas break! I absolutely cannot wait to go abroad though so I'm not too upset about it, even though it will be sad to leave all of my friends behind who are not coming with me. It's pretty busy here for the next two weeks since all our final projects are due.. I have two big projects left to finish and then we get the last week, finals week, just to go over and redo any projects we weren't satisfied with over the semester. So the last week isn't as bad as the next two. On top of the last two projects we have our big end of the year party! This party is really fun and a great chance to see what all the other design departments have been working on. Every major in the warehouse and all of the faculty get together to celebrate the end of the year and there is also a competition! Every year faculty hand out the "gnomes awards." Basically, each faculty member has a little gnome that they award to a project they consider the best for any category they choose, this could be anywhere from presentation, to creativity, to something as simple as line weight. So what all the students do is get out their best project and display it on our desks in hopes of finding a little garden gnome on our desk by the end of the night. Haha It's slightly random but you would be surprised at how coveted a garden gnome can become.

Hey!
So we only have three more weeks of school left! Not including next week of course because it's Thanksgiving and we're really not in school. I'm excited but the end of the semester is kind of bittersweet since I'm going abroad next semester so this is really the end of my year here. Its weird! Like I already have to think of moving all my stuff out of my apartment! Even though I'm sad to leave all my friends who aren't going abroad behind I am so excited to go to London. I went to one of the orientation meetings this week and it made me look forward to going abroad even more. There are so many exciting opportunities there for traveling, field trips, and internships! And I can't wait to live in a completely different culture and experience a different lifestyle!
I'm also very excited because I found an interior design job over Christmas break. A woman my mom is friends with contacted me about redoing her daughter's room as a Christmas present! So I am meeting with her over Thanksgiving break to look at the room and take some measurements as well as to talk about ideas and a price range. I'm so excited though because even though I've had internships this is my first real interior design project that I am working on by myself! Hopefully we can come up with something she likes and maybe that will get my foot in the door for other small projects around the area. It just goes to show how important networking is. I think what I've learned most about networking is that it can come from the most random meetings and once you get the opening or opportunity you should really take advantage of it and take it seriously because you never know what will come from even the smallest jobs.
Well I hope everyone is doing well! Talk to you soon!
Leeanna

Hey!
So last week was our NeoCon field trip! The whole Junior Interior Design class took a field trip down to Baltimore to go to NeoCon and along the way we stopped in Washington D.C and Georgetown to visit some interior design firms! It was a good experience. Georgetown is so cute! All the brick apartment buildings along the water and the cute little shopping areas! I loved it! Plus coming from Syracuse it was so refreshing and such a treat to experience some 70 degree weather! We visited the firm HOK's office and it was pretty exciting since firms are starting to talk to us like we might actually work there some day! It's kind of weird yet cool to think that the firms I'm looking at now may actually be places of future employment. HOK is a pretty big firm and they have offices all over the world. They only do large commercial buildings and they look for versatile employees that have unique and daring ideas. Even though their size and success seem intimidating when we went to the office they all seemed pretty down to earth and nice people. I definitely liked the office and the company values even though I still don't know exactly what avenue of interior design I want to pursue.
NeoCon was pretty cool too! It was in the Baltimore Convention Center so the night before we all got to walk around the inner harbor area which is really pretty with some cute shopping areas. At NeoCon we saw a presentation by the founders of Hellman Chang who were both pretty funny and also really down to earth. We also met with a ton of manufacturers who showed us so many new and innovative products, many of them sustainable. My personal favorite was the ergoErgo chair, which I definitely recommend looking up for any health-minded people out there. It is like a stool almost, but more comfortable, and looks like a plastic spring. It gives you the same type of work out as sitting on an exercise ball, however, it doesn't roll around or tip over like an exercise ball does. I tried one out and they're actually really fun! They just constantly kind of sway back and forth and work out all your core muscles as you sit! The sales representative said they should come out around January... and I'm seriously considering investing in one! Other than meeting with sales reps there were some career advising sessions where professionals would speak to you about the interview process and look over your resumes and portfolios. It was a good experience over all and pretty beneficial. Well I hope you all are doing well! Until next time!
Leeanna

Hey again
So exciting news! Tomorrow we're headed to NeoCon!! yay!! If you don't know what NeoCon is I'll explain it to you a little bit so you can partake in my excitement. NeoCon is one of the biggest trade shows in the interior design field. All kinds of manufacturing companies will attend along with professional designers. It happens every year and this year it is located in Baltimore! It will be a great opportunity to see what's out there as far as products and get some samples of things to use in my projects. We also put together our portfolios and resumes to hand out to professionals in hopes of maybe getting some summer internships. Either way it will be a great networking and research opportunity and I am very excited. I have my new business casual outfit picked out and everything. On our trip we're also going to go to DC and tour some interior design studios which will also be fun and informative. We get to stay over in Baltimore too so that will be fun of course. Other than that I've just been working steadily on our projects! I've been trying to get everything done early since I'm leaving tomorrow and then its Halloween weekend! yay!! well I hope everything is going well for all of you! Until next time!
Leeanna