Marisa Who? ... My "About Me"

About me- Hmmm, when I really sit down to think about how to explain myself, a few important characteristics come to mind: Flagler College women’s soccer team captain, soon-to-be college graduate,  sister to two, daughter, and bride-to-be.

                I think the best way to break down my “About Me” would be to elaborate on each of those key characteristics that first popped into my mind.

First, I am the Flagler College women’s soccer team captain. I think that this was first on my brain because it has, and always will be, one of my biggest and best accomplishments Since I was four years old, soccer has been my life. When I say “soccer has been my life”, I MEAN IT. It’s one of those ‘eat, sleep, breathe, and live for soccer’ kind of situations. I’ve done it all. I’ve traveled not only the nation, but the world, for soccer! I worked my entire life for this sport. From missing proms and homecomings, to missing parties and dates with the most popular boy in high school, soccer has ran my life. So, to have the ability to say that I’ve worked my entire life to get to the point that I am currently, which is to be the captain of my college team, I’d say that that is easily my biggest and most proud accomplishment to date.

Second, I am a soon-to-be college graduate, and when I say ‘soon-to-be’, I mean SOON-to-be. Graduation is in exactly 29 days, and yes, I am counting. I thought senioritis was the plague in high school, but that seems like a walk in the park compared to collegiate senioritis. Though I’m sure that after graduation, when I’m in the real world, I’ll be wishing I was back in my beach house and playing soccer every day at Flagler College, I still cannot wait to tackle the next adventure in my life. Flagler College will always hold a special place in my heart, but I cannot wait for April 20^th to hit, and I am able to say, “Look guys- I am a Flagler College alumni”. And the best part is, I am the first person in my immediate family to graduate from college, so that really puts the cherry on top!

Third, I am a sister. A sister to two of the single most amazing people I have ever encountered.  I have an older sister and a younger brother. Yes, I am a middle child. And yes, before you ask, I am the epitome of a middle child: always wanting to be the center of attention, always getting the blame for everything, etc. My older sister, Meagan, is the sweetest/brattiest person I’ve ever met. She is a walking contradiction. She will do anything for my brother and I. She would give her life for us. Though she only stands 4-foot, 11-inches, she is a dynamite. Her ability to make anyone feel comfortable in any situation is beyond me. She can calm your soul with a simple flutter of her eyes. But, she knows it, and this is where her cattiness resides. She is a DIVA. And when I say diva, I mean it. If something doesn’t go her way- oh man, I’d run. (And now she’s pregnant, so those pregnancy hormones are kicking in-- I should probably just stay at Flagler for the next nine months.) But then there’s my tender-hearted little brother, Logan. He is the sweetest boy I have ever met. He is emotionally one of the most sensitive people on the face of this earth, but physically, he is a monster. He is a 6-foot, 5-inch basketball star. At only 16 years of age, he is already being scouted by some big named colleges. My brother and sister make up my entire being; they are my heart and soul.

Fourth, I am a daughter. My mother is everything I wish to be. She’s beautiful, smart, funny, athletic, driven and successful. She immediately brightens a room when she walks into it. She can talk to anyone. ANYONE. She’s my best friend- there is no other way to put it. When I was younger, I thought my mother was a princess. I only hope that my future children look up to me the way that I look up to my mom. As for my father, he is a tough cookie (or tries to be). My brother and sister haven’t seemed to figure him out, but I have. If there is anyone in the house who can break through my father’s “tough guy” exterior, it’s me! He and I have a special bond that cannot be put into words. My best way to explain our relationship is that his strength is making me stronger. He is my backbone. He always will be.

 

Lastly, and with complete and utter happiness, I can say, “I AM A BRIDE-TO-BE!!!!” Yes, I’m only 22 years old, but I have found my soul mate. Davis Christian Falk asked me to be his wife on October 20, 2012. As you know from reading this, I play soccer at Flagler College. Well, Davis, being the adorable man that he is, proposed to be in the most perfect way EVER! Here’s how: October 20^th marked “Senior Day” for the Flagler College women’s soccer team. This is a day, that marks the last home game of the season, which is the senior’s last home game ever. We have a huge ceremony before the game to honor the seniors. Then, our attention focuses on winning that game. After the game, there is a huge BBQ on the field, where all of our teammates friends, families and loved ones eat and celebrate our seniors. Well, right when the BBQ first began, everyone on my team decided to take a team picture, which is a totally normal thing to do for my camera-obsessed teammates. So, we all arrange ourselves in a camera-friendly fashion. I, of course, am holding my coach’s son, who has a huge crush on me. All of a sudden, Davis walks into our team picture. Naturally, I scream out, “Davis, what are you doing? This is a team picture!” and BOOM: he drops to one knee. My eyes immediately go black- they’re open, but I can’t see out of them. I don’t remember what he said. All I know is I get to spend the rest of my life with my best friend. We officially wed on March 8, 2014!

 

Well, there you have it. I am Marisa Jeanne Strawn (soon to be Marisa Jeanne Falk), and those five characteristics make up ME J

How To Build A Strong Social Media Presence

Building a strong social media presence may sound daunting… if you’re a 50+ aged parent who thinks the only important aspect about Facebook is the fact that your 16-year-old daughter spends too much time on it. But, when one really looks into actually building a personal presence on a social media platform, they will find that it is a lot more important in today’s world than they originally thought.

The first step in building a strong social media presence is simple- GET ON SOCIAL MEDIA! My suggestion would be to start simple: Facebook. Don’t jump into other sites, like Twitter, where hash tags and @-signs are flooding the page.

The templates on Facebook are all set out and user-friendly, which is probably what you want if you’re anything like the dad I spoke about above.

Add a picture, write a small about me and start searching for friends.  It’s that simple.

Not only will Facebook allow you to keep in contact with old friends (or maybe even spark the attention that long, lost, high school sweetheart), but it will make you more attractive to potential employers.

Building a strong social media presence is a key attribute in today’s job force. If you portray yourself in a negative manner online, chances are a company won’t pay you an ounce of thought. The key is to only post things you’d want your grandmother to see. If you think Grandma will be upset about you doing a keg-stand in your college roommate’s backyard, chances are it’s inappropriate for social media. My rule of thumb is to keep my pages professional. This way, no matter who is looking at my pages, I am always looked at as a responsible, professional adult.

Once you’ve got Facebook down, try to move onto other platforms. [Don’t worry, you can do it!] The more social media sites you are a part of, the more you can tell people about yourself.

Being a part of social media, as long as it’s positive, is crucial.

So whip out those high school graduation photos and log on- Facebook is waiting for you!

Personal Blog for Professor Tutt's 'Social Media for PR' class!!

Today is the one month anniversary of my engagement. I am overly blessed to be able to say that I have found the one I will spend the rest of my life with, at such a young age. It feels like everyone is searching for the love that we have found. It feels like I live in fairytale sometimes!

All my life I have dreamt about what my wedding day would look like, but now that it is becoming a reality… I am extremely scatter-brained.

Though both of our parents have offered to help diffuse the costs of all our wedding plans, Davis (my fiancé) and I have decided that we want to tackle the majority of it on our own. But, this doesn’t come easy when you’re both finishing your undergraduate degree and jobless. So that’s where “planning a wedding on a budget” comes in!

Through extensive research, I have found myself burring my nose into wedding planning books, using various social media sites to get budget-friendly ideas, and asking friends or family for any leftovers from their weddings! My personal favorite book would have to be “Plan the Perfect Wedding On A Small Budget”, by Elizabeth and Alex Lluch. Their book features real couple’s wedding plans and explains every little detail that went into that planning. I can’t even being to explain how much that has helped!

But, my overall favorite way to get budget-friendly wedding ideas is from Pinterest! It gives me the ability to make my own “board”, where I can put every idea, in an organized and visual manner. Pinterest has millions of wedding ideas, especially ones with brides on a budget. This almost seemed like a blessing to me, when I first started using it. It seemed to open up the door to many things I could have never imagined would fit into the budget of our wedding.

Attached at the bottom of this blog is a picture of my “wedding board” on Pinterest. There are so many D.I.Y wedding ideas, party favors, dectorations, you name it! They seem to have it all!
The use of this social media platform has brought light to so many potential wedding ideas that I originally threw out, due to our small budget. Thanks to Pinterest, my dream wedding is in the works. Now we just have to pick a date and start all of the actual planning!

…Here goes nothing

Podcast #2

Podcast #2

Processor Wysocki's Blog Post #4

Online privacy seems to be on the minds of many Americans these days, due to the immense growth in the use of various social media platforms.

These users are continuously being tracked, whether or not they set their personal profile to the "private setting".

Here's what happens: Internet surfers spend time looking at whatever pages they like, and private companies then track what they're looking at, then sell that information to other companies, who then turn it into governmental companies and/or law enforcement.

This tracking technology is becoming increasingly more sophisticated and is rapidly changing, which makes it virtually impossible for these Internet surfers to keep their surfing private.

There are multiple websites that offer help to these Internet users, to try to increase the privacy and lower this selling of information. They offer suggestions that can help one become more private or more aware of the tracking that they are being put into without permission. Some examples are maybe asking the government to make the users aware of what is being tracked, so they can then protect themselves, or even have these companies disclose how often they submit this information to the government. Either way, innocent Internet surfers should be made aware that they are being tracked, whether or not their information is actually being sold to the government.

I feel that many Americans would be shocked to know that so much of their information is being tracked and sold to the government or random law enforcements.

Though us Internet users are aware (hopefully) that everything we do on the Internet is open to be analyzed, it still probably isn't on their minds as they update their Facebooks, tweet, or find recipes on Pinterest. As one chooses to have their social media platforms to be private, that doesn't necessarily mean they are actually private to everyone, unless their allowed viewers. Here is the problem, American Internet users need to be educated on this issue, because I personally find it frightening that my Internet use can be tracked and sold to the government and law enforcement.

For anyone who also finds this frightening, use the link below to find examples of websites that can educate you on this topic and also give links to different webpages that can help you become more private.

http://www.aclu.org/technology-and-liberty/internet-privacy

Professor Wysocki's class- blog post #3

According to the Christian Science Monitor online magazine, the Pentagon futurologists that created the internet, are now attempting to begin a new era of cyberwarfare. They state that the Pentagon has always been open in regards to need of defense against potential cyperattacks, but their actual ability to attack enemies with cyberweapsons has always been a mystery.

​The Pentagon’s Defense Advance Research Products Agency has just launched “Plan X”, which is an effort to improve the offensive cyberwarfare capabilities “needed to dominate the cyber battlespace,” according to the announcement for the workshop.
​Though the Pentagon is making an effort to move in the right direction in the sense of defending ourselves to a cyber attack, it is still very concerning that many Americans don’t even know what the word “cyberwarfare” means. But, cyberwarfare is something that needs to be learned about and needs to have a defense against it.

​The Pentagon’s program is going to be closed to the press, but they are making it very clear that their program is going to help against potential cyberwarfare attack. I think that this extremely important that the government does do something to protect our internet usages and their program shows that preparing for this warfare is essential for any potential conventional war.

​Plan X looks at bids from groups that can help it plan for a cyberwarfare and then can expand it’s technology. This means that the window can open into the highly secretive world of offensive cyberwarfare and I feel that this defense movement is both necessary and crucial for protection.

​According to Jim Lewis, the director of the Technology and Public Policy programs at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, “If we have a robust public discussion of nuclear weapons, then why not a robust discussion for cyberstrategy? Up until now, cyber been kind of an ad hoc. What they’re doing now is saying that this is going to be a normal part of US Military operations.”

​I agree that the US military and government should indeed have some sort of defense against cyber warfare, but I don’t think that it should be a “robust public discussion” for the sole reason that word of mouth spreads very quickly. Meaning, if other countries or enemies found out about how we are going about defending against the warfare, then may then be able to find ways around our defenses.
​Cyberwarfare could potentially be an extremely aggressive warfare, so US government officials most definitely are doing the right thing by preparing for defenses against it.


http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2012/1012/Pentagon-s-Plan-X-how-it-could-change-cyberwarfare

Professor Wysocki's Podcast #1:


October 16, 2012

Link to Net Neutrality Podcast