Crystal Amberlyn

Entering college, I knew my life would experience little change. As other students traveled to campus from hours away, I hopped in my car and drove a whole two minutes. As students said goodbye to their parents, met their roommates and decorated their dorms, I had the same house with the same room I had in high school. There was no need to say goodbye to my mother because I would see her every day. Commuting to college definitely has its benefits, but looking back, I wish I would have done things differently. No, I am not saying I wish I would have lived on campus. I only wish I understood the importance of change. As a freshman at Ohio Northern University, I wish I knew to go outside of my comfort zone and most of all, be myself. As a junior, I look back on the past two years and realize there is so much more I could have experienced. So many organizations I could have joined, and so many more friends I could have made. As a commuter, going home was more tempting than going to an

It is the last week of November which means Christmas is right around the corner. As Christmas trees are set up in front of the windows of houses and holiday ads are stuffed in mailboxes, I cannot help but remember being a child writing my wish list to Santa. Since I am older now, I am clearly not asking for fun items such as a new doll or the famous Fingerlings. I may be considered too old to write a Christmas list, but this does not spoil the fun! ·        Spyro Reignited Trilogy When I was young, I grew up playing Spyro on my PlayStation 1. Recently, the Spyro Reignited Trilogy game was released for PlayStation 4. This game including the original Spyro trilogy completely remastered. I cannot wait to play it! ·        A Laptop Case As a graphic design student, I am on my laptop all the time. Must I explain this item further? ·        A weighted blanket While browsing online, I have seen a lot about weighted blankets. I love blankets in general, so

Happy Thanksgiving! Today is the day families gather, eat good food and give thanks. Sadly, I do not commonly think to stop and give thanks until this day comes. In fact, I am sure I am not the only one. Of course, Thanksgiving should not be the only day we show gratitude for what we have. Being thankful is not only a good thing to do, it also has physical and emotional benefits. This video explains how an “attitude of gratitude” can greatly improve your overall well-being. With that said, I would like to dedicate this blog to things in which I am thankful. I am thankful for:   God: Originally, I was going to say life, but then I remembered I would not have the life I have if it was not for God. No matter how rough things get, I am thankful to be alive and build my own story. My Family: No matter how irritating my family can get, they are always there for me and support me in everything I do. My mom raised me as a single mother most of my life. I know it was not eas

Halloween has passed, and Thanksgiving is nearly here. This means fall semester is almost over! After a week off for Thanksgiving break, there is only two short weeks of classes and finals to follow. I should be looking at this final stretch with excitement. I should be wishing for the time to pass faster, but I what I really want is the exact opposite. Out of all the semesters I have taken at Ohio Northern University, this one has been the most stressful. My schedule consists of two design courses, two history courses and two communications courses. Of these six classes, four have large final projects, and two have final papers with presentations. I feel I would normally be able to handle these finals well, but extra assignments interrupt me from working on the larger projects. Therefore, my Thanksgiving break is not a break at all. My break will consist of me sitting in front of my computer catching up on every project, paper and presentation I can. Of course, school wo

Most people would agree part of what makes going out a date is one person pays for the other. It is almost expected. If you are like me, you think this is a stupid requirement. It does make sense and is acceptable if you are married or in a relationship, but I do not see how it is necessary in the early stages of dating. Personally, I prefer to “go Dutch.” For those who have not heard this term before, going Dutch means the couple pays separately on a date. Yes, this is uncommon and seems to have a negative connotation, but I do not see it as a bad thing. First, when a male takes a female on a date, he is almost expected to pay for the female. I think this has become the norm due to the gender stereotype which implies men should take care of women. Now, I am not saying this is bad, but it can be unfair. Now in days, both men and women work and make their own income. Therefore, why couldn’t each individual use the money they make to pay for their food, movie or whatever else t

How could I pass the opportunity to write about Halloween? When you are 20 years old, it is a little odd to dress up and go trick-or-treating. Although this is true, it is still possible to dress up and have fun!  Every year, the department of art and design at Ohio Northern University holds a student and faculty Halloween party. Organizations AIGA, the professional association for design, and Kappa Pi, the art and design honorary fraternity, help put on the party. Preparation for the party begins in the classroom. Professor Brit Rowe assigns first-year graphic design majors to design a spooky poster for the event. After the completion of the assignment, one design is chosen and hung throughout the Wilson art building. When the day finally comes, it is time to party! Of course, costumes are a necessity. This year, I dressed up as a moth. I also walked with a lamp to refer to the moth and lamp memes. Also, you cannot have a party without food or activities! Everyone br

My brother and I have never seen eye to eye. In all honesty, he has always been a big pain. I would have never imagined writing about my big brother but after learning more about him and what he does, I have come to find pride in calling him family. First, I will not disclose my brother’s name nor where he works due to his position. What I will disclose is what his position is and what he does with this position. So, what does my brother do? My brother is a drug enforcement detective for a county police station. I have always seen characters in TV shows who are detectives, but I have never heard of their existence in real life. As his title implies, he is a detective who specializes in drug enforcement. This means he works to catch and penalize people who buy and/or sell drugs illegally.   How he does this is quite interesting. First, the department gets a lead. A lead is information about who and where someone may be buying or selling. Detectives will then go und

As much as we would like to think otherwise, money is a necessity in today’s world, and it is generally understood people must work to make money. Therefore, work has a value, and this can include both money value and personal value. When working as an employee for a company, there little to no complications with getting paid. You are paid for the work you do or the hours you have worked. I have found it is when you are asked to work outside of your job things become complicated with payment.  This can happen with anyone in any field, but I have experienced this a lot as an artist and graphic designer. Through my experience, there are two complications with payment when working for someone outside of your work. The first and most common is the client or customer expects to pay little to nothing for your work . The second complication is the client or customer is unorganized in how and when they pay you . This can be very frustrating for the one doing the work because as I said

Temple of Tolerance, Wapakoneta, Ohio. In college, not having to go to class is a blessing. Therefore, breaks are always starred or highlighted in one’s calendar.  October 8 th and 9 th was Ohio Northern University’s fall break. Many students took the opportunity to go home and relax and/or take a trip. Things are a different for me since I live in the same town as the University. Clearly, I did not sit around and do nothing over fall break. So, what did I do? Believe it or not, there are some interesting things to do not too far from the small town of Ada, Ohio.  My first fall break adventure was spontaneous. I had the day to myself, so why not do something I enjoy. Therefore, I went shopping in Findlay, Ohio. Of course, I did not need anything, but I love looking for things I might want and possibly buy them. I stopped at Gabe’s, Bath and Body Works and my favorite store, T.J. Maxx. As I left the city with my loot, a sign caught my attention. I have gone to Findlay numero

What is a better way to give college students an exciting study break and bring together the campus community than a zoo experience? Plus, it is entirely free! On October 2, 2018, the Ohio Northern University Student Planning Committee (SPC) and Ada Friends presented Zoo to ONU. Through my experience, I can verify the event was a lot of fun and a huge success! This year’s Zoo to ONU event featured a bounce house, basketball connect four, a caricature artist and of course, animals from the Toledo Zoo. Toledo Zoo zookeepers provided carrots for visitors to feed the kangaroos, sheep and goats as well as a camel, alpaca, steer and mini zebu. Not only did the animals get fed, they got a lot of attention! Once the students and children got their fill of the furry friends, the students ran to get their portraits drawn by the caricature artist, and the children exhausted their energy jumping in the bounce house and shooting basketballs. When the event was over, students, famili

Everyone is afraid of something. The question is whether the fears we have are rational or irrational.   If you look at the many different definitions of phobia, you’ll find what differentiates a fear and a phobia is the rationality, intensity, and symptoms of the fear. Phobias are intense fears that are manly irrational or exaggerated and result in symptoms related to anxiety. Although phobias are considerably worse than fears, they are just as common. So, why did I decide to talk about phobias? Just as many other people in this world, I have a phobia. Therefore, I was interested in learning more about them. HelpGuide.org provided a great article for me to do so, and you can find it here .   Luckily, when you have an irrational fear, you are aware it is irrational. My irrational fear or phobia is of walking or driving up or down steep hills. This is because I fear losing my stability and falling down the hill uncontrollably. I have even had nightmares about this! My phobia

When you commute to your campus from home, it can be hard to fight the urge to go home to your couch as soon as classes end for the day. I have personally experienced this. Entering college, I knew I wanted to meet new people and get involved on campus. Unfortunately, I have not been able to do so to the extent I have wished. Going into my third year of college, I have ceased many opportunities to get involved. This year, I have taken up three leadership positions as well as joined three extra student organizations. I am currently president of AIGA , the professional association for design, vice president of Kappa Pi and the communications specialist for Polar Rhythms at Ohio Northern University. Kappa Pi is an art and design honorary fraternity, and Polar Rhythms is a student a cappella group on campus. The three student organizations I have joined are Student Planning Committee (SPC) , Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) and True North PR firm. I am mo

I am not a crazy cat lady but, in all honesty, I do not know if I could love anything more than my cat, Adobe. After watching the Disney classic, “The Aristocats,” I went to my mom with a random thought. “Do you know what would be cute? A white cat named ‘Duchess’,” I said. “Well, my friend from work has a cat with kittens,” she replied. “I think he said one was white.” My eyes widened, and my mom instantly regretted saying a word. Of course, it took some charm and good reasoning to convince my mother to let me have a kitten. My mother’s main argument was we already had a cat. “Two cats are too much work,” she said. Yes, T.J. was very loving, but he never felt like my cat. He was my mom’s cat. I wanted an animal to call mine. An animal I can raise throughout its lifetime. I also argued T.J. was an old and overweight housecat. Therefore, why not give him company? Clearly, my mother could not counter my reasoning. Once the kitten was old enough, I picked it up and brought home the

For the past three years, I felt my future was planned and certain. I could look down at the end of the tunnel and see an inviting light. I was content with my future but in a split second, the light was gone. Now, all I am left with is darkness and uncertainty.   As humans, it is almost a natural desire to find a partner we wish to spend the rest of our lives with. Some people may tell themselves or others they only want company, not a relationship, but even they tend to give in, fall in love and marry. When I was a junior in high school, I thought I met “the one.” The man I would marry and have a happy life with. If this was true, there would be no need for this blog. This summer, my life was turned upside down. For three years, I have been with one man. The one I crossed my fingers and prayed I would marry. The majority of my time was spent with him. A life without him was unimaginable. In June, for reasons I do not feel the need to explain, we separated. It was mutua

Last summer, I had the amazing opportunity to complete an internship at Ohio Northern University’s office of communications and marketing. If you did not know already, I am a graphic design student at Ohio Northern University (ONU). Since I live two minutes from the university, this opportunity was very convenient. Although I did not have to travel far, I had a helpful experience which taught me many lessons and skills. The transition from the classroom to the workplace in my profession was difficult for me. In the classroom, there were set steps which were monitored and graded by the professor. Other students in the class gave feedback as well to improve your designs. For my internship, this was not the case. I was given a project and once completed, I sent the completed work back. Rarely would I receive any feedback at all. This was stressful and often lead to me questioning myself and my work. It felt as if my training wheels were removed, and I was given the full responsibi

This year, I added a social media minor. Whether it was a mistake or not, I am still unsure. Social media principles is a required course for the minor. During this course, I have worked a lot, learned a lot and cried a lot. Overall, the class was enjoyable, but I do have some suggestions. Entering this course, I heard it required a lot of work, but I was up for the challenge. I admit I became very stressed hearing I would have to blog three times a week as well as learn and use The Associated Press writing style. In the end, I actually found this to be an enjoyable challenge. Through this course, I was expecting to learn the many different social media platforms as well as how to best use them for business purposes. This was successfully taught, but it went a little further than expected. The content of the last book, “Measure What Matters,” went far above my head. Personally, I felt it went too far toward marketing and public relations than social media. As a graphic design

My mother and I are Christians. Through the years, my mother has told me of times she had seen angels or other signs of God.   Some may think they are only stories or exaggerations. Honestly, I cannot say whether they are or not, but I trust my mother to be true. Now, I understand and respect not everyone is Christian, and this blog does not intend to change anyone’s religious beliefs. I only wish to share my mother’s spiritual encounters I have grown up hearing so much about. The first spiritual encounter my mother had was shortly before the birth of my brother Jacob in 1985. She said, “ A beautiful angel appeared to me in my sleep, and I was amazed at her presence. She told me she had come to give me a message. The message was, ‘Blessed is Jacob.’” My mother could not believe what she saw. She is not sure why it happened or why her baby was blessed. It never happened with her other two children. I have personally heard this story many times, but she is hesitant to tell others b

When you think you have found the one, it is common to want to let everyone know. Therefore, you spread the word through social media. You change your relationship status on Facebook, and you put your anniversary date in your bio on Instagram. Is this wrong? Not exactly, but Andrew Arnold explains in his article social media can have a negative impact on your relationship if you let it. Some may think this is another hoax to get people off social media, but Havas Media conducted a study which shows the true impact social media has on people. Their survey found nearly one-third of participants exaggerate on social media, including about their relationships. Also, 68% said they have used social media to check on ex-partners, and 75% said they feel social media can destroy or harm relationships. Why is this? Well, Arnold explains, “this is most likely because social media has a way of creating insecurities and frictions, and young people find a need to present themselves and th

People have reputations and so do companies. In both situations, they mean a lot. The main difference is a person will survive if he or she has a bad reputation, but a company may not. In “Measure What Matters,” Katie Paine explains how your company’s reputation can have large effects on its success. Through my experience as a consumer, I have noticed once a company’s reputation turns negative in my mind, it can be hard to turn it around. Therefore, it is important to pay close attention to your reputation and be prepared when a threat to your reputation arrives. Paine explains “crises occur when events threaten your reputation.” Some crises are bound to occur, but they can possibly be avoided. First, listen carefully to your audience. Notice how Paine adds “carefully.” What are their complaints? What do they value about your company? If your customers value your products are made in America, odds are it is not best to move your production to China. Also, it is really important