Stephanie ’12 RSS feed

About Me:

My name is Steph, and I am a senior Marketing major with a Communication Studies minor. Since this is my last year at Butler, my main goal is to enjoy every moment that I have left, while doing as much as humanly possible. I am a marketing analyst at the Butler Business Accelerator, a Speakers Lab tutor, and a Butler blogger (obviously). I also am an Alpha Phi, the President of the Butler University Student Foundation, a member of Alpha Kappa Psi (a professional business fraternity), and a member of the Butler American Marketing Association. In the small amount of free time that I do have, I love crafting, watching large amounts of television, and enjoying my favorite comfort foods, like sweet tea.

Check us out on Facebook Follow us on Twitter! Butler's YouTube Channel Chat with a Student

Posts Tagged “Vera Bradley”

What Not to Wear: Butler Style

At Admissions events, the prospective students and their parents always ask us about the same things.  Safety on campus, the dorms, Greek Life, our majors, etc.  But a few months ago, I had a conversation with a future Butler student and her Mom about something completely new:  what people wear around campus.  This might sound like a silly topic, but I absolutely loved it, and I felt that it was something that I should share with all of you before I graduate in a few weeks.  So I will go over the wardrobe “staples” of an average Butler student… or just the things that I see basically everywhere.

  • Butler clothes – We are all pretty proud to be students here, and we love to show it!  So Butler sweatshirts, tshirts, sweatpants, and everything else from the Bookstore are always a staple.
  • Greek Letters – About 1/3 of campus is Greek, and you can definitely tell just by walking around campus.  We love our lettered shirts, and anything else that shows off our house.
  • Sperry’s – A lot of people at Butler are preppy, and we show it by wearing Sperry’s of all kinds.  They are also really comfortable and they go with basically everything…which always helps.
  • Uggs – Winters here are cold, so girls wear Uggs all the time.  I’ve never been an Ugg person…but most people on campus swear by them.
  • Vera Bradley – I obviously love Vera, since I interned there last summer and since I have an outrageous collection of the bags, but I definitely think that other people on campus are fans as well.  They sell Vera in the Bookstore, and you can see the gorgeous prints brightening up campus basically everywhere you go.
  • North Face…everything – Again, winters here are cold, and North Face jackets, hats, gloves, etc. obviously help with that.  There is also a North Face store at the Fashion Mall, which I absolutely love…

Even though people wear all of these brands/types of clothes a lot…everyone on campus has their own style.  So, if you are a prospective student, or better yet…a future Butler student, when you go to college…do your own thing.  Around here, a lot of people have a very J. Crew style or Anthropologie type style…but don’t be afraid to do your own thing and to be completely different.

One of my favorite pictures that shows off the many different styles of Room 11 – my room.

Senior Year Goal: Read a Book on the Mall

Last week I blogged about how I want to have a class outside sometime before I graduate…and this is somewhat of a continuation of that blog.  It might sound strange…and it kind of is.  So first, there are a few things that you need to understand.

  1. I never have free time.
  2. I read so much for class that I am usually burnt out on anything in book form.
  3. Since I don’t have free time and I read a lot more than I would like to already, I never read books.

I know, this is really sad.  I used to love to read…back in my Accelerated Reader days in Elementary School.  Then school kicked it up a notch and I haven’t had time to read ever since.  Sometimes I will read books over breaks though, like over Thanksgiving when I read The Help, or over Spring Break when I read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  I really loved reading both of these….and it made me realize that I actually do like reading…so I should probably try it more often.  Hence, my new senior year goal….to read a book on the mall.

Since I am so used to spending my only free time napping or watching TV, the first step will be to just read.  Then, once I get into that a little bit more…I might be able to drag myself off of my futon…and I’ll go outside.  I know, it sounds like a next to impossible task (and it really is), but I think that I can do it.  At least once…maybe??  Perhaps if I just remind myself of how much I loved reading on the beach over break, then it will be easier.  I can try at least, I guess?

My favorite reading spot... on my Vera Bradley towel... of course.

My Internship Timeline

Over the last few years, I’ve done a lot of internships.  Four to be exact…and they all have offered me something a bit different.  They have all been in different locations, they have all entailed different responsibilities, and they have all been awesome for different reasons.  So, I thought I would use this blog to talk a bit about each internship that I have had, and why it was/is great.

Pike County HTC

I worked with HTC (HomeTown Competitiveness) the summer before my Junior year.  PCHTC is a group that had formed in my community the year before, and their goal was to foster economic development and growth in the community.  So, I was the Marketing Intern, and I spent my summer advertising for the group and local businesses, planning events, and doing any little things that would be helpful for HTC.  It was a great internship because I was able to give back to my community, live at home, and it helped me get my feet wet in the business world.

Vera Bradley

Last summer (summer before Senior year), I worked for Vera Bradley in Fort Wayne, IN.  I worked with Human Resources as the Recruiting Intern, and I spent my summer helping out with the recruiting process in basically every way and developing a social media plan for recruiting.  This was a great opportunity for me because not only did it force me to live on my own in a new city for the first time, but I also learned an outrageous amount about business and recruiting.  Their formal internship program was absolutely wonderful, because I was able to learn about every single area of the company, while developing relationships with the other interns at Vera.

The store opening I attended while working with Vera Bradley…

Slingshot SEO

I worked at Slingshot during the first semester of my Senior year, and it turned out to be a really cool opportunity for me.  Not only was it the first time I got to work with an actual Marketing department, but during the semester I was able to see how companies handle organizational change.  Slingshot is a very young company (much different from Vera Bradley, an older  company) so things were constantly changing throughout the semester.  This was a great experience for me, because after graduation I will be working with a very similar company, so I now have at least a partial idea of what I should be expecting when I start my full-time job in June.  Also, working at Slingshot forced me to be serious about time management since I took 12 hours of class, worked close to 30 hours per week between all of my jobs, while holding 4 leadership positions in my clubs and organizations. 

Butler Business Accelerator

This is my current internship…and I’m totally loving it.  The BBA is an on-campus consulting firm located in the College of Business at Butler, which means that it is most definitely the most convenient of all of my jobs.  I work with some great people, all Butler students, some of which I knew beforehand and some of which I didn’t, and we just have a great time.  I am the Internal Marketing Intern, so it is my job to market the BBA, rather than work with any of our clients.  It’s fun, outrageously convenient, and I feel like it is allowing me to pull together all of my internships and everything I’ve learned in classes, so it is kind of like my Capstone Internship.  So fitting.

Next I’m going to blog about how to get internships…so check back tomorrow for an inside look into how I got each of these internships…and my tips for looking for them!

The Beginning of the End…of my Butler Career.

Last semester, I worked so much that I barely had time to study and I hardly even felt like a student.  I was this strange “phantom senior” who was only in my room between 11 p.m. and 7:30 a.m., and who lived out of my plethora of Vera Bradley bags.  Some people would love this kind of schedule…but I couldn’t stand it.  It was like I was living double lives, as a partial “real person” who worked 25+ hours a week, drank coffee, and who went to meetings to talk about things that involved budgets more than $500….and as a partial student who still took 12 credit hours, was overly involved, and lived in a sorority house.  It was a nice little introduction to my future….but I have got to say…I am so glad to be a student again.  I am now in class more than I’m at work, and I love it.  Granted, it is just the second week of school, and I actually have time to study/prepare for each class, but I think that my schedule this semester is going to allow for me to love every minute of my last few months here at Butler…and I couldn’t be happier.

So, in my last semester at Butler, I tried to make sure that I would be making the most of everything… classes, work experience, and campus life.  I’m taking 15 credit hours (which is not a ton, but not an easy load either), all of which I am really excited about.  I get to take my two business capstone courses (one for management and one for marketing), consumer behavior, international marketing, and a leadership & decision-making course for my minor (communication studies).  As far as work goes, I am still blogging, working in Speakers Lab, and I am doing my 4th internship at the Butler Business Accelerator (an on-campus consulting firm).  Even though I am still working 3 jobs, I’m working about half as much as I did last semester, which is absolutely BEAUTIFUL.  Since I am a second semester senior, I am also starting to “phase out” of most of my organizations.  I recently transitioned the new people that are taking over 3 of my past leadership positions, so I am outrageously excited to be a participant in campus activities for the first time in awhile…rather than being in charge.  We will see what I say in about a month, when school is really moving….but for now…I finally am loving senior year.  :)

Some Alpha Phi seniors on Bid Day...

Christmas – Check.

This year was officially the strangest Christmas Break that I have ever had, mostly because I was the only kid around my house for most of the time.  I was an only child for most of break because my sister and her husband didn’t get to our house until the 27th…so we postponed all of our Christmas traditions…like I mentioned in a previous blog.  Not going to lie…I threw myself a pretty big pity party for a few days.  Eventually…my sister and brother-in-law got here…and everything was just as it should be.  We opened gifts, made our usual Christmas dinner, had my Mom’s family over, and just had an all around great time.

Since this year was already turning out to be completely different than other years…I wondered how many things would change.  Don’t worry though… my family pulled through and we had a traditional family Christmas.  There are several things that go into our traditional family Christmas…

  • Watching Christmas Vacation
  • Renting tons of other movies
  • Sleeping…a lot
  • Laying on the couch
  • Eating awesome food (mostly meat)
  • Fighting

Don’t worry…there wasn’t too much fighting…my sister and I just like to show our love in very different ways….

Also…one of the biggest successes over Christmas Break was that I officially got my little cousins hooked on Vera Bradley.  Sorry family…you’ll really hate me in about 5-10 years…but aren’t they just precious??!!

The Life and Times of a Vera Bradley Fanatic

If you weren’t already aware, this summer I interned at Vera Bradley in Fort Wayne, IN.  This is where the company started, and where it is still headquartered today, almost 30 years later.  I wanted to intern for Vera because I heard great things about the company, the corporate culture, and of course…the bags.  I have a slight obsession…that every person notices when they walk into my room for the first time.  as soon as someone walks into our room, they see my closet…which is basically stocked full of Large Duffels, totes, and everything else Vera Bradley that doesn’t fit in other places around the room.  When I was taking pictures of my room for the blogs I posted earlier this week, I noticed how overrun with Vera that my room truly is.

So, I guess that this blog is serving as a way for me confront my issues (no matter how beautiful they are)….

Hi, my name is Stephanie, and I am an addict.  A Vera Bradley addict.

Prepare yourself…..

A few of my totes, duffels, and my Grand Traveler all live above my closet…

And….that’s it.  I know, I have entirely too much Vera Bradley…but I love being truly prepared for everything that I do as a college student, and that wouldn’t be possible without my 2 Totes, my Vera, my Messenger, and everything else that I use on a daily basis.  I also think it helps to note that I did receive a pretty amazing discount all summer long at my internship, which made buying most of these items much more affordable for my college student budget.

Fallon Phenomenon

Ever since flash mobs became all the rage…I have wanted to be in one.  I love to dance…and all of the commercials (and YouTube videos) of them are amazing.  Unfortunately, I’ve only had one opportunity to be in one once before (at the Vera Bradley Classic this summer), and I forgot to learn the dance in time….so that obviously didn’t work out.

I thought that my dream of being in a flash mob would never come true…until a few weeks ago…when Butler’s Student Affairs department organized one to get Jimmy Fallon to come to Butler (he will be broadcasting from Indy before the Super Bowl).  I love Jimmy Fallon, I love flash mobs, and I love Butler….so I was all over it.

*In the video, I’m in the front row, one of the girls holding the “Come Back Jimmy” sign.

YouTube Preview Image

In addition to the YouTube video, everyone at Butler has been tweeting with the hashtags, #JimmyBacktoButler and #Blue2onLateNight, and they have been posting the video on Facebook.  Hopefully, when Jimmy comes to Indy in a few months, he will visit Butler too.  Let’s be serious, who wouldn’t want to visit Butler anyway??

*Check out the #JimmyBacktoButler page for updates!

My Alter-Ego…Frozen Meal Connoisseur.

This summer I probably would have starved if it weren’t for Lean Cuisine, Michelinas, Smart Ones, and Healthy Choice.  It was always so easy to throw one of them in my Vera Bradley Let’s Do Lunch along with some fruit and some Wheat Thins right before I ran out the door for work in the morning (I literally ran out the door probably 3 days per week…I tend to run behind…a lot).  Since I ate them every day for lunch and sometimes for dinner, I would stock up on them at Meijer every time they were on sale.  After awhile, I kind of got tired of them, because after eating them every day…that’s what tends to happen.  So when I came back to school, I was glad to be removing myself from the monotony of always heating up my lunch…and to be eating real food for every meal again.

I didn’t think I would be sinking back into my frozen meal funk anytime soon…until I went to Wal-Mart the other day.  They were fixing my tire, so I wandered around the store until I found myself at the frozen entree section.  It probably wouldn’t have been too bad…except for the fact that I was super hungry…and the frozen meals looked delicious….and I went crazy.

Three-Cheese Ziti....

Turkey Medallions...

Ravioli Forentine...

Pizza....

Not going to lie…I can’t wait until I miss dinner at Alpha Phi….or until I don’t like dinner enough that I will break into my stash of frozen meals in the freezer.  Or…maybe I’ll go do that right now…I can make it my 9 p.m. snack.  Frozen meals are officially a college student’s best friend.

Back to School Crafting

Every time I move to a new place, or just a new room (which happens about 3 times a year…at least) I feel the need to craft.  I love making new things, and making sure that everything around me coordinates.  So….here is Round 1 of the things that I have crafted lately (and check back soon to see how everything fits together in my room!):

First off … the focal point of our room.  My roommate Brooke made these awesome crayon canvas things over the summer…so to make them stand out in our room, we mounted them on an old painting that I got at a yard sale for $1 over the summer.  I also spray painted the painting and frame, to make it actually match (and to cover up the awful picture underneath).

Our room’s focal point

To see how to make the crayon things….check out this tutorial. I even made my own last weekend!

Midway through the melting of the crayons…

To make our room feel more like home, we have a coffee table, and to make it more decorative, we have a bowl with decorative balls in it.  But since they are expensive, and I love recycling, I made some with the pages from my old Vera Bradley Blue Rhapsody planner.  More unique, and so much cheaper!

Our coffee table centerpiece…

For our other wall, I just recreated some things that I had already.  So I repainted an “A Phi” sign, replaced the fabric inside a frame to match, and hung something I made this summer as well.  I still want to make the white ball fit in better by making a new one or painting it, so we will see when that happens!

A little cluster of things…

For the first week, our side table was empty, so I slowly found things to decorate it with.  I fixed up an old bookend I found at a second hand store this summer, and I created some paint chip art in a frame I got at a yard sale (and I spray painted – to update it a bit).

Check out our fancy bookend….

To see more about how to make paint chip art, check out this tutorial.  I used two different colors (thank you, Wal-Mart), and just mixed them up a bit.  It was such an easy, but cool project!

The paint chips I used….

I also made some fun gifts this past week for my sister and my roommate, Lauren, (they both had birthdays this week) so I’ll be blogging about those as well – after my sister gets the package I sent her with her gifts in it.  I can’t let the cat out of the bag about what I made her before she gets it, right??  :)   (By the way, Happy 26th Birthday, Natalie!)