Check me out on Entirely Erica

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To the college grads: take it or leave it, here's my advice.

Dear Graduates,

Your overwhelming number of photos on Facebook with you donning black robes and holding newly appointed diplomas has inspired me to write you a love letter.

Four years ago, I was in your shoes, graduating from SUNY Geneseo after spending three wonderful years at a school I never even applied to out of high school. You see, when I was 18 I took a leap of faith and enrolled in the school that just happened to be the farthest distance away from my small town of all the schools I had been accepted to. After a semester, I decided it just wasn't for me. I ended up at a college that was just twenty minutes down the road from my high school. Somehow it all worked out.

That day in May 2010 was wonderful (despite having Chuck Schumer 'surprise' us graduates for a cheesy, self-promoting speech). I celebrated with family and friends later that day and then spent a month wasting time with my best friends until I took off for Virginia.

In the four years since crossing the stage at Geneseo, I have lived in several states, met the love of my life, adopted a puppy, graduated again (this time far less celebratory, but just as wonderful), and, oh yeah, started my career.

Maybe I'm not an expert on the subject of post-college life, but I thought I would share with you some of the lessons I have learned.

Missing: Emily, per the usual

1. It's okay to live with your parents, but don't be afraid to move out. There is an entire world out there to explore, so go see it! I have made a lot of dumb decisions, but traveling is not one of them. Living on your own gives you a sense of independence that you can only experience when you have a place to call your own. If you fail, hopefully you have a couple of awesome parents (like mine) who let you crash in your high school bedroom until you are ready for you next adventure.


2. Take jobs that you might think are beneath you. There is no experience more humbling than working in the service industry. Working for tips gave me more of a work ethic, introduced me to some fascinating people, and made me appreciate what people in service jobs go through on a day to day basis. I loved being a waitress. It was awesome hours, decent money, and when it was time to go home you could leave work at work. It also made me a helluva tipper! Respect!

3. There's always someone out there who has it far worse than you. I've quit a job. I've been let go from a job. I couldn't find a job. And at the end of the day I still got to go to bed with a full belly and a roof over my head. Don't take the little things for granted.

4. Your college friends will always be there for you, but you will meet some other pretty cool people outside your college bubble. Despite years and miles between us, some of my favorite friendships are the people I spent endless hours studying with in the library and drinking with at the Statesman. I've also met some wonderful people that I didn't share those memories with. At first it was like I was cheating on my friends with new people, but I soon realized that when you start to dig in a little bit, you may have things in common with people that you never would have considered had you not had an open mind. Be worldly. Ask questions.


5. Don't compare yourself to your peers. This might be the most important lesson I've learned. Just because everyone your age seems to be getting married, buying houses, having babies, accepting promotions, and every other exciting thing you could think of happening in your twenties, doesn't mean that you have to be at the same point as them. Everyone has their own path. Just focus on what you want and work hard to get it. Of course I'd love to be married and living in a big house of our own, but right now it's just not gonna happen. That's okay because we still have it all to look forward to and it will mean that much more!

6. Work before you go back to school. Unless you are dead set on a career and have never changed your mind on your career ambitions, take a few years off of school before enrolling again. Not only will you save thousands of dollars in student debt, you may just realize that what you thought you wanted just won't work. If I hadn't taken time off, I would have gone to school to get my MBA. However, taking time off from school introduced me to blogging and writing which led me to a Master's in Journalism. It was the smartest decision I ever made. Plus, you've been in school for the past 17 years. Don't you want to see what else is out there?

7. Just because you're a college graduate, doesn't mean that you are old. You're still so young! Stay out late. Splurge on those awesome shoes. Date douchebags. Drink way too much wine. And don't forget to travel!

I wish you all success, happiness, and lots of amazing experiences.

Congrats!
xoxo erica

My year as an NBA intern.

It's strange to think it's been a year since I worked for the Indiana Pacers. I'm one of the lucky few who can say that they have worked for a professional sports team, and it was by far the most exciting experience of my life. Technically, I was an intern, compensated only in carb-heavy media meals and excellent tickets to all Pacers home games, but it was worth it. I have never learned so much, so quickly.

Before getting to Indianapolis to study journalism, I had very little practical experience in the field. I knew that if I was to get the most out of my degree, I would have to have some real life experience to supplement the classwork. Fortunately, I fell into the role of digital marketing intern, and it was, for lack of a better adjective,  so cool.

Three of my classmates and I were interns for the website department. My bosses were exactly what you would expect guys who are behind sporting websites to be: sports geeks. The best kinds, of course :)

I remember the first home game like it was yesterday. I knew NOTHING about the NBA, besides Kobe and Lebron. I offered to sit in on the coach's press conference, because the alternative, going into the locker rooms, was just not going to happen on the first night. Sitting in press row is a unique experience. You're not there as a fan, but as an analyst. A third party viewer to a game. But I was just in awe to be at a pro basketball game.

I think my experience with the Pacers was the first time in my life that I actually recognized in the moment that what I was doing was so effing cool. Once I grew some.... ahem... gained some courage, I was in the locker room sticking a microphone in the face of Carmello Anthony, Paul George, Chris Paul, and the like. I was leaning over commentators like Craig Sager in order to get the right camera angle. I ate dinner with... okay a table away from... Stephen A. Smith. 

More than that, I was writing and shooting and editing and learning HTML code and working in a team of sports geeks like me. It was fascinating. 

As I semi-watched the Pacers-Heat game yesterday (because watching these games in their entirety stress me out) I remembered exactly how it felt to be there last year and watch the Indiana underdogs take the Heat to seven games. Adrenaline pumping. Fans screaming. Intensity felt even in the pre-game media room. It was electric.

The experience gave me a new perspective on sports. The people that are behind producing a game on television. The people behind the cheerleaders, the jumbotron, and yes, the website. I understand the game better. I feel like I know Frank Vogel and David West and Roy Hibbert (in a completely non-threatening way). 

So as the Pacers inevitably take the Heat to seven again this year, and somehow, miraculously make it to the finals, I wish my former colleagues lots of sleep, coffee, and those yummy cookies from the media room. May your Eastern Conference Finals be the best time of your life!

Beat the Heat!

My disappointment in Journalism.

So here's the deal.

I consider myself a 'journalist'. I have had enough professional experience in newsrooms, press rooms, media dining rooms, locker rooms, and classrooms that study the field to safely say that I know a thing or two about journalism.

However, there is a little part of me that is relieved to not be an active member of the media today. I've never seen so many ridiculous news stories in my life. I'm defining ridiculous as silly, irrelevant, covered way too extensively, clearly bi-partisan, or just plain wrong.

When did it become okay for the media to be more than just an outlet for delivering news? I'm so overwhelmed with all the messages that are being sent out into the Twitter-sphere, it's exhausting. Not only that, but there have been a myriad of stories that are poorly reported. I was always taught that reporting was the most important thing when writing your story. If you were struggling to write something, it's probably because you didn't do your reporting.


I chose to focus on sports journalism while in grad school, but even that niche is being muddled with bologna. It's no longer about the best athletes, the underdogs, the achievement, or a good game, it's about the story that can last the longest. What can get us more page views? How many more people will tune into our channel if we get the interview with him?

I realize that that's what it's all about... the money. But part of me really wished that journalism was different.

Maybe I look at it differently because of my time in school studying media. Maybe it's because I'm on the outside now, looking in. I'm simply disappointed in journalism. I find myself shaking my head at a news story every day, sometimes because of the content, but more often than not, because of the way it's reported.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Apologies for the absence of blogging as of late! Hoping to get back into things this week!

This past weekend was a weekend for my Mom. She celebrated her birthday on Saturday and Sunday, of course, was Mother's Day. This year I was lucky enough to spend the whole weekend with her. We couldn't have asked for better weather!

I'd just like to take the next 400 words or so and brag about my mom.

Each day my mom goes to work and takes care of other people's children. She works in a special needs classroom with kids that have autism, downs syndrome, learning disabilities, etc. There aren't many people who would have the patience, emotional strength, and discipline to take on a challenge like that, but I guess you don't know Cathy Rath that well. She is a certified teacher and has patiently waited her turn to have her own classroom. Of all the teachers I know, she is the most deserving of a classroom, but instead of getting angry about it, she sees every new step as a challenge and a learning experience. A lot of people may have given up in the meantime, but not Mom. She has one goal in mind: to be a teacher. Maybe she doesn't realize that she doesn't need a classroom to be an awesome teacher.

My mom is a straight shooter, something I'll never be. She walks around with a little attitude that makes me giggle, but then again she is married to my dad, which, if you know them, explains a lot :).  She loves kids, she loves her kids, and she instilled in each of her three daughters some of the most important qualities a woman could have in today's world. We are all independent, caring, spirited, creative problem solvers all because of Mom.

I could sit here and write about how my mom is the best mom in the world and you all would shake your head and disagree, explaining that your mom is actually the best. Fair enough. But my mom is the best mom to me, Emily, and Sarah.

She literally sat through every, single soccer game we ever played. She even watched every single softball game we ever played, and high school girls softball is BRUTAL to watch. She's traveled to Virginia, Texas, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and every corner of New York State to visit with us, watch us graduate, watch Emily get married, and just make sure we are okay.


Moms of her generation were some of the first to be working parents. I think there was a time in my mom's life when she thought she was letting us down because she was pursuing her dream of becoming a teacher. That couldn't be more wrong. In fact, I feel more confident today to chase my dreams because she proved that it can be done. For years and years, my mom labeled herself as a mom first. However, in the past six years or so, since we have all left the house to take on the world, she has come into her own.

I have a lot of my mom in me. Yesterday we were sitting around watching TV and the Kevin Durant MVP speech came on. She started crying. I realize then that behind mom's little attitude and straight-shooting exterior, she is deep and emotional. I get that quality from her, and being a writer, that is an exceptionally important thing.

So, now that I win the Daughter of the Year award for writing this, and my mom is reading this balling her eyes out, I just want to say thanks mom! For the life lessons, the trips to the mall, the pedicures, the chai lattes, the Twizzlers at soccer games, and for watching trashy TV with me. I love you!

What I'm Feeling Friday

This week, I want to let the pictures do the talking. Maybe it's that I haven't been in Rochester, New York during spring the past few years, but I need some color! Some flowers! Some sunshine! This 50 degree, cloudiness is nonsense. So this week I'm feeling...

SPRING!!

Quote of the week

An ode to friendship

I've been blessed with some wonderful friendships in my life. This past weekend I was reminded of some of those friendships that started while in college and it got me thinking...

I've had friends that I've grown up with. There are people in my life still today that I played youth soccer with. At the same time, some of my strongest friendships are just a few years old. People have come into my life at the right moments. Some of them have stayed a while, some have made a brief appearance, and some show up every now and then and then disappear again.

It's a funny song and dance and it's only recognizable when you stop and think about those friendships. My longest and strongest friendship seems to be tested by distance but rarely ever argument. Others have consisted of a lot of arguing in a short period of time. Some friendships are based on remembering good times. Others are built from going through the trenches together.

I've never been one of those people who need a group of people surrounding them. I would much rather have intimate conversation with one or two. My travelling has put some friendships on hold, and there are some that will probably be left in the past, but that doesn't mean you aren't my friend.

There's an argument that's often used when it comes to friendships: if it matters, then a person will make time for it.

But I'd like to debunk this argument...

There are people in my life who have mattered to me beyond their knowledge whether it be because they taught me something, or because they believed in me, or because they were just an ear that would listen when I needed it. There have been long friendships in my life that haven't meant as much to me as some brief relationships that may have ended because of distance or something else out of my control. Just because I haven't spoken to you in weeks or months or years, doesn't mean you don't matter to me. Just because I don't call you or text you, or because you may not get an invitation to my wedding or be a part of my children's lives, doesn't mean that you aren't my friend.

I don't think there needs to be an apology linked to not keeping in touch. Life goes on and people get busy. I'm not offended by the lack of contact, because I know that if we had a friendship at one time or another, then we mattered to each other then.

I guess what I'm trying to say is... friendships, more than any other relationship, should be fluid and permissible. There need not be judgment or malice put onto someone because a relationship has changed. The best friendships are those that can be picked up right where they are left off and the best feeling is hugging someone you haven't seen in years and knowing that you matter to that other person.

What I'm Feeling Friday

It's April 25 and it feels like mid-March. I'm ready for consistent warm weather already! Geesh!

Last weekend we had a wonderful surprise party for my Grandpa's 75th birthday. It was great to see him celebrate with pretty much the entire town of Scottsville. We then got together for Easter Sunday at my grandparents'. It's always nice to catch up with family and see how much the little cousins have grown up. I was also happy to spend some quality time with Dave, who came for a visit. He is busy with school and police officer tests so it was nice to stop time for a minute and enjoy our time together.

This Friday, I'm feeling....

God's Not Dead

Dave and I took a chance on the movie God's Not Dead. Since it was the Easter season, we felt it was more than appropriate. Though the acting was a little suspect, the message of the movie was refreshing. There are so many stories in the news about people being shut down or fired or worse because they might believe something that is not considered 'mainstream.'. The movie voiced the message of standing up for what you believe in, whether it be religious, political, moral, etc. I would recommend the movie to those who are looking for something challenging or something spiritual. It certainly makes you think!


Old school music - Elton John

My parents would argue this isn't exactly 'old school', but I've been listening to Tiny Dancer and Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters on repeat.


Sorority sisters!

This weekend I'm looking forward to catching up with old friends at Delta Phi Epsilon Alumni Weekend!