Chao Qian, a sophomore communication major at Saint Louis University, chose his emphasis in advertising and public relations he loved of the media production class he took last Fall.  He feels that the design and production aspects of advertising suit his strengths in media production

He is from Beijing, his family of his two parents and younger sister still live there.  Qian works for the Chinese Student Association. His “main job is to plan and prepare shows during the big festival events” for the club on campus.   

He loves playing guitar and watching movies.  His appreciation for music complements his goal to work in advertising, particularly on audio and video production.

Qian performs with his friends Cloud in a duo named The Charlies.  Cloud Lee created the name from Chao’s first name and Cloud’s last name, Lee.  The Charlies rearrange songs to be played with just two guitars and their voices, singing in both English and Chinese.

Qian reflects “living in a country where the culture and language is different than before, it becomes harder for us to get involved in this melting pot”.  Yet when performing in The Charlies, he can share music without boundaries.  

He goes on to describe the sense of acceptance he feels from the audience applauding.“I just hope the lyrics, the melody, the soul of the songs can really bring something to the audiences.  And I think that’s the meaning of it. And this is enough”.

You can find The Charlies performing Picasso Coffee in Saint Charles, every Thursday night.

Saint Louis University students take the stage to share their mental health journeys.  As part of the university’s Mental Wellness Week, students came together to listen on February 23rd to discuss mental health struggles, stigmas surrounding mental health, and coping tools during the Teg Talk.  The “Teg Talk”, a reference to Tegler Hall where the event took place, was inspired by Ted Talks, a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas through short, powerful talks.

Three students stood in the center of Tegeler Hall auditorium and told their stories about anxiety, sexual assault, and grief.  Prior, the group of about 25 students listened to excerpts of Ted Radio Hour listening to experts discuss mental health stigma and ways to cope with anxiety. 

After the student speakers shared their stories, the organizers shared a series of questions and welcomed participation.  Students discussed having conversations about mental health with friends and family has become easier. Students said that they are seeing signs of progress when discussing mental health: “Stigma is slowly disappearing, especially on college campuses”, “SLU has a generally empathetic culture”.

Students attendees at the event reflected this empathy.  Erinn Miller attended the event because she’s never been to an event about mental wellness, but took away that “a lot of people are dealing with mental health issues, but they are not alone”.  SLU student Lauren Paul said, “the number one thing is to know is the conversation is always open and someone always wants to listen”.

Journalists Lauren Trager and Sarah Fentem spoke to Newswriting students last Thursday, February 13th at Saint Louis University.  Trager works at KMOV working in broadcast and as an investigative journalist. Fentem covers health for Saint Louis Public Radio, KWMU, and is a SLU alum.  

Trager and Fentem discussed their education and career paths.  Fentem found her fondness for radio only after being kicked out of her graduate program at Northwestern University: “I failed a lot”, she said.  Trager started her career in journalism after deciding not to attend law school, beginning with a job in conservative radio. Trager “likes telling stories” and “making an impact”.

The journalists described their nonlinear career paths, the state of journalism today, and how they grapple with being in the public eye.  They agreed that if students are passionate about anything else, that is what they should pursue.

16 year old, Lexi Mentzel, traveled from Mitchell, South Dakota to New York City with her family to see the ball drop live in Time Square this past New Year’s Eve.

For the Mentzel family, the celebration was not just the holidays, Lexi had ended chemotherapy seven months prior to the trip. She had been fighting Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph nodes, and winning.

She watched the ball drop from the balcony on the 22nd floor of a building in Times Square. “I was the idea of everything” that created such a meaningful trip, including a special dinner with her family on New Years’ Eve. At midnight, she described a feeling of “pure joy and gratitude” and appreciating that “God brought me to that moment.”

Mentzel and her family saw Wicked on Broadway and enjoyed seeing New York City during the festive time of this year. Seeing the ball drop in Times Square had been on her “bucket list”. Lexi was able to cross if off after the Sanford Children’s Hospital in Sioux Falls put her name in for Make-A-Wish.

Mentzel said she wants to donate to Make-A-Wish when she is older. All wishes are funded completely from donation.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.