Tag: Elan

Do What You Love

Madison BP picGoing into this year I was extremely excited to get back into the swing of things. At the end of last year the staff had a really good routine of updating the blog, laying out the book and creating a brand for ourselves and was on the road to launch the new and improved Élan! I have to say that this year has been nothing but good. We have made goals for ourselves and now we are well on our way to accomplishing them. As a senior, I feel like that leaving the staff at the end of the year will be bittersweet. Of course it will sad to leave but I will feel very proud of what I am leaving behind.

Taking a lead in both Homecoming and Marketing this year has really inspired me to look into careers like Marketing and Public Relations as well as Event Planning. Mrs. Melanson always says that being on the Élan Staff is like having a job without getting a paycheck. But, being so heavily involved in the planning of Homecoming and really jumping into the Marketing process has made me reconsider my possible career choice.

Having marketing meetings, planning and executing our ideas is something that I look forward to and receive extreme satisfaction from. I get a little adrenaline rush when I get to sit down at a table with my agenda flipped to the notes section, my pen in hand.  I think that being on the staff has inspired me to do what I love and what makes me happy. I love the global idea of branding, planning, and being able to work in a team. I look forward to going to Élan and to pick up right where we left off the previous day. I feel that I accomplish a lot personally as well as working with the rest of the staff as a whole.  There is always a sense of true appreciation after leaving second period every day and it’s something that I am going to miss next year.

-Madison George, Social Media Editor  

When We Least Expect It

stephanieThey told me that you can never run out of ideas. That writer’s block was a myth. That you can find inspiration if you just try enough.

I wish that they had all told me the truth.

My biggest concern last year when I was going to be the marketing editor was how was I supposed to come up with creative ideas whenever I wanted to. And now—two commercials, a stockpile of merchandise, and one print book later—I still sometimes worry. Sometimes my fellow members of Élan come and ask me for marketing strategies. They do not know that inspiration rarely comes when I want it to, and sometimes it doesn’t even come when I need it to.

I always want the ideas—for writing, for marketing—to come immediately; I want them enter into my mind before I lost the hunger for them. I want to digest them before I forget how the creative spark tastes in my mouth.

When I was younger I didn’t have strict boundaries of homework, school, and deadlines. As a senior, I’ve lost some of that urge to be spontaneous, to be willing to sacrifice so much for the sake of something so simple, like finding out what happened to Harry, or if Percy made it to the labyrinth. I used spend hours beneath the covers with a book propped between my elbows, so that I could hold the flashlight and not have to worry about the pages turning on their own accord.

I’ve found that sometimes inspiration comes to us when we least expect it; it guides us along the raging rapids of our thoughts so that we can plan the next Homecoming commercial or create a new t-shirt design or even just help a fellow Élan staff member with their marketing goals.

-Stephanie Thompson, Head of Marketing