Thursday, January 8, 2015

Introduction: The Loves of My Life

Let me start out be saying that my name is Jennifer Nygren but I prefer to be called Jenny.  I'm a junior majoring in Public Relations and minoring in Spanish at the University of Oklahoma.  Instead of telling you what I'm involved in, I have decided to write about my passions and interests, because I feel that helps people know so much more about who I am.  I have a compiled a list of three things that I love, in no particular order and in complete spontaneity.  These are just three loves that spoke to me while writing this post on a cold day in January. 

Firstly, I love traveling and exploring new places.  I should be more specific and say that I love arriving at a new destination and soaking in the surroundings.  The actual aspect of traveling is not a favorite of mine.  I'm prone to motion sickness, but I guess that since my distaste of being in planes or cars for an extended period of time is minuscule when compared to my love of seeing the world.  No matter how many times I've gotten sick on transportation, the idea of traveling to a new corner of the world is effervescent.  I actually have plans to study abroad in Spain (fingers-crossed that everything works out).  

(Image Information: Personal photo taken at an overlook in Hawaii in December 2014.)  

Secondly, I love football.  The football program was a big influence to me when I chose to attend the University of Oklahoma.  Growing up my dad was a "traveling salesman" and was frequently out of town, but during the times when he was in town we'd spend hours watching football games on Saturdays and Sundays.  This passion even led me to pursue a marketing internship with the OU Athletic Marketing Department, which I held from 2013-2014.  

(Image Information: Personal photo of me working on Owen Field at an OU Football game.)  

Thirdly, I love art.  Growing up I was always a bit of tom-boy, but a tom-boy that loved reading, writing and photographs.  One of the reasons that I am taking this class is because the homework is doing activities that I think are fun!  I feel like there is a thrill in art.  You can turn each page in a book and never know what's written on the other side.  You can start writing and have no idea where the story is going to go.  And you can take a photograph and have no clue how it's going to turn out.  Below is a picture of me and my best friend, Tori, taken on a Polaroid camera during a night of unexpected experiences.  It could have turned out atrocious, but instead it preserved one of my new favorite memories.

(Image Information: Personal picture taken at an Ihop in January 2015.)  




15 comments:

  1. Oh, I hope your plans to go to Spain will work out, Jenny! There is nothing like living in a foreign country: it changes you forever, and while you are there every day is an adventure! And I share your thrill at art and images: that's one of the (many) things I like teaching online — it's so easy to make images a part of everything we do. I'm not much of a photographer, but my husband is a very serious photographer indeed, and from him I have learned how that really is an art of its own. Bring on the images!!! Sometimes it is the images that we will remember most from the things we study in school; I know that is true for me, and I hope you will find many beautiful images from India and South Asia in this class that you will enjoy and remember! :-)

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  2. Hey Jenny! I love being in new places too, although travelling can be quite a drag. I actually don’t mind planes though, just car rides because they seem to take forever. Hope your plans to study in Spain work out! I bet it would be an awesome experience. I used to love reading back when I was younger. Now I just don’t have time because I’m busy reading textbooks haha. Boomer Sooner!

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  3. Jenny, I hope that studying abroad in Spain works out for you, that sounds like it would be such a wonderful experience! I love seeing new places too, but I agree with you that the getting to the destination part of traveling isn’t exactly thrilling. That is so cool that you were able to do an internship with the OU Athletic Marketing Department! Talk about a dream internship!

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  4. Spain sounds amazing!! You will absolutely have the time of your life. I am so jealous about your skills in art. I am a huge art lover and I wish I had the talent to take good photographs. Also, totally jealous of your internship!! I'm sure that having fun on the job is the best kind of job. Good luck with studying abroad in Spain! Traveling is such a great opportunity that most people don't get so make it amazing.

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  5. Hello Jenny! I like being in new places too! It is sad because I do not get enough chance to travel. I hope you will be able to go to Spain. I have couple friends who have been and they said that it was amazing. I enjoyed reading about your passion in art. I also enjoy photography because I believe it captures the moment which will be lost in time. I wish you the best! By the way, your blog looks awesome!

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  6. Hi Jenny! I cannot say I love traveling, and have a short list of states that I have visited, but I love adventure. I would definitely like to do more traveling in the future! Your internship sounds like it would have been an awesome experience, and I am slightly jealous. I am happy to meet someone who has a love for photos as well. I always have a camera with me, some days it may just be my phone...or my point and shoot. I recently bought a DSLR and I am so in love with it. You never know when or where you will find a photo opportunity, to preserve a memory or moment in time.

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  7. Hi Jennifer, the opportunity to study in Spain would be fascinating! Because you are only minoring in the language do you feel adequately prepared to live in a Spanish-speaking country? Have you ever traveled to a Spanish-speaking country? I, too, am a Spanish speaker; however, I learned via the ‘sink or swim’ route as a child when my father and I frequented his home country to visit family.

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  8. Hi, Jenny! Good luck with your studies in Spain! I took Spanish in high school, and I loved studying Spanish culture, so I imagine that would be an amazing experience. I also really like to travel, but I haven't been very many places. That's a really neat photo from Hawaii! That's one place on a very long list that I would like to go to. Also, it's great that you like writing, especially for this class. I look forward to reading your stories. I hope you're enjoying your semester!

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  9. Hey Jenny! Omgosh Spain sounds amazing and if you're a spanish minor it would definitely help you speak spanish fluently! I had a friend who was also a spanish minor traveled to Madrid (studying abroad too) ad now she is so fluent in spanish, it really helped her with job interviews so thats great you want to study abroad! I like art too although I don't know much about it. I've always wanted a Polaroid camera! Those things are so cool, where do you get yours?

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  10. Jenny,

    thank you for sharing a few of the things you love! I agree, it certainly says more about a person than the basic facts of "About Me" sections. I share all of those passions with you. Although, as far as football is concerned, I am more involved in NFL teams than I am with college teams. Where I grew up, college and high school football was never a big deal. So coming to Oklahoma has been a fun experience when it comes to seeing local teams play.

    I really love photography, as well! I like taking portraits and playing with the focus. However, I'm an awful editor. I'm too cheap to buy software and don't really have the patience for it anyways. That Polaroid picture is really beautiful. It's funny how today we have come to value older technology, especially when it comes to photos and film. It gives everything an nostalgically aged look, which we prize rather than disdain.

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  11. Hi Jenny! Studying abroad in Spain sounds like it would be a grand adventure and I hope you are able to go. In high school, I planned on minoring in Spanish once I was in college, but I never did. It would have been very useful to have that knowledge at hand as a RN. I work in labor delivery and my first patient was a mother who did not speak any English. Communicating with her was rather challenging.

    I also love photography. Developing my own photos in the darkroom is one of the coolest things to me. I am no expert by any means, but I do enjoy capturing life's precious moments.

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  12. Hi Jenny! I am absolutely obsessed with football too! Nothing beats fall in Oklahoma for me. I hate the cold, but there I will make it work if it means enjoying the day in Gaylord! Your position as an internship was very special! That is so cool that you got to watch the game on the field. I might have cried. I love to travel too. Discovering new things can give you such a rush. Well good luck with the rest of your time at OU. I hope it is a blast!

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  13. Hi Jenny! I totally relate to your love of traveling, but dislike of transportation. I love visiting places as well, but long plane and car rides are unbearable. I hope everything works out for your study abroad in Spain! I’m so excited for you! Your description of art is so on point! Sometimes I create characters for stories in one way, but they turn out completely different from how I planned. Also, that polaroid is absolutely precious!

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  14. Hey Jenny!

    I love that you went with the flow of thought in the moment on the day you wrote this introduction :) I like to do that when possible as well. It makes writing more fun & exciting!

    I looove traveling & seeing new places as well! Adventures in foreign lands are the best! I'm sorry you suffer from motion sickness, that really does put a damper on traveling, but it's AWESOME that you still love to travel regardless! Way to be tough!

    My link to the University of Oklahoma is in fact football. My papa played for the Sooners in '55 & '56 (both years won National Championships, btw), until he broke his leg. But my family is allll about the Sooners! So it's a family tradition to graduate from OU.

    I like the way you think & put your thoughts into words. You seem like a very cool person! It's nice to 'meet' you, & enjoy the rest of this semester & your travels to come! I hope Spain works out for you :)

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  15. I definitely share the love of traveling with you. But I love the journey. I love the excitement and the experiences that come along the way before getting to the destination. The only thing I don't like about traveling is the journey back home.

    I loved reading your introduction. You are very good at putting your thoughts into words. I hope your study abroad in Spain goes well.

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