Laura Contrucci is Senior Visual Communication Major at Kent State University.  When Laura decided she wasn’t happy just being an ordinary student, she upped the ante and pursued a more advanced program that is going to require an additional year of college.  Don’t miss Laura’s insights from her final (and most challenging) year in school.

These past couple weeks have been very eventful.

This year (being my senior year and all), I want to attend more campus events and make sure I have some fun my senior year. So far I’ve been successful.

First, the comedian Demetri Martin came to Kent State. I had never heard of him and had never been to a comedian before so I was intrigued. I especially liked that he researched Kent State so he could tell some original jokes specifically about us.

The next fun event I attended was the Matt and Kim show in Cleveland. They’re a super cute indie duo — so look them up if that’s your style of music. I haven’t been to a show in a while and this one was great. Matt and Kim’s enthusiasm was contagious and it really made for a high energy performance. They even hopped down in the audience right after to sign autographs and take pictures with fans.

I also toured a printing company with my production class. This isn’t very thrilling to the average person but for a student designer it is. It’s something that is often overlooked in school but in the real world you’re expected to know about it. I think all students face something like this. School only prepares you so much. You’ve got to take initiative and learn about all the different aspects of a career.

And just last Friday I attended PechaKucha Night, which is the Japanese word for chit chat. The idea is based on each speaker presenting 20 slides for 20 seconds each.  I went to one in the summer and the whole atmosphere was very inspiring. This time it was part of Cleveland’s Ingenuity Fest so there was a ton of other stuff to explore. It was nice to see cool, unique stuff happening in Cleveland, a city that sometimes get a bad rep. PechaKucha Nights are held all over so I encourage you to attend one!