Final Blog

 

My freshman year at Ohio Northern is essentially concluded at this point, and let me tell you it was a confusing time for ol’ Caiden A. Bush. This was a year marked by decent grades and being very confused at what I want to do with my life. I’ve changed majors three times already. I changed my major from music education to writing and multimedia and then to communication after that. I think I’ve found my home with communication though. I find it bodes well with my goals to become a lawyer in that it teaches me how to argue well, teaches me the basics of American communication law, and many other helpful tools. I’m happy with how I’ve done this year, and I’m very excited for next year. Next year I’ll be taking a large amount of pre-law courses that will give me a jump in my career plan, as well as a ton of my general education requirements. Truly I think that Northern is going to be home for the next few years, and I’m very excited for the future.

 This year has been a success. I’ve discovered more about myself than ever before, and I feel I’ve set a foundation to succeed upon in the future. I’ve had wonderful professors who have been very supportive of me in my endeavors and I am thankful for each and every one of them. This will conclude my blogs unfortunately, but it was fun while it lasted. This is Caiden A. Bush signing off.

 Go Bears!

Phineas and Ferb

 I was thinking about this earlier on my car ride to school, the old Disney television show Phineas and Ferb was criminally underrated. That show was one of the cornerstones of my childhood, with my favorite character being Heinz Doofenschmirtz. I just feel like the show did a lot in terms of making me as a child realize how awesome it is to be creative. The whole show revolved around that concept really. Phineas and Ferb used their creativity to produce all sorts of mind-boggling inventions, which inspired kids all around the country to use their brains, including me. I feel like I drew a lot of my motivation to do well academically from this show in particular.

 Not only this but the soundtrack to the show as absolutely fire. I still listen to the soundtrack on a daily basis, because it’s honestly just so well made. I love how many genres of music the show showcases within its time running, because it’s a very diverse pallette. Just one episode can have 3 songs all ranging from prison blues, to pop, to even pretend Bollywood productions. They’re all bops and have allowed me as a musician to actually be able to practice some vocal techniques that I struggle with because they’re in the songs. One song titled “Chains on Me,” is a prison blues song that is sang using just rasp. I’ve always struggled with rasp so this song allowed me to practice it and eventually become much better at it. I like Phineas and Ferb and will continue to watch it until I am senile enough to not understand it.

I was thinking about this earlier on my car ride to school, the old Disney television show Phineas and Ferb was criminally underrated. That show was one of the cornerstones of my childhood, with my favorite character being Heinz Doofenschmirtz. I just feel like the show did a lot in terms of making me as a child realize how awesome it is to be creative. The whole show revolved around that concept really. Phineas and Ferb used their creativity to produce all sorts of mind-boggling inventions, which inspired kids all around the country to use their brains, including me. I feel like I drew a lot of my motivation to do well academically from this show in particular.

 

TikTok is Pretty Rad

 I use TikTok pretty regularly and it makes me feel bad sometimes. I hate when I catch myself doom scrolling and I realize how much time I’ve wasted on literally nothing. Although, I’m just like many other people of my generation that find TikTok to be very addicting, which plays into why this platform is so good for marketing online.

 The way TikTok works is very unique and has propelled forth a revolution of content that is seconds long, rather than longer content that must keep audiences invested. As someone keeps scrolling they are exposed to a wide variety of different media. So as I, as a avid TikTok consumer, continue to scroll through my feed it would make complete sense for companies to get in on this short-term content action to make a profit. They do just that. I see ads all the time on TikTok, and they’re in the exact same content structure as regular content. I see this fact as very beneficial because they play into the addictive nature of the app, and even I sometimes see myself getting sucked into the ad because I just see it as regular content. TikTok’s addictive nature plays a key role in advertising on the app, and I definitely see the benefit.

Better Call Saul is Pretty Good Too

 Okay, this is a follow-up to my post expressing how much I loved Breaking Bad. I started binging Better Call Saul about a week ago with my dad after we bonded about how much we loved Breaking Bad. Basically this series is a spin-off of the original series Breaking Bad, but while its set in the same universe it focuses on another character; Saul Goodman. In this universe Saul Goodman is a crooked lawyer in Albuquerque, New Mexico that aids criminals by laundering money, setting up meetings, establishing business connections and of course lending a legal hand if any of his clients end up in jail. Naturally, since I aspire to be a lawyer this character stood out to me.

When I found out he got his own show, one which was deemed to be on-par with Breaking Bad, I nearly lost it. I was so excited to watch, and so far it has not disappointed. I just finished the first season and it’s already got me hooked. The plotline of this is very deep, the production is well done, and the acting is brilliant. Truly this series does not feel like a spinoff in the slightest. I love being able to see this character as a lawyer being able to be so entertaining because lawyers tend to get a bad rap for being very boring people. Saul in this series is energetic, witty, and downright hilarious. I have loved watching this series so far, and cannot wait to see more.

My Experience With Youtube

 

I can’t imagine that anybody has gone to YouTube specifically to watch their top-of-the-line advertisements, and I am definitely part of that “anybody.” I grew up on YouTube, it was the best form of entertainment for me by fair. I was raised in the advent of Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, Pewdiepie, and other gaming YouTube channels that brought joy to my adolescent day-to-day. I loved theses creators, and honestly still do, but never did I truly understand the untouchable wealth they made from the platform until my young adulthood. Markiplier, my favorite YouTuber, has a net worth of thirty-five million dollars as of 2023. That is from making videos on a social media platform of him playing video games. This wealth is largely due to the way YouTube’s advertising works. YouTube allows creators to monetize their videos by allowing ads to play during them, creating a significant revenue stream for large creators. Creators like Markiplier who have an average of 2-3 million viewers per video can make some absolute bank by including just one advertisement per video. When I was young, I never realized it but I contributed to their advertising strategy just by being a devoted fan to their channel. This is a very unique way of advertising using social media, being very similar to watching television. Television shows have commercial breaks just like YouTube videos do. I think it’s very effective and engaging, and I’m excited to learn more about it.

Paper Popper Panic

 

I was bored this past weekend and so were my dogs so I decided I wanted to expose them to some sort of new experience, that way they’re seeing something new and interesting. So I dug through the internet until I found something that caught my eye, and eventually I found what I thought would be perfect. I found a tutorial on how to make a paper popper. Now, if you don’t know what a paper popper is, it’s essentially a piece of origami you can swing that creates a loud noise when you do.

So, I got to work. I spent twenty whole minutes of my life watching a YouTube video on how to create this popper and I did it with relative ease. By the end I had a solid product, the folds looked great and there was only one thing left to do: test the product. So, without any second thought I brought my dogs into the kitchen with me and let it rip. With a thunderous crack, I swung the popper through the air. I expected the dogs to be bewildered, perhaps even a little nervous but I was wrong in that assumption. They went ballistic. It was as if I was holding a live squirrel in my hand after the paper made that noise. They chased me all around the house, barking, begging, doing anything within their power to get the paper away from me. Eventually I ran back to the kitchen table and had my arm over it to prevent the dogs from getting to the paper when Khloe jumped 4 feet into the air onto the table and snatched it from my hand. She then ran away, and I had to chase her down to retrieve the paper.

 I have never seen my dogs so feral for an inanimate object before. I was happy I was able to entertain them, but I did not expect this degree of success in doing so. What is worrisome, however, is that I think I have now conditioned my dogs into having a significant prey drive for paper. I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it I guess.

LinkedIn, more like AWESOME

 I can’t say I have a ton of experience with LinkedIn but I do want to just talk about what little experience I do, because the small experience I had was very positive. So early in this semester we reached out to some successful social media people, and one actually responded to me. His name was Dennis Yu, and he marketed himself as this “business mentor” kind of person. I told him about my aspirations to become a lawyer and he said he could introduce me to some of his colleagues over LinkedIn. So, naturally, I made one. I liked the interface a lot, I found it very accessible, and I enjoyed the direct messaging that came with the platform. Dennis advised me on the proper way to create a profile and I did just that. I never finished it, but I know what to do when I do.

 

I think this kind of interaction is something that LinkedIn is very good for. I’ve never received this kind of information from someone before, and I could definitely appreciate the presence of a business mentor or even friend at some point. I think this is very useful in not just its physical interface and online presence, but in just the idea of a professional networking service. It lets people young into their careers have easy, seamless interaction with veterans in their respective professions, allowing for easy advice and potential connection in real life. I like LinkedIn a lot, and I cannot wait to finish that profile.