Hey guys! Darian here. I just wanted to tell you all a little bit about myself and give some insight on my life so far. I’m a musician that started in engineering, changed to public relations and ended up in advertising. Sounds interesting right?

My time at UF has certainly been anything but boring. I came in with the sole purpose of getting my degree in civil engineering because that’s what everyone expected of me. I picked up math and science subjects pretty well, so obviously I was “destined” to be a stem major right? Well after a little introspection and a couple of mental breakdowns I thought that maybe I could at least double major in something I love like music. I had played saxophone and trumpet in high school, so why not give it a shot here? Well apparently the music based scholarships were only available to oncoming freshmen and of course I discover this after my first semester. I did a little more research and decided that a minor in music was more manageable, fun and didn’t require me to sell an arm and a leg to cover the extra credits. So majoring in music was a bust, so what then? That was when I took my first class in the school of Journalism and Communication.

After taking a class in interpersonal communication I discovered that I love communicating. Learning the ins and outs of how and why people discuss things the way they do was fascinating and a career that involved constant interaction and presentation became my new obsession. This lead me to visit the PATH advising office and switch my major to public relations for my sophomore year. Funnily enough, I ended up switching again to advertising my third year because journalism based classes just weren’t my thing. Especially reporting. Just the thought of it makes me shudder. Anyways, this leads me to my life right now. I got to play in the marching band my freshman year, cried taking calculus, grew as a communicator in multimedia writing, and discovered what I really want in principle of advertising.

I’ll be posting interesting advertising trade posts that really make you scratch your head like how IHOP had one of the most successful campaigns in the past few years just from a name change. My goal is for both me and you to learn a thing or two about how taking risks and being bold can bring success. I’m excited for what the future holds, both with this class and in my career. Hopefully you’ll be looking at the next big advertising account executive in the next couple of years!