Blog Directories!

Check out Stage of Life's newest addition!  We now have a blog directory for each stage of  life.

Begin your search on our blog directory home page: 

http://www.stageoflife.com/BlogDirectory.aspx

If you haven't registered for Stage of Life yet, you should!  It's a FREE way to share your life's experience, advice, and stories!  Register now!

Top Ten Lists!

We have added Top Ten Pages to the following pages:

• High School
• College
• On My Own
• Wedding
• Retirement 

Check them out and if you have any suggestions, feel free to contact us. 

We will be adding Top Ten Lists to ALL the stages, so keep checking back for more.

Google+

After sitting in on webinar about Google+ and Facebook this afternoon, I have 2 pages of notes.  Mainly facts about each site I didn't know and want to utilize.

With the my new facts in hand and excitement inside, I went to my very boring, unmaintained Google+ account. I took about an hour to update my personal page and create a StageofLife.com page too.  

Check out Stage of Life on Google+

Help me start conversation, ask a question, or share a story with us!

The Hump

Well it's Wednesday  morning and I am anything less than excited about it.  Why can't it be Thursday or Friday?  I would take anything closer to the weekend. 

For starters,  tomorrow is December 1st.  That means only a few short weeks and it's Christmas!!!  I'm so excited!  Each weekend will have so many different fun things to do.  For instance, this weekend I am getting my first REAL Christmas tree for my apartment!  YAY!  Which also translates into decorating the tree and other fun household holiday decorating.

The following weekend I plan to visit my college friends at Kutztown and just enjoy spending time with them.  I would love to get some holiday baking in one weekend, gift wrapping, and finish Christmas shopping.  It doesn't seem like much, but it's so much to squeeze into 2 days every other 5.  Whoever thought we should work 5 days and have off 2 was crazy.  It should be vice versa :)

Well, on to more important matters...
...Stage of Life is in the midst of our site wide writing contest that has a $250 prize.  The contest ends December 31st, so make sure you enter (no matter what stage of life you are in).

I have been doing some updating to multiple pages on the site including the High School video, statistic, and quote pages, the College video, statistic, and quote pages, the Having a Baby video page, and the Retirement/Empty Nest video page. 

I also created a Top Ten page for the  On My Own stage. I hope you take some time to check out what I have been up to since Thanksgiving :)

Stay tuned for lots more updates, page creations, and great blogs!

Turkey Day = Short Work Week

I cannot express how excited for Thanksgiving I am.  While in college, I lived for the holiday breaks where you get a few days off to gorge yourself with food, sleep in, catch up on TV time, and shop.  As I entered the adult professsional world, I was really afraid that I would loose that excitement for the holidays, because the breaks would be shorter and I am closer to family.

I couldn't have been more off.  I'm looking forward to the holiday breaks more so as an "adult" then as a student.  While I was at school, I had a ton of friends to meet up with, take studying breaks with, go out with, and lots of time to vent about the horrors of college homework and projects. 

While I love my job and am growing in my professional development,  I seriously can not emphasis how wonderful it feels to know I have a 2 day work week (and working Wednesday from home), and will conclude my week with pajamas, turkey, and lots of Black Friday shopping. I feel so energized.

I'm convinced that we should have more holidays to make employees re-energized about their jobs and the ability to find the passion they might be lacking in their career. It's important for employees to be able to take the time they need in their lives to regroup and gather their thoughts.

Everyone has a life outside of their career, and it's not always a sunshine and smiles kind of life.  People have broken families, marriages, and relationships. People have illnesses, emergencies, and deaths.  People even have bad days.  Can you imagine?

Ok, my humor isn't the best, but you know what I mean.  At the holiday's I think it's important for everyone to extend a helping hand to those around us and be more understanding with bosses, employees, and co-workers. 

I'm proud to say that at Stage of Life, I have a flexible work schedule that gives me the wiggle room for emergencies, car problems, and bad days.  I would like to encourage others to give the same flexibility to their employees, it might just be the energizing kick start to a new project, year, or position.

I also think the United States should consider taking up siesta, but that's just me...

What a Week!

Working has got the best of me.  It's all I do these days...and I'm loving it!

This week was busy...and by busy I mean productive!

On Monday, Eric and I had our usual Monday morning meeting, where we talk about the weekend, what's on the calendar for the week, and what projects we have to do.  This Monday Eric was on the ball, he had a 3 page email already waiting for me in my inbox.  12 projects to notch out this week, on top of my normal responsibilities plus two conferences (The 2011 Entrepreneurship Conference at York College and The 25th Business Expo)  and a student networking event at York College.  My brain hurt just thinking about my week.

I printed the email and we started our meeting.

Eric outlined each project for me, and I took notes.  Our meeting was shorter than usual, very on key and business professional.  There was no time for small talk with this master list of projects consuming my brain.

So around 9:30am on Monday, I dug into the projects list and I can say that at 3:20pm today (Friday) I have completed all projects except two (which are dependent on other people as well).  Now that's a good feeling.

My projects ranged from creating new pages on the site, like these:

• http://www.stageoflife.com/StageHighSchool/OtherResources/TopTen.aspx
• http://www.stageoflife.com/StageCollege/OtherResources/TopTen.aspx
• http://www.stageoflife.com/Quotes.aspx
• http://www.stageoflife.com/Videos.aspx
• http://www.stageoflife.com/Statistics.aspx

to editing pages, footers, modules, etc. I wrote scripts and contacted people,  added modules, dabbled in some sales with Amazon and all my normal stuff too!

And if you are like me and you're prepping for the holiday shopping season, you might want to check out this...

• Shop Amazon's Holiday Countdown to Black Friday Store
• Shop Amazon's Holiday Toy List
• Shop Amazon's Gift Cards - Perfect Anytime
• Shop Amazon's Christmas Corner - Holiday decor, tableware, and entertainment

It was a crazy (fun) week!

Who do teens trust to keep them safe?

StageofLife.com asked teens who they trust.  Their answers are shocking...

Check out our summary page for the October Writing Contest about Trust and Safety.

The summary report contains the following information:

1)  Themes and teen trends on trust and safety issues as identified from over 100 personal essays submitted to StageofLife.com by high school students.

2)  Visitor data to StageofLife.com during the Teens, Trust and Safety essay contest

3)  Survey data from the Teens, Trust and Safety poll

4)  Links to over 120 essays submitted by teens to StageofLife.com answering the question writing contest prompt, "Do you trust our institutions to keep us safe?"

Or check out the national press release that covers this writing contest.

Firsts

Within the past few weeks I have experienced multiple first's in my professional life; from attending happy hour on a roof top bar in Washington DC, to attending a meeting with the Vice President of a local bank, all the way to going to watch a hockey game from box seats this upcoming weekend.

The list of first's I have had in my career since beginning my adventure with Stage of Life feels endless...

Let's just recap a few:

• Trip to Philadelphia
• Trip to Gettysburg
• Trip to Washington DC
• Happy Hour
• Phone Interview
• Interviewing a potential intern
• Trade Show Attendance
• Business Card Ownership
• Conference Call
• Client Lunch Meetings

As you can see the list spans from the most minor things like having business cards with my information on to trips around Pennsylvania and client luncheons.

I'm so excited for my professional firsts list to keep growing and to share all my new experiences here with you.

A Working Weekend

For starters, this weekend's weather was a mystery to me; whipping wind and rain with temps around 55 degrees. It was a yoga pants and hoodie weekend for sure.

Alas, Sunday was a working day for me. Not to worry tho, I was attending something super fun.  Memorial Hospital presented The Peak 98.5/Smart Magazine Women’s Show at the York Expo Center. The event is two days of shopping, entertainment, exhibits, education and more.

Last week, prior to the show, Eric and I drafted cover letters for merchants and new clients, to attached to informational packets.  I drafted my best friend and Stage of Life Wedding Editor, Laurel Diehl, to be my assistant for the event.

We both dressed in business professional attire and I presented the participating local business with the our marketing information.  I got to meet and speak with a lot of local businesses as well as potential clients. It was a great opportunity for me to showcase my public speaking and communication skills as well as network with other business professionals.

We had an awesome time at the event and even got to but some goodies and enter some raffles. All in all the weekend proved to be an excellent girls weekend.

Rain Rain Go Away

I kicked off my work week on a Tuesday, since my Monday was full of coughing and sleeplessness.  In other words, I took a sick day.  It was much needed and I feel great today.  I guess a few extra hours of sleep and some orange juice was just what the doctor ordered.

Tuesday's agenda consisted of the morning routine of being welcomed by Raina and Story.  Their morning cheeriness always seems to perk me up at 8am.  Since I wasn't in yesterday, they had much to tell me and Eric and I had a rapid 15 minutes of catch up.

He was off with the girls on their morning routine by 8:20 and I was nestled into my desk around the same time.  I plugged in and started my day. 

Sometime around 9:15 Eric returned and we had out weekly meeting, to discuss my projects and his.  He usually gives me more to work on and add to my project tracker, so I can set goals for the week.  I like our new organization.

Today he told  me about a great event happening practically in our back yard this weekend at the York Expo Center.  I will attending it and I am pretty pumped. I filled in the rest of the day with different parts of my new tasks as well as playing catch up to yesterday's work.  The day seemed to fly by, as it is already 4:02.

So I'm on my way out, but thought I would give you the layout of this busy Tuesday.

-Megan

P.S.  We have yet another flash flood warning.  This rain on the East Coast feels never ending.  I'm praying for some sunshine soon.

A Rainy Day

Today has been planned for about a week now.  It was supposed to be a great friday expedition.  A business trip, some would say.  Today, we went to Gettysburg. 

Located only about an hour from home, Gettysburg is practically in our back yard (compared to others in the nation).  Eric and I were having meetings with our clients and it seemed like the perfect day to learn more about our nations history, as well as walk around the historic town meeting clients...

Boy oh boy were we wrong.  Today it poured in York and Gettysburg.  Eric and I were drenched, creeks and basements flooded, and we only met with a handful of people.

It has been a hectic day (for me at least).  In a skirt and heels, braving the down pour and presenting our information to new clients is not how I wanted my Friday to go.  Don't get me wrong, I had an amazing time, I just felt nervous and overwhelmed.  I guess that is a natural thing for newbies like myself, but I thought I was past that point.

Things went great, despite my nerves and stress ( and the rain).  All in all the day wasn't half bad.

I feel bad for some of the homes we drove by on the way home.  Some places there was water swelling over the road and in peoples yards.  I took this photo at on point on 234 between East Berlin and York...

We are safe and sound now, back at the office.  It's been one heck of a journey.  I love my job :)

Wednesday already

It's the middle of the week already, and I am pumped (not that I don't love my job)... I just have weekend plans!  My best friend, Laurel, is coming to visit and spend the night on Friday, my niece and nephew's birthday party is on Saturday afternoon, and potentially my other best friend (and college roommate) may come visit Saturday night.  It's going to be great!!

Laurel & I

Kiera & I

This week has been extremely productive so far. Eric and I had our normal Monday morning meeting (on Tuesday morning), in which we established all my projects for the week. This meeting and new system we have has really helped me these past few weeks.  

Today, I am notifying all the writing contest winners!! I love that part of my job (and preparing their prize packages).

And the winners are...

• Letter to Me: Fight or Flight

• The hardest struggle I have had on my own: learning to trust my own strength and  decision making.

• The Most Unique Thing I have seen at a Wedding: Ring Bearer Fight

• My Interesting Summer Project was roofing our garage

• This summer is special to me because we're broke 

• How will you fill your time: I will survive 

   Congrats to all the winners!!  

  _____________________________________________________

  Here is an interactive part of Stage of Life for you...

  Digital Literacy: Stage of Life is helping teachers understand where and how students write outside of the classroom. Tell us the writing activities you currently engage in (check the answer in the poll that applies for each section):  TO VOTE  IN THE POLL CLICK HERE.

Last Week, Organization, and Sunshine

Good morning all!

Today, the sun is finally shining and the grass is greenier then ever.  With all the rain and flooding that last week brought I never thought I would see the sun again.

The view from my back porch

However, despite the sun shining, bird singing, and grass growing  I am sick :(

Yup, runny, stuff nose, ichy sore throat, and well just yucky feeling all over.  I want to chalk it up to my allergies, but there were some germs in our office last week, so who really knows.  Luckily for me, my boss and job are very flexible.  I can work from the comfort of home in my jammies on sick days like today.  I can still paricipate in conference calls and work on projects without affecting or infecting anyone else at the office.  It's great compromise and I am so thankful to have this opportunity.

Today's agenda is a lot of creating on the site!  Making new pages and developing a new concept (which you will have to stay tuned to check out).  Lately, Eric, I and the rest of the team have been thinking of some really great new projects for Stage of Life.  There are lots of new great things for Stage of Life coming within the next year.

On a side note, I had my 90 review last week (before the flood).  It was great to hear the things that I need to work harder at (like being on time) and the things that I excel at (like my people skills).  I didn't feel nervous for my review because I know that Eric is a mentor and would encourage me rather than put me down for things I need to work (which there were a few).  All in all it was great review and we some how got off on some tangents, which allowed us to brainstorm about quiet a few new ideas.  I even got assigned to another large partnership that I can't wait to dig my hands into.

I have so many great ideas for Stage of Life (the site and the corporate end) and I can't wait for the rest of the year to pan out with fun new projects, partnerships, and sponsorships, etc.

Friday, Eric and I went on a shopping trip for the office (which is always fun, for me at least)!  Organizational supplies, office supplies, ink, etc.  It all is so fun to unpack and place once your back to work.  My goal (as Eric's right hand) is to get him organized (LOL)!  I always joke with him that I am super organized and he is not.  Our brains function on a completely different level of chaos.  His desk is my chaos and my organization is his.  Either way the office got some great new things that will benefit everyone (including new interns).

The newest addition to our Stage of Life team :)

I was pretty bummed to not go into the actual office today to see the progress Eric made with his "rearranging and organization" project (he even added it to his project tracker).  Tomorrow I will be able to go check it out and get back to my routine!  I'm so excited!  

Eric gave me a book at the start of my employment about being a good employer.
He wanted me to read it and help him be a good employer.  He doesn't want his employees to find him unapproachable or not flexible.  He wants everyone to be on the same level, which is awesome. I would have to say within my 90 days of being employed by him, he is doing a great job. He makes going to work fun (stressful at times, but always more fun).

If your looking for employment with a great, start-up company, where you can have a mentor and creativity, maybe you should check out StageofLife.com.  Do you need an internship (Writing, marketing, web design or editing)?  Check us out!!

Teacher Appreciation

Stage of Life wants to help teachers and students.  Recently, Stage of Life created several education pages for teachers on the site.  Check our new educational resources.

FREE Classroom poster 18" x 12" color classroom poster Please include your full name, school name, school address, and the grade level you teach when putting in request Request Free Poster

Writing Prompts

• Writing prompts deal with real-world issues important to teens
• Each prompt came from previous Stage of Life national student essay contests
• Mentor texts, lesson plans and summary pages are provided
• View Writing Prompts

How Would Teens Improve Education?

• Teens answered, "How would you improve your school?"
• Five themes emerged from the student education essays
• View How Teens Would Improve Education

Free Goal Setting Worksheet

• Help your students set goals
• Our Stage of Life Goal Setting Worksheet can be used as an in-class activity or as a take-home assignment
• Educators are encouraged to use it themselves as a personal or professional tool too
• View Goal Setting Worksheet

Making the World a Better Place

• Utilize our "Making the World a Better Place" writing prompt to get students thinking and writing about how they can change the world and make a difference
• Read past student essays about making the world a better place
• Ask your class to explore the list of student-nominated, making a difference organizations by our teen bloggers and writers
• View Making the World a Better Place

Health and Writing

• Read about the positive health effects of blogging and writing
• Help your students reduce teen stress through journaling, blogging or writing
• View Writing is Healthy

Why Educators Use Us

• Six Reasons Educators Use StageofLife.com in the Classroom...
  1. Free
  2. Unlimited space for student essay storage
  3. Interactive
  4. All about the writing
  5. Customized
  6. Real World
• View our Educational Resources Overview

Student Writing Contest

• Encourage your students to enter our free, monthly national writing contest for high school students and college students.
• Our essay winners have received mentions by the media including TIME.com, Mint Education, and more.
• Essay contest topics deal with real-world issues.
• Great practice for AP Test, SAT test, college essay writing, and more.
• View Writing Contest 

Introduction to Student Blogging

• Get the 101 on blogging
• Digital literacy - why blogging is important for the classroom
• View Blogging Lesson Plans
1. Blogging Basics lesson plan
2. Values & Beliefs lesson plan
3. Reflection & Wisdom lesson plan
4. Life stage interview lesson plan
5. Food, Health & Writing lesson plan
6. Heroes lesson plan
7. Teen stress lesson plan

Mentor Texts

• Use our past student essay winners as examples of Mentor Texts
• Our teen writing winners provide excellent essay examples of authentic voice and utilizing a stylistic point of view
• Read past writing contest winners and finalists by visiting our Teen Trends reports
• View Mentor Texts

Writing Resources

• Recommended writing workshops and seminars
• Top college rankings for programs in English, Creative Writing and Journalism
• Must visit websites that provide amazing writing opportunities for students or instruction benefit for Language Arts teachers
• View Writing Resources

Since the beginning of our teacher campaign we have sent hundreds of posters to teachers across the country. 

A whole new world...

It's been way to long, but you have been on my mind.  I have made some renovations to my blog, which I think makes it much simpler and tied to my overall mission.

My life has taken some major twists and turns since we last chatted, but I'm growing as an adult, woman, and overall human being.  I have encountered people and conversations that have made me laugh and cry and feel everything emotion in between.

With all my college buddies returning to school this week, I have found my emotions on a roller coaster ride. I am also moving this weekend, not back to college, but into my first place. Although I should be nothing but completely happy and excited, I can't help but feeling overwhelmed, lost, and more importantly confused. 

I'm trying my best to be the responsible, down to earth girl I have always been and it's getting me no where.  But I have decided to trade my tears in smiles and let this Friday afternoon/beginning of the weekend wash over my soul and cleanse me. 

All I want is a big plate a comforting Chinese food and a good fortune welcome me to my new place tonight, while I watch tv from the floor in my new living room.  Is that too much to ask for? 

Somewhere along the line things have changed.  They got way too complicated and weird.  Growing up isn't all that I thought it would be, but then again things never are.  I won't give up, because I never do, and I will give myself the trust I deserve.  I won't get scared and I won't cry. I deserve better than all that, I deserve to smile about my accomplishments and new endeavors.

This new chapter seems scary, but I know it really isn't.  I just have to take everything one step at a time and stop letting everyone else get in the way of my happiness. It may sound bad to say, but sometimes before you can worry about other people's happiness you have to worry about your own.

So I am flipping the script, and putting it all in perspective.  I will be happy, just watch me.

It's that time again...BACK TO SCHOOL!

StageofLife.com Lists Top 10 Back to College Tips

YORK, PA--(Marketwire - Aug 3, 2011) - Every teen worries about starting college. "Will I make friends?" "How will I know where I'm going?" "Is it lame to get home sick?" You get the picture. StageofLife.com compiled a quick guide to help incoming freshmen get ready for college.

1. Meet your roomie

• Call, Facebook, or meet up to avoid the awkward first introductions. This way you'll know if you're going to be "BFF's" or want to avoid each completely.

2. Pack plenty of clothes

• Business casual is a necessity for class speeches, interviews, etc.
• Avoid clothes/accessories that can be more pain than beauty.

3. Take rolls of quarters

• Mom's not there to do your laundry anymore, and it's a long time until Thanksgiving break.

4. Bring a coffee pot/mug

• Some will drink it for taste, procrastinators will use it to fuel an all-nighter.

5. Invest in organizational storage

• Bed, Bath & Beyond has a cool over-the-bed storage piece.
• Don't forget under-the-bed storage for clothes, shoes, or food.

6. Go to class

• Screwing up the first semester can set you up for G.P.A. disaster, get your butt out of bed.

7. Get involved

• Greek Life, on-campus employment, clubs, etc. Without friends, you're just that weird kid on campus that no one knows.

8. Eat healthy

• You are what you eat. You'll need energy so avoid fast food, high sugar snacks and other wasteful food items.
• Know where your dining halls are located, hours of operation, and payment options

9. Reduce stress

• Exercise your body and don't gain the freshmen 15... Americans are fat enough as is it.
• Exercise time management -- don't cram

10. Recreation

• Large groups attract attention, but never go out alone.
• If you're not 21, you simply shouldn't drink. But the reality is that many underclassmen will. Having the "parentals" see your name in the newspaper for an underage drinking citation will not be an enjoyable experience. Be smart and be aware of your surroundings.

StageofLife.com is a free blog for college students featuring writing contests, college resources and My Life Rewards®, a free discount program providing printable coupons and coupon codes for students and every stage of life.

Have you ever been bullied?

StageofLife.com Reports 91% of Teenagers Have Been Bullied

YORK, PA--(Marketwire - Aug 25, 2011) - School's starting and teens once again face the ugly reality of bullying. StageofLife.com, a free blog for high school students, reached out to teenagers during its national essay contest to ask high school and college students, "Have you ever been bullied?"

Over 1,000 teens participated in the survey and writing contest, and StageofLife.com collected scores of courageous testimonials from students.

From the survey, StageofLife.com revealed the following bullying statistics:

• 91% of teens have been a victim of bullying
• Top five bullying reasons were: Looks/Size (23%), Being Smart/"Nerdy" (19%), Interests/Hobbies (13%), Race (9%), and Family (6%)
• 3% admitted to having been a bully and now regret their actions
• 6% have never been bullied
• Other reasons identified for the cause of the bullying: being poor (5%), being rich (2%), having physical or learning disability (4% combined), sexual orientation (2%), and receiving food assistance from food stamps or a food bank (1%).

From the essay submissions, StageofLife.com revealed five bullying trends:

1. Confidence: Teens learned that the best way to overcome bullying is to be proud of yourself; have faith in who you are as a person. 
2. Friends: It's important to have a friend who helps you in standing up for yourself, or at the very least, understands what you are going through. 
3. School Officials: Sadly, many teens expressed frustration that school officials did nothing to stop bullying, even after it was reported. This has been a crisis in many school systems, who wave bullying off as a "he said, she said" situation. 
4. Racism: Teens are frustrated and surprised that in a melting pot like America, people could still be this intolerant. 
5. Body: The majority of essays submitted dealt with bullying because of looks, body shape, or body size. Several wrote about their therapy or hospitalization because of harsh bullying.

The winning essay was entitled, "I was bullied because of my acne" written by Ann Sangeun Cho from Westlake High School in Austin, TX.

A summary report is available at http://www.stageoflife.com/TeensandBullies.aspx with survey results, links to over 100 teen essays about bullying, bullying prevention resources and more.

StageofLife.com is a free blog for all generations with free lesson plans, writing contests, and My Life Rewards®, a free savings program providing printable coupons and coupon codes for every stage of life.

Teens Share Personal Stories About Bullying on StageofLife.com

BELOW is StageofLife.com's latest press release on Bullying

YORK, PA--(Marketwire - Jul 15, 2011) - Many students experience bullying during high school. For some, it may have occurred just once, but for others, it happens daily.

In an effort to dig deeper on the issue of bullying, StageofLife.com, a free blog and writing resource for teenagers, launched its national July student writing contest around the topic.

However, rather than asking adult experts to weigh in, StageofLife.com is instead taking essay submissions directly from teens who answer the writing contest prompt, "Have you ever been bullied, teased or picked on? If so, about what?"

So far, over 2,000 college and high school students have visited the StageofLife.com writing contest page. Hundreds of teens have answered the bullying survey and scores have entered the essay contest as they explore facets of bullying in their lives. Early essay submissions have come from students who were all bullied for a specific purpose, i.e. being fat, being bisexual, talking differently, being smart, being a girl, being a foreigner, and other reasons.

StageofLife.com CEO, Eric Thiegs, said, "Teens aren't alone in their fight against bullying. Our hope is that one student's essay will help another realize that there are others out there struggling with the same problem."

In conjunction with the writing contest, StageofLife.com showcases resources for teens and parents from Learning Disabilities Association of America, American Disability Association, Stop Bullying, and bullying prevention videos from KidPower.org and LearntobeHealthy.org.

StageofLife.com's writing contests deal with "real-world" teen issues. A teen trends page outlines observations learned from past writing contests as teenagers shared their thoughts about the media, education, prom, money, parents, marriage, stress, heroes, and other topics important to students.

Submissions for the bullying writing contest will be accepted through July 31, 2011 at Midnight PDT. One winner will be selected and will receive a prize package worth over $100 from sponsors KodakGallery.com, T-Shirts.com, and Comfort Research, along with SWAG and Featured Writer status from StageofLife.com.

StageofLife.com is a non-partisan, grassroots blog community hosting stories, resources and a free blog for all generations. It touts free lesson plans, writing contests, and My Life Rewards®, a free savings program providing printable coupons and coupon codes for every stage of life.