[1]Most people, the phrase “Freshman 15” refers to the amount of weight a first-year college student gains. For Jennifer Kline, a freshman at the University of Central Florida, the phrase means that she was one of 15 selected out of 6,000 applicants to blog for Seventeen magazine.
The 2012 Mt. Lebanon graduate is one of Seventeen’s Freshman 15 bloggers, providing readers with an inside look at what takes place during that first year at college. “My job is to share my own freshman year experiences and be a resource for girls who have questions about college life,” says Kline.
The Larchmont Road resident vlogs and blogs weekly. Kline says she gets lots of feedback—her viewers and readers message her via email and Facebook three or four times each week about topics she covers such as Greek life, long-distance relationships and going to school far away from home.
The process of becoming a paid college campus guru started with Kline sending an essay to showcase herself and her college plans. For round two, she submitted an essay explaining why she should be chosen for the Freshman 15 panel. Once she became a finalist, there were more in-depth questions to be addressed, but finally, Kline got good news that she made it.
“I love the work that I’m doing right now, and it’s made my freshman year that much more fun,” says Kline. “I’ve also become friends with the other 14 girls, and it’s really cool to hear about their own experiences across the country.”
[2]Started with a blue hippo with a bandage on its paw. When she was just 2 years old, Taryn Boyd, hospitalized following a finger injury, fell in love with the stuffed animal her grandfather brought her, and the beloved toy became the namesake for the business she started last year, Blu Hippo Photography.
“I love taking pictures of my own kids,” says the Shady Drive East resident and mother of sons Jonas, 6, and Parker, 5. “I am so drawn to the innocence of a child, the newness of a newborn, and the magical time right before a new life enters the world.”
Boyd’s business specializes in newborn, maternity and children’s fine art portraiture.
“My goal for every session is to capture moments frozen in time to hang on my clients’ walls forever.“
Boyd does studio type portraits, as well as outdoor shoots on location. Visit her blog, Blu Hippo Photography, at www.bluhippophotography.com [3] to see her work and for more information.