Nathanael Rowden-Rexburg: Not Just a College Town
Strategic Organization Emphasis
When I first sat down to brainstorm ideas for my Senior project, I could not think of anything. I spent weeks receiving zero inspiration and I thought that it was going to be impossible to come up with a good idea. I had signed up for the senior project class during the Fall 2022 semester, although I was motived to be successful, I was not aware I need to have a project ready to go. It was inevitable that I would drop the class and take the semester to come up with a great idea. I met with my mentor and luckily halfway through the semester I came up with the idea I finally stuck with.
I have lived in Rexburg since 2015 and I started school that same year. Throughout my schooling I have taken several small breaks from school, but I also took one long break for about four years. During this time I only took one online class a semester while I worked full time. Because I have lived in Rexburg for eight years, I have seen the city go through many changes. The one thing that has always remained constant, however, is that you can always find someone that will be negative towards Rexburg. I admit I wasn’t always the biggest fan of Rexburg, but I have changed, and with this project I wanted to make a small, and positive impact on the negativity towards Rexburg.
I created a Social Media Facebook page called “Rexburg: Not Just a college Town”. The goal of this page was to spread positivity about the city of Rexburg and try to create change. At first my plan was to meet a new person everyday and interview them about their life. I began, by doing this, but I quickly realized that this might be a little boring. I re-evaluated my approach and chose to center each day of the week around a different theme. I also made sure every day was focused on creating a positive message about Rexburg.
With a new approach in mind, I set out to make a difference. In total, I spent just under 60 hours on this project. Most of my hours were spent meeting new people, interviewing businesses, or highlighting my friends and family and the reasons why they love Rexburg. I also spent many hours editing, posting, and completing my blog for this project.
On Mondays, which I called “Memory Monday’s” I would reach out to someone that used to live in Rexburg. I would ask them to create a video or allow me to interview them about why they miss Rexburg, and I would ask if they would ever move back. Tuesdays were “Testimonial Tuesday’s”, on this day I would meet with lesser-known businesses and highlight them. I would invite people to visit these businesses and show their support. Wednesdays became “What’s Happening Wednesday’s”. I would find new construction, empty lots or other mysteries around town and do research to determine what was happening. I then shared this information with people on my page. On Thursday’s I would share my “Thursday Thought” of the day. These thoughts were ideas for how to make living in Rexburg even better. I did not use this day as a day to complain, but instead I would highlight things that would add to what makes Rexburg great already. Finally, I would conduct interviews throughout the week and post them all together on Fridays.
Although this page did not reach hundreds of people, if I impacted just a few people by bringing positivity into their lives this project was successful to me.
For a more comprehensive break down of the time I spent on this project please use the link below. You can also view and follow my page at the link below.
Project Links
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089192334764
Timetable: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-_7wt2JzTVhcEVtB9KwwVCdu3tS-UFu8YkC28xhUvN4/edit?usp=sharing
Project Media File: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ihxp38hN4gzqRIm2p_djhzGd3MhUYFwc?usp=sharing