Reflective Essay

For the last four years I have been lucky enough to be a part of Susquehanna University communication program. Coming into SU I was unsure where I saw myself going and what path I wanted to take. I was open to anything and everything. I started taking a few communication class that included Introduction to Comm. theory and public speaking. I was able to engage with both classes and found that I really enjoyed being a part of that environment. The teachers were nothing but helpful and really made me see the advantages and disadvantages of being in the communication field.

I think the big thing that I discovered through my freshman year is how many opportunities and field there are with communication. I also learned about the value of using the campus and everything it has to offer. Utilizing things like the writing center, office hours and just asserting yourself when it comes to projects and assignment. It also became very clear that taking advantage of clubs and organization that Susquehanna has to offer. Some that I felt interested in right away where the radio, student government and some of the great communication organizations like PRSSA and Sterling communication.

Once I decided that I wanted to continue down the path of communication, I wanted to choose an emphasis that I would enjoy pursuing. The broadcasting communication field sounded very interesting at first, however once I took public relations and saw that it was more about working with people and be creative I was hooked. I loved the idea of being able to have my ideas heard and also the social aspect of public relations. Writing press releases was fn and engaging. Creating campaigns allowed me to think outside of the box.

That created my goal of completing the public relation’s degree within four years. I knew that I wanted to work in a job in that field in some capacity. It didn’t matter to me if that meant nonprofit, corporate ect. I just knew that this was something I wanted to pursue and dedicated to. I began to research connection and thought about possible networking opportunities I could find. I was prepared for the next step of getting an internship. During this time I also decided to pursue the radio and became a DJ on WQSU. I enjoyed the inner workings of the radio station and how it is run.

This was my sophomore year and I was finally taking more communication classes such as interpersonal communication, Intro to broadcasting, Journalism among others. I was building upon each level and my passion for the field was only growing. It was fun seeing the different ways that public relation can play within different classes.

The one thing that I had always looked forward to when I started college at Susquehanna University was to have a summer internship at a public relation firm. Ever since I started taking public relations I have always been fascinated with how much work goes into every aspect of creating and following through with a campaign. Last summer I was lucky enough to fulfill my goal and work at one of the top public relation firms in Providence, Rhode Island. RDW Group has a large client base and has executives that handle everything from designing websites, writing press releases, planning study groups, and working one on one with clients. I first learned of RDW through my uncle, whose company was a client of Vice President Phil Loscoe. I was lucky enough to get an interview with Phil and received an offer to work as his intern for the summer.

As I drove to the company on my first day, I hoped that I would be able to handle the task of being the vice presidents right hand man and told myself that I was going to embrace ever task as if I was a paid employee putting forth my best effort. Phil had a very special project for me that would give me the experience of what it takes to reinvent an existing campaign. For the last two years RDW has worked with Connecticut Light and Power in bring a contest to all the high schools in Connecticut that allowed students to create a video and write an essay about how they would make their school more environmentally friendly. The contest called Live Green Win Green had been one of the most successful projects that Connecticut Light and Power did every year. Connecticut Light and Power would use a panel of judges to help pick the best school and provide grant money to help them put in place their strategy.

After looking at how the contest was run in the past and seeing what worked and what did not work, I was throw into the deep end and had to create a strategy to accomplish this campaign for 2010. The first thing I did was call every school that would be involve with the contest and speak with the head of the science departments to prepare them for the contest and the media kit that would be coming to them. It was then time to plan out a media kit that would be seen by each school. I was fortunate enough to work one on one with RDW unique design department that helped me to create a new design, logo and print AD for the contest. After all my years of practicing writing press release I was able to create my first professional release. The final step in creating the Live Green Win Green 2010 campaign was creating a brand new website. Starting from scratch I let my ideas run wild and had a great time in coming up with a creative idea to put the information on the web. One of the proudest moments I had working at RDW was watching as the website design executives created what I put down on paper.

As much fun as I had creating a campaign and working with some great people, the most beneficial thing that came out of my summer internship was talking about the industry with Phil. Through his stories and watching him work I was able to see firsthand the ups and downs of public relations. The long hours, balancing of clients, and working with those clients in an appropriate and professional way was a small price to pay to see how satisfied Phil was when his job was complete. We had long talks about how dedicated you must be to the business and how even though you may not always agree with the client it is crucial to go out of your way to please them and work with them rather than against them.

After my summer at RDW I was lucky enough to get a letter of recommendation from Phil and see all my hard work on the Live Green Win Green project come together. I will forever value and reflect on my summer internship at RDW as my first step to a career in public relations. Going into my senior year I am more confident than ever that this is the field that I want to be a part of and hope that I can only grow and benefit from every experience the way I did at RDW.

For me what worked was my ability to be assertive and aggressive. Ill always remember that you get now where by sitting around and waiting for life to happen. If you take the time to maximize your reward then success is not far behind. The biggest thing that didn’t work through my four year at school is all the distractions that come with the college lifestyle. There is always something going on and you have to be able to distinguish between the right choices and the wrong ones.

As I look ahead to the future I am excited and even a little nervous about what prospects lay ahead. The nice thing about leaving Susquehanna however is that I feel ready and prepared to face the real world. The professors have done an outstanding job and rounding and shaping the way I work and operate. I truly feel that we leave here with a great sense of pride and extremely well prepared for the road in front of us.

Public Relation Management was class I was looking forward to taking based on the fact that it would be an opportunity to see what public relation would be like outside of SU. Going into it I was excited to learn that most of the topics that we covered were things I had learned over the course of the summer at my internship. Forming I groups I was interested to see who would pick who’s resume.

Moving through the modulus you learn what it will be like to collaborate and have many ideas coming together for a common goal. At first it seemed that we wait to see who would skills fit the different parts. Some people were better than other at certain aspects and we had to establish a way of breaking up the work. Even though there were high and low moments as with any group I always felt that our finished product was something we could be proud of. We really put a lot of time and effort into doing our best work and taking our time to work out the kinks as we took on each module. I really felt that that class prepared me to work with individuals as a group and taking everyone’s ideas into consideration.

If I had to pick who I would hire for my own public relation firm I would pick my own group. Each person had strong and unique skills that I feel could be useful in a real life situation. Bridget is very organized and has the ability to motivate the team. She also makes sure that deadlines are met and has very strong leadership skills. Lauren was a very creative person and had a very helpful dissipation. Kyle also had the creative skills and was very good at coming up with ads and print items.

In conclusion through the last four years at Susquehanna University I have learned and developed skills that I never really thought I would be interested in. I found and true calling and am excited for the road that is ahead of me. I will have many fond memories of SU and all it has to offer.