The end comes faster than the beginning. This last year has passed by within a few days. The beginning of freshman year seemed to take a long time. Now, graduation is a mere 22 days away.
I understand why public relations capstone is the last class before graduation. This class has the real life application, which we will use upon graduating. Being able to have a real client, that is in Baton Rouge, where we can set up meetings to see what they want and how to truly impact their organization is remarkable. For roughly 12 weeks, my group and I got to take over Istrouma Spots Organization public relations department. Experience is the key to any job search. Experience is just as important as location, location, and location when looking for a home. Having the service learning aspect of this class offer hands on experience, right in time for graduation. Standing out amongst all the other resumes in the pile is everyone’s goal. However, not everyone will have the experience we do coming from this class.
We wrote our own press release, brochure, communication and crisis management plan to bring about awareness to Istrouma Sports Organization. ML got to tell us what the organization was lacking, what he wanted and had in mind for ISO. The one big thing I saw that the organization needed badly was an intern to handle social media. Social media has taken over the way people seek and receive their news and any other information they are looking for.
The ISO Facebook needs to be continuously updated with pictures and news on current events for the organization. In our groups’ communication plan we discussed and included plans on what to do for Facebook as well as twitter. The Facebook and Twitter accounts need to be linked so it is easy to keep both updated regularly. This addition would make the world of difference for ISO.
This experience has reinforced my love for public relations. Having to create communication plans and finding new innovate ways to bring awareness to an organization, is a sure fire way to not get bored at a 9 to 5 job. My education is very important to me in order to have a career not just a job where I punch a timesheet and wait for the clock to strike five. Before starting this project I am glad we had a mini lessons as reminders to the types of research, professional skills and so on. One of the best pieces of advice I received from this class is to have a LinkedIn account. LinkedIn has been a godsend. The ability to connect with different professionals all over the world opens multiple outlets for future success.
My next step is to go to graduate school to obtain masters in business administration. While in graduate school I plan on having an internship in the National Football League’s corporate office in New York. Ultimately, I plan on working within the entertainment marketing and promotions department.
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Secret Miracles 