Who thought that five letters could make such a huge impact?
I walked onto campus this fall for my final chapter ever as a college student, starting the transition into my career in a very competitive field. As a person who’s spent a lifetime searching for who I wanted to be and what I wanted to do, naturally, I wanted to make the most of my time by making an impact and getting involved wherever I could.
At PRSSA’s “Sports Journalism” event, it became clear to me that PRRSA at LU was more than just another on-campus club for people with related majors to get together and have fun talking about public relations. Instead, it is a growing and exploding network of young communications professionals partnering with industry networks ready to set the world on fire in their prospective field. Furthermore, one of the best things I noticed immediately about PRSSA is how the club’s mission appealed to students across many different majors, not only communications, but visual arts, business, graphic design, and many others as well!
What truly transformed my experience with PRSSA was listening to iconic leaders from their respective industries highlighting their life-changing personal stories and extensive resumes. First, hearing from Dr. Freitag at PRSSA’s Passport Professionalism Event discuss the differences between high-context and low-context cultures, reminding us of the importance of self-awareness and intercultural communication, was truly eye-opening. Second, hearing from Allana Guercia at PRSSA’s Career Comms event as she shared her experience with networking, as well as using LinkedIn and Instagram, reinforced some of the prior thoughts and conceptions about networking professionally. Furthermore, listening to Joey Wofford from Liberty's Office of Spiritual Development share his journey working with Apple, and his passion as a creator, motivated me to continue to work hard at becoming better at what I do in the broadcast communications and news media industry, and to never look back.
In only a few short months, getting involved with Liberty PRSSA has absolutely transformed my knowledge and understanding of career networking as I get ready to transition out of college and into the workforce next semester. Graduation will be here before we know it, and the networking insight I’ve learned from these incredible industry leaders has me better prepared for the next chapter in my life better than I ever thought I would be.
There’s no question that, at least for me, the PRSSA membership was definitely worth it, and then some!
Written by James Black, a Liberty PRSSA member.