Why PR... and what is it?

People always ask what I'm taking in school. When I tell them public relations, a puzzled look comes over their faces. People have said "I'm not sure what that is..." or "what exactly does that entail?" As cheesy as this sounds, I can't help but smile while I explain it. 

In simple terms, PR is all about being the middleman, or in this case, middle(wo)man. You are the person relating your client to the public and vice versa. You are the person not only your client, but the public, turns to for honest and accurate information. People don't always have the most positive perceptions when it comes to PR, but I think they have a (typically) undeserved bad reputation. I fully accept the challenge to attempt to alter people's opinions about PR once I have a spot in the industry. 

I first heard about PR sitting in my first year journalism class, and my professor referred to it as the "dark side." When she went on to explain what PR was exactly, I thought that seemed much more appealing than journalism (oops... sorry to any journalists out there). That moment is stuck in my mind, I had a good feeling about this "dark side". 

Communications degree in hand,

I was ready for the next step.

Two years later, I dropped my journalism major to focus solely on communications. I took every class related to PR and had a feeling that it was something I would love to do and could do well. 

I love communicating: in my personal life, in school, at work, really wherever I am. My roommate once asked me if I ever stopped talking... the answer is no. I love meeting new people and hearing their stories. As a server, I'm constantly in contact with so many different types of people, it keeps things exciting. PR has the same kind of environment.

I'm also a social media junkie. Social media has become huge for PR, giving PR practitioners the ability to reach their audience directly on behalf of their clients, without the help of traditional media. Social media is something I've become very accustomed to using in my personal life but I could easily transfer those skills to a business environment. Currently, as well as in the future, social media will prove to be one of the most useful platforms for PR and I look forward to capitalizing on it for my clients. The only challenges I see facing the industry is maintaining PR as its own separate division. We are not advertising or marketing but a sector on its own.

As for my career in PR, I'm not exactly sure where I'm headed. The options of working in an agency or for a corporation each have their own benefits. I'm leaning towards working for a corporation and being their director of PR, or VP of communications. I know, I shoot high. As for what type of company, I would be thrilled to work in the health & beauty sector. But I'm not tied down to any one idea.

For now, I don't want to worry about that. My intensive CCPR (corporate communications + PR) program at Centennial College is enough to keep me busy. I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into when I enrolled in the program, but I couldn't be any happier with my choice. Centennial was the clear choice after talking to a previous grad of the program who couldn't say enough amazing things about her experience. College is very different from the university setting, but I love that I am learning concrete practical skills instead of writing essays on topics I will never remember in a year. 

One of the lessons I've learned, especially during the past four years, is to trust your gut feeling. As I sat down in class on the first day I had the feeling that this was going to be one amazing year. Let's trust that. 

- JS