Reflection & My Future Plans

I've been attending a class called, 'Technology in Public Relations and Advertising'(CAP 105), for the past few months and I've learned a significant amount. My professor, Doctor Wallace, has been the most influential professor I've had so far in my college career. Her teaching methods border on meta, making the class feel like real advertising/public relations experience. She’s pushed me intellectually and professionally to limits that I wouldn’t have pushed myself to. I’ve taken many college courses with minimal application possibilities and the professors almost never lean into them. Two of my most difficult classes have had no career utility. Both were classes at Grand Rapids Community College, the worst was ‘U.S. History Since 1500’ and the second worst was ‘Environmental Geology’. I got the feeling with both these classes that the professors were trying to make their field appear important by making it a pain in my behind. Neither of these courses were required, I selected them because I thought they sounded interesting. CAP 105 is required for my major, Professor Wallace knows the importance of the content and justifiably has made it a grind. I know she might be surprised by reading this, but I believe I spent the most time per week on her class, and I’ve been taking five classes this semester. I’m not sure I would’ve wanted it any other way.

Our first assignment in CAP 105 was creating a blog and posting an introduction of ourselves. I knew right away, I was going to learn, a lot. Most teachers would ask the class to use an already familiar forum, like Blackboard, for introductions. I can confidently say that I would’ve never made a blog if it weren’t for this class. Now, I know how to design a blog site within Wix.com and have experience writing for one. Not only did I get new experience with technology, but I also gained a significant amount of presenting experience. I can’t remember exactly how many presentations we gave in this class but I remember feeling nervous during my first one, despite it being a group presentation, and not feeling nervous during my later presentations. Speaking of group work… GROUP 5 is the BEST! Our whole class was put into groups at the beginning of the semester and we became more of a team by the end. This forced collaboration for an extended period is the closest thing I’ve experienced to a professional project team. In real life you don’t choose who you work with, you’re put where the boss wants you and you figure it out. I know I’m making it sound like a chore, but I really enjoyed meeting Lauren and Ana, playing off each other’s strengths, and hearing alternate perspectives.

I’ve never completely disregarded textbook reading, but I was tempted to this semester. One of my professors(not Wallace) was suggesting readings, then presenting the exact same content in class, and assigning homework about it. Maybe that doesn’t read as repetitive, but it was. In CAP 105 we were assigned readings with short writings; the most important part of the writings was the ‘Need more’ section because it provided a place to express our curiosity. Professor Wallace then combed through our ponderings and gave answers in class, instead of repeating what we already knew from the textbook. I felt comfortable having discussions in class, it felt less like being talked at and more talked with. I genuinely enjoyed our class meetings. After talking about the good times, I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about our asynchronous classes. About three weeks out of the semester, we didn’t meet or do our regular readings. In place of our normal work, we completed two certificates(each asych week). One was from HubSpot and the other was from Skill Shop. These certificates are graded on a pass or fail bases and 80% is the line, anything worse is a failure. The HubSpot certificates were generally a breeze for me. I’d watch the videos, take quizzes, and pass the final test. I only failed to pass once and passed easily when I retook it. The Skill Shop certificates were a different story. I never passed first try. One I retook four times to get a passing score. A 24-hour waiting period between attempts made this extremely anxiety inducing, but Professor Wallace was understanding and extended the due date. Although I wanted to pull my hair out every time I failed, my honesty makes me admit it. I learned more when I failed. I forced myself to grasp the technology at a deeper level and studied hundreds of flashcards. Check out my LinkedIn to see which certificates I earned.

My LinkedIn

I learned a lot in this class, but Professor Wallace made sure we all understood one thing. You never stop learning. Especially in a dynamic field like advertising and public relations. So how am I going to do that? Well first off, I’m going to stay in school and not do drugs. But that’s kind if a given. Professor Wallace has warned our class that we could easily be pigeonholed in social media work, which isn’t a nightmare of mine, but it’s not the career I’m looking for. I chose this major because I want to use my creativity in a future job. That being said, I’m also a realist. That’s why I’m not pursuing my craziest dreams, like becoming a standup comedian or country music star. I’ve learned over the years that I’m not the exception. Kids believe they can do anything and bless their hearts. But for every Dave Chappelle and Morgan Wallen, there’s hundreds of comedians and musicians that didn’t make it. I’ve done the quick math and I’d be a statistical anomaly if I succeed in these highly competitive fields. So, I’m putting college first and crazy dreams second. Getting back to the question, I’m going to continue learning by using social media more. Some things are best learned hands on and I think social media is one of those things. This will prepare me for the social media work I’ll probably need to do at some point in my career. I'm going to commit to posting once a week, which doesn't sound like a lot but I'm kind of a country boy.

All this reflection has made me realize the best thing that Professor Wallace has given me is advice. So, killing two birds with one stone, I’m going to follow on Twitter all the PR professionals from our textbook, Social Media for Strategic Communication, by Karen Freberg. I’ll be providing a list of names below. This way I’ll be able to hear updated Ad/PR expertise from industry experts like Dr. Wallace. I can’t say Twitter is where I’ll stay, but that’s part of the game. Always stay on your toes.

PR Professionals-

Deirdre Breakenridge

Dr. Chris Yandle

Chris Strub

Tevin Johnson-Campion

Samantha Hughey

Rich Calabrese

Jeremy Darlow

Adrian Molina

Jennifer Hartmann(couldn't find)

Leah Schultz

Miri Rodriguez

Adam Ornelas(couldn't find)

Dennis Yu

Russ Wilde

Jared Gaon

Melissa Agnes

Kerry Flynn

Carl Schmid

Whitney Drake

Bella Portaro-Kueber

Mark Murdock(couldn't find)

Mireille Ryan

Nick Stover