Saturday, February 17, 2007

Tired of the "B.S."

I was chatting the other day with a freshman, and she proceeded to drill me with questions about Public Relations and what it entails.

As I listened to her concerns and answered her questions, I realized just how many facets of PR there actually are.

Before I decided to pursue PR, I did some research to learn what all I could do with my degree. I intentionally chose PR because of all of the opportunities I will have to apply my degree.

Although I haven’t graduated yet, so I don’t know what’s out there for me in the real world yet, I have been able to utilize my education thus far to secure many wonderful and fulfilling positions.

This summer I was given the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to intern at the Make-A-Wish Foundation in Marietta, Ga. I was able to work with wish kids and their family and worked in a position that matter: I literally was helping to grant a wish to a child suffering from a life-threatening medical condition. That’s the best job I could ever ask for.

But public service is only one aspect of PR. According to O*Net, with a PR degree, I could be anything from Account Executive to Media Outreach Coordinator. Personally, one of the biggest appeals of the major is how limitless my degree will be.

I don’t think most people know how broad PR is because when I tell most people what I am majoring in, I normally hear that I am going to be a professional spin-doctor, or my personal favorite is that I will be a B.S. professional.

I laugh now at the jokes, but hopefully one day my education and career won’t be laughing matter.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Do Grady Classes Really Lack Value???

I was surprised to open our school newspaper, The Red & Black, the last Wednesday to see an article in the Opinion section written by Whitney Kessler, a fellow journalism student.

In bold letters the headline read, Grady intro courses lacking value. As a student of the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, I was more than intrigued to read what the author had to say.

As I read her article, I found myself agreeing that our classes do rely heavily on powerpoint slides and guest speakers; but, I found myself disagreeing much more than being in unison with her beliefs.

I have been in the Grady College for four semesters now, have taken many courses within the school and am currently enrolled in my last Grady class before I graduate. I have definitely had some professors who don't teach to the way that I learn, and no, these haven't been my favorite classes. However, I have found that the professors in Grady College have experience and prestigious educations, which make them very qualified to teach these courses.

In addition, how can one judge the education a college can provide solely on introductory course, because after all, that's what they are: introductory courses. Before one can experience the upper level courses, one must start at the bottom of the course pool. Intro classes lay a foundation by providing information about many things, and upper level classes provide specific information about specific things. While maybe intro classes lack interest, they do not lack value.

While I love reading the Red & Black, which keeps me abreast of campus controversy, I think the author decided to vent in the inappropriate forum. The article was very tactful, but before writing an article discrediting the value of classes, Kessler should have discussed her concerns with the Dean of the college or other appropriate administration. While I'm sure Kessler has many allies on her side, I found her article to be offensive and pointless.

Monday, February 5, 2007

Super Bowl 2007

I watched the Super Bowl last night mainly for the advertisement, then the football but definitely not for the halftime show.

The ads this year were funny, but I always like Anheuser-Busch commercials. Their commercials are as good as their beer.

The New York Times published an article today about Super Bowl commercials, which presents an interesting perspective of the ads.

I agree with somethings they say, like the ads were more violent than in the past, but I don't necessarily agree that the ads are sending a subliminal message about the war in Iraq. Maybe I think too superficially, but I watched the same commercials and never once did they make me think about the ongoing war overseas.

Also, the way the article describes some of the ads take the message out of context. For instance to discuss exaggerated violence in commercials, the article cites the Snickers ad that has two men ripping off their chest hair to prove their masculinity; however, this move came after the two men kissed by sharing a Snickers bar the same way Lady and the Tramp shared a spaghetti noodle. When I watched that ad I didn't see exaggerated violence; instead, I thought the men were proving masculinity because they had just kissed, which can be construed as not masculine.