My name is Kayla Stringer and up until last year, I thought I had my whole life figured out. Notice that picture? Yeah... that was this crazy idea I had to go zip lining in a jungle in San José, Costa Rica while studying abroad last summer. For some reason, I thought it was a good idea to hang thousands of feet above rivers and rocks on a cable connected to two trees and a metal hook around my waste. Why am I telling you this and what does it have to do with me introducing myself to you? Well… It was in a moment that I was floating across the cable wire when I realized I didn't have a plan for my future at all. I knew what I thought I wanted to do with my life, but in this moment, I realized two things: one- as human beings, we want to be in control of everything and there will be times in life when we aren’t, and two- exploring the unknown is wildly fascinating.
Here I am, almost a year later, working as an intern at Obsidian Public Relations in downtown Memphis and those two things still remain true- maybe now more than ever. Let's just say my first day on the job was a tad bit overwhelming. It was on my first day that I realized I don't know everything about the field of public relations. In fact, on that day, I didn't feel like I knew anything. Needless to say, I felt like the last four years of tiresome study sessions and countless research reports that were supposed to prepare me for the future seemed like they never happened at all. I felt so unprepared- a perfectionists' worst nightmare. Regardless of that, I settled into my responsibilities, building media contact lists for clients, doing research for executives, writing blog posts on various topics, and clipping print media coverage for clients.
As the weeks went by, I became more secure in my abilities to practice in public relations. I continued to remind myself of those revelations I had on some canopy wire in Costa Rica; that it's okay to not know everything and to keep pushing to learn new things every day. I didn't know that there was a difference between a press release and a news advisory or that media contact lists can take hours to build and perfect. I learned how to use programs like Meltwater and Vocus which I didn't even know existed for research analysis. Those are some of the things I wanted to explore in an attempt to grow my personal brand.
My only hope for the future is that I continue to learn and explore things I didn't previously know, but also to not get discouraged when I don't know something or don’t catch on as quickly as I would like. In my internship, I hope I continue to strengthen my knowledge of public relations tactics and learn more about the corporate culture of an agency. My goal by the close of my time with Obsidian is to find where I belong, whether that is with a non-profit organization, an agency, or someplace else. I have found the profession I love; now I just need my niche.
Here I am, almost a year later, working as an intern at Obsidian Public Relations in downtown Memphis and those two things still remain true- maybe now more than ever. Let's just say my first day on the job was a tad bit overwhelming. It was on my first day that I realized I don't know everything about the field of public relations. In fact, on that day, I didn't feel like I knew anything. Needless to say, I felt like the last four years of tiresome study sessions and countless research reports that were supposed to prepare me for the future seemed like they never happened at all. I felt so unprepared- a perfectionists' worst nightmare. Regardless of that, I settled into my responsibilities, building media contact lists for clients, doing research for executives, writing blog posts on various topics, and clipping print media coverage for clients.
As the weeks went by, I became more secure in my abilities to practice in public relations. I continued to remind myself of those revelations I had on some canopy wire in Costa Rica; that it's okay to not know everything and to keep pushing to learn new things every day. I didn't know that there was a difference between a press release and a news advisory or that media contact lists can take hours to build and perfect. I learned how to use programs like Meltwater and Vocus which I didn't even know existed for research analysis. Those are some of the things I wanted to explore in an attempt to grow my personal brand.
My only hope for the future is that I continue to learn and explore things I didn't previously know, but also to not get discouraged when I don't know something or don’t catch on as quickly as I would like. In my internship, I hope I continue to strengthen my knowledge of public relations tactics and learn more about the corporate culture of an agency. My goal by the close of my time with Obsidian is to find where I belong, whether that is with a non-profit organization, an agency, or someplace else. I have found the profession I love; now I just need my niche.