And the signs along the road that led me to where I am today
There are those
fortunate to know their life calling from an early age. They’re curious about
science, infections and how the human body works and have perfected signing Dr.
before their last name at the age of five. Yet, for the majority of us, finding
our career calling (not to be mistaken with life calling) can have many
interesting turns. Many shake their head at this notion, citing the fact that
the majority of people do not end up in a career that is the same as their
major. I’m not sure that’s all that bad. There are numerous stories of those whose
path to success includes instances of chance and circumstance. At my graduation
speech from Miami, a professor referred to an individual who discovered optometry
later in life and how it perfectly blended his background in science with his
love for art as he carefully repaired eyes to their former condition.
For me personally,
public relations and marketing speak to many things I am naturally curious
about and what I believe I am naturally gifted at. Below are a few of my “A-ha”
moments:
My journey begins early
as my first grade teacher wrote in a note to my mother that that I would be
signing books at Barnes & Noble someday. I also received perfect scores on
writing proficiency tests, an award in the fifth grade for my rendering of a
peacock and was told by my high school art teacher that I have an “eye for
design.”
In high school, I was
all over the place about where I wanted to go to college. I started
corresponding with college coaches early, writing introduction letters and
sending them highlight tapes. Oddly enough, I really enjoyed that process and
thought to myself “Wouldn’t it be cool to be the person who writes these kinds
of letters on behalf of a company?”
Fast forward to my
freshman year at Miami during my English comp classes where I had a few more “a-ha” moments. Our first
assignment when I arrived on campus was to write an ethnography, another
exercise I got a kick out of. I loved taking notes on a place and putting into
words what made it unique. During another exercise we were asked to describe
the experience of eating an orange and upon reading my work, a classmate told
me I should be a marketing major. We also had to create a Facebook profile for a
character we were reading about and I couldn’t help but think to myself
“Wouldn’t it be cool to be the person who manages social media for an
organization?”
That year, I lived
across the hall from a student who was a communication major who informed me of
what you could do with the degree and what kinds of internships her friends
had. I read more about these internship experiences in the Miami Quarterly and
changed my major from “Undecided” to pre-communication.
Sophomore year I began
living with one of my good friends Emilie Bowman who just so happens to be the
niece of PR all-star Ron Culp. She told me about her uncle’s experiences at
Sears and our senior year we did an agency tour of Ketchum in Chicago when he
worked there. That year I also took an introduction to public relations course.
The oh-so-influential professor Bill Brewer told us the three skills we needed
to succeed in public relations were good writing, the ability to “play well
with others” and to be a problem solver. I believe I am above average in all
three of those traits and loved the idea of a career path where I could continue
developing them. In another introduction course, seniors presented their
capstone PR campaign for the Office of the Diversity on campus. I was intrigued
by the research they conducted that revealed the office needed to be relocated
and the strategies they used to communicate the move.
I haven’t looked back since I decided in college to pursue a
career in marketing and public relations and it’s fun to look back at my
education and experiences that pointed me towards that selection. That being
said, I don’t think any career will fit you perfectly as we are complex
individuals who are continually evolving (and I don’t think a career should fit you perfectly, but that’s for
another day). How did you figure out what you wanted to do for a living? What
were some of the twists and turns along that journey? I’d love to hear that
story and how you got to where you are today.
