Dare to be Different

I'm a public relations student. I have big aspirations. The whole field excites me. I want to know everything. And I realize I am one of thousands of other PR students across the country -- heck, even the whole world -- who feel that same way. I'm someone who wants to stand out from the rest of the pack. I guess I've always been that way (blame it on the red hair that gave me no choice from day one). So how exactly does one do that? For starters, I have taken initiative to further my education outside of classroom walls. Here are some things I've done to help me learn more:

+ Blogs, blogs, blogs. I'm addicted to my Google Reader. I subscribe to a lot of the traditional news sources (NY Times, LA Times, Boston Globe, etc) and fun stuff (magazines, fashion blogs, hockey blogs). But what started this whole reader thing was the PR and communication blogs out there. I have about 66 of them in my Reader alone, and that list continuously grows. These blogs are written mostly from professionals who are excellent at what they do (see: Seth Godin, Brian Solis, Chris Brogan, etc). There are also some from PR students, like Christy Hammond, who are easy to relate too considering we're in the same position (plus she has some sick internships). All of these individuals are offering all this great insight for free! How can you not take advantage of that?

+ I signed up for a mentor from the Creative Career. Within one week I was paired up with Doug Haslam from SHIFT Communications. Talk about a great opportunity to communicate one-on-one with someone who is already working in PR. It's nice to have a resource to turn to whenever you want.

+ I social-media my heart out. Facebook is a given for every college student, so that came naturally. But other sites like LinkedIn and Twitter I was new two a few months ago. Now, of course, I'm obsessed. That's what I like about Twitter. You can only get hooked if you take a proactive approach. It gives you the chance to network and converse with some of the most amazing people. And no one should be deprived of Shaq's words of wisdom.

+ Internships. I've interned at smaller places in my hometown the past two years. While they don't come with the glamorous names of the bigger agencies or the cool boutique agencies, I can honestly say I've done hands-on work. I've written press releases that were published, worked on campaigns, edited web copy, wrote editorials, feature stories and newsletters. I was given an opportunity to really jump in, and it's benefited me a lot.

+ Economics for Dummies. Yes. I bought it yesterday. Economics is one area I have very little education in, and unfortunately I don't think I'll have time to take a class on it. So I bought the book. I'm currently in a corporate communication class, and it's so interesting. I'm smart enough to realize that without some background knowledge in economics it would be hard to become a CCO someday. Sure it will require extra reading time, but I'm excited to venture into something new.

Those are just four things I've done to try to keep myself at the front of the pack. There are other things I do too, but I can't give away all my secrets now can I? :-)