By: Ellie Dundics
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Coming into a school like Kent, with over 40,000 students enrolled, is very overwhelming when taking your first steps as a freshman. My first thoughts were “how am I going to stand out from the crowd,” or “how am I going to find my place at this university?” Luckily, I attended the CCI showcase Kent State has every year, which is where I was navigated to PRSSA. Sitting in the first meeting of PRSSA, I was automatically inspired as a public relations student, but there were a ton of questions I still had, which is why I wanted to seize the opportunity of having an experienced upperclassman to answer those questions. All the board members and upperclassmen welcomed me and the rest of the new comers with open arms, but one woman in particular, Alex Seibt, sparked interest for me because of the fact she was the social media coordinator for PRSSA and I wanted to be apart of that. When filling out the application to be a PR Pal, I requested Alex and was ecstatic when she emailed me that she was my mentor!

The first-time meeting was a little confusing because I was unsure whether it was meant to be a professional relationship or more of a friendship. Once we met, she made me feel very comfortable by describing herself, her background and by answering all the questions I had. She not only answered my questions, but gave me steps and advice to enforce the questions I had. After meeting her, I immediately called my mom expressing how much meeting her meant to me, how inspired I felt and how much I appreciated Kent and PRSSA for bringing her into my life.
Since meeting her, she has given me email addresses of people I can reach out to, helped me construct emails, reminded me of PRSSA meetings and became a very good friend of mine - all while helping me create a network for the future. When telling my friends about this organization and having a PR Pal, I describe her as my “PR big sister,” because that is exactly what she is. We not only talk about school, but we have conversations about life, things going on in the world and things we want to accomplish in the future. Joining PRSSA as a whole has been one of the best decisions I have made so far in college, and having a mentor like Alex is the cherry on top.
Being a part of PR Pals is a win-win situation, you have a person who experienced almost everything you will in your journey of being a public relations student, and you are giving yourself a resource to fall back on when things get confusing. Having Alex as a PR Pal has motivated me by hearing her stories about internships, traveling abroad and currently being in the work force. To PRSSA: thank you for having a program like this because it made such a big school seem very small and helped me find my place very early on in my college career.

​By: Sam Ross
Planning any kind of event is stressful, but when it’s over and you take a step back and look at everything you accomplished you realize that it was all worth it.
I just recently planned a silent auction and it was the first event I had ever planned, and even though I thought I was going crazy I realized that event planning is actually something that I enjoy.  Here are some of the things I learned while panning my first event.

Do start planning early. You never know when something will go wrong and cause you to stop doing everything. This is going to push everything else back. Getting a head start on everything will also give you less to do as it gets closer to the event.

Do ask for help. You may want to do everything yourself so you know it gets done right, but it’s just going to stress you out even more. There are always people willing to help. Whether it was picking up auction donations on my behalf, or volunteering to help throughout the planning process and the day of, other PRSSA members were always willing to lend a hand.
 
Do make checklists. This is a great way to stay organized and it helps you remember everything you have to do for that day.
 
Do stay organized. When planning big events, it’s easy to forget about the little details. A great way I stayed organized was by making lists, documents that said what donations were picked up and which still needed to be pick up and having a folder on my laptop of everything.
 
Don’t assume anything. If there’s something you are confused or concerned about, ask questions. Reach out to the president or advisor of your organization as they are more than likely have the answers you need.
 
Don’t get too overwhelmed. In the beginning, it will seem like you have a lot to do, but it will all work out in the end. There were many times where I was so overwhelmed, but I really didn’t need to be because a few days later that thing I was overwhelmed about didn’t matter anymore.
 
Don’t forget to enjoy the event. Don’t be stressed the day of. Just relax and have a good time at the event!