 While some students discover a passion for travel at Kent, I have dreamed of London since childhood. This summer, I brought that dream to life during a six-week program at Roehampton University, studying event planning and travel journalism.
Arriving alone at Heathrow Airport, England, the daunting experience was soon met with comfort in new friends, Katelin, Isabelle, Jake, Megan, Kevin and Jordan, who made London feel like home. We always hung out after class in each other's flats talking about our lives back home and what we wanted to gain from this experience. These events challenged who I once thought I was as an individual, learning more about myself in these 7 weeks out of the country than I have in any Fall or Spring semester back home. We did almost everything together, exploring museums, Stonehenge, Greenwich Park and the streets of London at night. I also prioritized solo adventures, watching the live musicals “Wicked” and “Evita”, and traveling to Paris, where I watched the Eiffel Tower glow against the night sky. After my program ended, I visited Hamburg, Germany, reconnecting with a long-distance friend and discovering my father’s favorite places from when he was my age. The buildings and parks felt like something out of a dream; I loved the architecture and the language. But the food was one of my favorite parts of Germany. Those six weeks challenged me in ways no classroom ever has. I learned independence, embraced new cultures and built lifelong friendships. If I could share any piece of advice, it would be to book a flight and travel. The world is bigger than you imagine, and so are you. Move and don’t stop moving because there is so much world to see and so many versions of yourself you haven’t met. So take the risk and challenge yourself, because you won’t regret it, I promise.
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 Ragan Communications and PR Daily’s Top Women in Marketing Awards Recognize Kent State University 2017 PRSSA Alumna Gabrielle Woodard
By Jewels Cydrus The Big Award Every year, Ragan Communications and PR Daily publish a list of women in marketing who are innovators in the industry. Kent State University 2017 alumna Gabrielle Woodard was one of only six women recognized as a “Marketer to Watch (Age 30 and Under)” honoree. Woodard is the senior marketing manager of the Intelligence and Homeland Security branch at General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT), a subsidiary of General Dynamics, a global aerospace and defense company. This award highlights Woodard’s accomplishments and dedication early in her career. “Everything had to be done before you turned 30, and funny enough, I turned 30 in June,” she said. She was under 30 when she applied and hadn’t heard of the award before. Throughout her 20s, Woodard often felt she had to prove her value as she worked her way up. “I feel like I’m finally where I’ve wanted to be in the last 10 years,” she said. “And to get into a role and be like, 'Oh, I know what I’m doing,’ that’s a really cool feeling.” College and her Career Pathway During her time at Kent State, she was a member of PRSSA and Alpha Phi. She served as PRSSA president her junior year, earning both the National President’s Citation Award and Kent State’s Student Leader of the Year Award, and went on to receive the National Gold Key Award her senior year. Although she is grateful to be honored by these awards, Woodard does not let them define her. “It sounds really cliché, but if you hinge all of your confidence on that outside confirmation, it’s going to be really hard,” she said. “Because you don’t want to live between awards.” She was a public relations major with a minor in political science. All through college, she had her mind set on working in a political or governmental setting. At the end of her sophomore year, she had two internships within the national security and defense realm that highlighted her passion for the industry. The summer before her senior year, Woodard decided to pursue her dream career and finish her degree online. So, she moved to Virginia and began working at Northrop Grumman, another major defense contractor. “It was a company that really encouraged its employees to try different things and move around,” she said. “So, I started in employee comms and then I went into government relations, working with the lobbyists, and I finished there after about four years as the lead communications person for AI.” While working at Grumman, the company paid for her to pursue a master’s degree in homeland security and counterterrorism. “I don’t recommend people get a master’s in PR or a master’s in communications if they’ve done the work,” she said. “I don’t think there’s anything new that you’re going to learn that you haven’t learned on the job.” Instead, Woodard recommends people study the industry they work in to become an expert in the field. “If you can be an expert in what they’re talking about and be able to teach people to talk about it, then that’s going to make you more of a valuable player than somebody who knows P.R., comms, or marketing inside and out,” she said. Beginning her career in college, she had to learn on her own and speak up for herself in the workplace. She knew what she was doing, but she had to constantly prove it to her coworkers and bosses. “People would say, ‘Wow, you’re young!’ because I was working in an industry that people had been in for a long time,” she said. As time passed and she continued to thrive, people stopped asking about her age and she continued to look for bigger and better opportunities. In 2021, she began working for GDIT, her current employer. This opportunity was available because of the master’s degree that she obtained. Woodard paved her own path to success by taking opportunities, working hard and proving herself at a young age. Mentorship, Confidence and Big Dreams
“It’s not, ‘Oh, she did something really cool and I haven’t,’” she said. “It’s that quiet confidence where I can take a step back and say, ‘I know what I do is cool.’”
 This summer, I had an internship with Sukoon Psychotherapy, giving me the chance to apply my digital marketing skills in a real-world setting. As a virtual mental health practice, Sukoon’s small start-up structure gave me a close look at marketing operations in that environment, challenging me with meaningful projects.
I completed various projects with applied skills I have been developing throughout my studies at Kent State. I created a full newsletter proposal, wrote blog articles about therapy and mental health, designed a short-form social media video and prepared a strategic SEO presentation for the founders. Each project required me to balance creativity with practicality; communicating sensitive topics in a clear and supportive way for the practice. Although my experience was fruitful, I faced multiple challenges. Communication was sometimes difficult, with each of my supervisors welcoming a new baby while also running the practice, it was hard to get consistent feedback or direction. I was sometimes unsure if I was fully meeting their expectations. This was frustrating at the moment, but it became an important part of my growth. I learned how to be more independent, trust my decision-making and keep projects moving forward even without immediate guidance. In the end, I left Sukoon Psychotherapy with more than stronger technical skills. I learned how to adapt in a less-than-perfect environment and to channel empathy in communication while working in a field as sensitive as mental health. The experience was not flawless, but I see that as a strength; proof of my resilience, independence, and commitment to purposeful work despite challenges. Tips for future interns:
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