What PR Pals Did For Me

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.