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As the semester ends all of us can look back and realize how much we have learned these past few months. The amount of work we have accomplished is arguably the most we have done in college, but what are we suppose to do over winter break? This year there is a full month between semesters and you shouldn’t want to stop learning. As public relations students, you need to always be learning something new because someone else always is. As corny as that sounds it is true. In an economy that is so bad you need to be the best and know the most if you expect to get a good job when you graduate. So, I have created a list of five things you should do in order to stay in PR shape.
- Read – This seems simple enough, but not enough people do it. You need to read anything you can get your eyes on: books, magazines, blogs, and anything else. As PR professionals, you need to not only know what is going on which is newsworthy, but also pop culture and any other information that other people don’t know. And one good way of getting all of this information is to read.
- Learn a new program – Technology is changing at an accelerated pace and if you don’t keep up with it you will get lost. Obviously, you cannot master every program over a month, but learn at least one new program this break and try to master it as best as you can. I know I am going to take this winter break and try to learn Windows Live Movie Maker.
- Blog – If you plan on being a successful public relations professional, you need to understand blogging and the best way to do that is to have your own. Blogging is so important to campaigns nowadays because it connects companies to the online communities they would miss if they didn’t have a blog. If you don’t have one I suggest starting one with either Wordpress or Blogger. Blogging helps your writing without you even noticing it. I can honestly say since I have been blogging, my writing has improved and writing comes easier to me. It works. I promise.
- Lookup potential jobs/internships – It might be too late to find an internship for the spring semester, but you never know. It is always a good idea to search for future jobs for when you graduate. Job searching can be a full-time job and you need to be ready. I graduate in May and I definitely want to know what is out there, so I can position myself to get them.
- Relax/reflect – I know this doesn’t seem like it belongs, but always remember it is winter break. You need to have some down time. As bad as you need to find time to do all the other things on the list, you need to make sure you relax. Everyone needs to take a step back to relax and reflect. Reflection is key for personal growth because you need to be able to look back and build off all the good things you did and learn from all of the mistakes you made.
The semester is over, but personal growth can’t. If you really want to become a public relations professional these are the top five things you need to do over the break. There is always someone out who is practicing their craft and you can’t afford not to.
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Comments
12.12.09
I think your advice is very good. I'm in-between things, trying to make marketing work for what I hope to be e-books, doing blogging and the like, but I'm trying to learn the best ways to deal with e-books, to read more (like this post!), to reflect (upon things like this post!), and network and so forth.
12.18.09
Great article Drew. I am a student as well, and I admire your drive to stay active over break! I'm the same way! Today I started working on my personal portfolio website, and setting up some networking meeting. Graduation is nearing, and its a bit scary! Keep the advice coming!
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