Tags
beginning research, career, graduation, Grand Valley, GVSU, how to write a research paper, PR, pr management, pr program, professional document, PRSSA, public relations
It has officially been Christmas Break for three days now and, yet, I still cannot manage to turn my mind off and relax. I am constantly worrying about graduation (in April) and what I am going to do after. I keep applying for jobs and just hope that all of my hard work will pay off. I know people think I am crazy, but ideally I would like to have a job before I graduate. I don’t want to have to move home and depend on my parents until I find a job. I know they would love to have me home and would not bat an eye at helping me, but I don’t want to do that to them. My dad is retired, which means he is on a fixed income. Although, my mom is a surgical nurse at U of M I don’t want them to have to worry about me. They have helped and supported me more than most parents for the past 22 years. It is time for me to help them by helping myself.
On a smaller note of worries I am trying to devise a professional document to submit to my university’s School of Communications. There is a class within the Ad/PR program called CAP 115 (it is a beginning research methods class), during the course of the semester students learn the fundamentals of secondary and primary research. They also learn how to write a research paper (properly) and proper APA style. When I began the program I assumed it was a prerequisite class (assuming classes went in numerical order 100, 200, 300, etc.), so I took the class first. I admit it was not the most interesting or fun class I have ever taken, but I learned so much in that class that I would later find out would highly benefit me in other classes. Not to mention, I had a great professor who made me want to continue in the program despite the boring start. Within the Ad/PR program you take an introduction to PR class in which you learn to write your first plan book. Then later you take a PR Management and Cases class which involves working in a group to complete three plans and one individually and the last plan book class you take is campaign writing where you work with a team to create a campaign for an actual client. All three of these courses involve a lot of research and if the research is not done properly the rest of the plan will not be correct or effective. It is very frustrating to have to work in a group on these projects with another student(s) who has not taken the research basics class. My feeling is mutual among many peers and even numerous professors. We have all complained individually and the professors say they can never get anywhere with their recommendations.
I along with another professor decided that maybe if PRSSA (Public Relations Student Society of America) drafted an appeal to the School of Communications, maybe we could make research basics a prerequisite class. Because PRSSA is identified as a professional organization we are going to use that to our advantage and present the school with a professional document with a lot of research and logic behind our appeal. It is our belief that students will inevitably learn more in their classes if professors do not have to spend extra time teaching students proper research techniques.
Anyways, that is just my frustration at the moment and what is occupying my mind other than finding a big girl job. Hopefully, when I make it back to the East side of the state later this week I will be able to just relax and play with my Newfies and not worry about a thing (haha that is a joke).
-AG