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Why PR? A Personal Story

When I received my acceptance letter from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, I was thoroughly surprised. It was not because I did not expect to get in, but because I was unaware that I had applied. I had applied to Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences as an intended English major, and had selected Newhouse as my second choice school if I did not get into the Arts and Sciences, completely unaware of the reputation Newhouse has. When I received my acceptance letter to be dually enrolled in both schools, it was the best mistake to ever happen to me.

After only a couple introductory courses, I knew that public relations was perfect for me and was the direction I wanted to go with my career. My Newhouse major quickly became my core major and my Arts and Sciences major – now public policy – became supplementary. A shadowing opportunity in the Eric Mower + Associates office in Albany, NY, in the summer of 2013 only helped to secure my decision.

As Sean Casey, Partner and Director of Public Affairs at Eric Mower + Associates, once told me, public relations is doing good and getting caught at it. That will forever be my favorite definition of my career choice. As many of my professors and fellow students at Newhouse have stated, the public relations person always has to be the smartest person in the room, thinking of creative solutions to the next problem that hasn’t happened yet. That is exactly who I want to be, helping out an organization and its publics by representing both sides.

I want to start my career in public relations in an agency. Although I have a preference for public affairs and political public relations, I love the idea of getting to experience many different types of public relations on many different accounts. Having multiple clients is an ideal situation for me, making no single day exactly the same. This type of setting is fast-paced and highly stressful, but I have always worked better under pressure, being an organized and task-oriented individual. Public relations is not simply something I want to do as my career; it is something that I am truly passionate about and that I will love waking up to do every day.

Samantha LinnettComment