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FOR YOUR CURIOSITY
ACADEMIC WORK
SPRING 2024
ENGL 314 - Technical Communication
This course allowed me to gain experience in effective document design, usability testing, and technical communication strategies. This class definitely challenged me to think outside of my own design crutches and approach projects with a mindset of "How can I effectively communicate digitally to a specific audience?" A major element of this course was collaborating as a group to design a usability test for the Iowa State Safe App and propose a recommendation report for improving its design, usage, and language. This project took up the latter half of the semester and required a lot of team communication, strategy, and equal division of work. I wrote and proofread much of the report and used my prior experience writing a consulting proposal in ENGL 309 to frame goals and tasks for each member. This project was challenging but ultimately highly rewarding and something I am proud of.
ADVRT 473 - Social Media Strategy
Produce a Podcast Assignment
I had so much fun doing this assignment! I had the chance to sit down with one of my sisters and spoof a podcast about a funny memory from our childhood. My sisters and I love to do "bits" acting as podcast hosts, so we had a lot of fun goofing off and reflecting back on sibling drama. I even produced the intro music. This was my favorite assignment from all semester!
FALL 2023
As part of my major's capstone course, PR 424 centered around developing and implementing a campaign for the National Invent2Prevent Competition. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security challenges students from schools nationwide to develop a product, tool, or initiative that helps reduce targeted violence or terrorism. My class created an initiative called MIND SPACE, which stands for Mental Independence and Nurturing Development in a Solitary Place for Achieving Calm Emotions, that sought to build a connected community and decrease mental health stigma to prevent school/campus violence. The final report I wrote (see attached) summarizing our semester's work ultimately granted us a Top 3 Finalist selection by the competition and a trip to Washington D.C. to present to the Department of Homeland Security. The innovative excellence demonstrated by the MIND SPACE initiative won us 1st Place and a $10,000 grant to sustaining the project. An achievement of this caliber is one that resonates with me deeply -- I poured my heart and soul into this project from its beginning, and to see the fruit of my labor be nationally recognized is something I am incredibly proud of. Read more about MIND SPACE and its future here.
ENGL 309 - Proposal & Report Writing
I took this course as a requirement for my technical communication minor, but I found that it was a great opportunity to exercise my proposal writing skills and add to my toolbox. I learned a lot about the differences between reports and proposals, their purposes, and what careers require them. This course really challenged me. I had never written a formal proposal for a class before, but I found that the consulting proposal assignment was really valuable to my professional goals given that a career involving campaigns typically requires an extensive understanding of how to align your goals with a prospective audience's wants and needs. This course in tandem with PR 424 pushed me to be a better writer, and it was extremely helpful when I wrote the final report for MIND SPACE.
PR 424 - Public Relations Campaigns
SPRING 2023
PR 321 - Writing for Public Relations
I really found my stride with the magazine feature. I thought I did a nice job of adapting PRSA's organizational tone while still accurately summarizing the webinar. I learned a lot in terms of writing concisely but I also had a lot of fun making the page more readable and pleasing, which is something I made sure to keep in mind when I was looking at the PRSA magazines in class.
I chose to include this assignment because it helped me complete a task I was asked to do for my job. This assignment helped me focus on what information is necessary to include when writing for someone else, which helped when I started writing for my job because I was given only a few notes that I had to use to make various announcements.
FALL 2022
I enrolled in five classes in the fall semester of 2022. Displayed beneath is some work that I am proud of.
JLMC 201 - Reporting and Writing for the Mass Media
This class challenged me to write in new and unfamiliar ways that stretched my abilities while teaching me the vital skills needed to report and communicate effectively for various mass media audiences. I attribute a lot of my newfound comfort in writing for press releases, news releases, media kits, and more to this class, which has really benefitted me moving forward with my more difficult public relations writing classes.
PR 301 - Research and Strategic Planning for Public Relations and Advertising
This class taught me a lot about the rigidity and extensive work that goes into research in PR and advertising fields. Being 100% honest, I did not enjoy this class due to unsatisfactory teaching. However, I appreciate the information I learned as it will benefit me in future research practices. Attached is my group's final research project and presentation on creating a strategic communication plan for Dunkin' Donuts.
SPRING 2022
I enrolled in five classes in the spring semester of 2022. Displayed beneath is one essay that I am proud of.
WGS 210 - GENDER & POP CULTURE
I took this class because I am committed to gaining a better understanding of perspectives different than mine, so I thought that exposing myself to a class focused on gender studies would be a great way to facilitate this while learning about how pop culture and gender cross paths. Attached is my final essay over transgender athletes and their right to compete.
FALL 2021
I enrolled in five classes in the fall semester of 2021. Displayed beneath is some work that I am proud of. Originally I came in as a political science major, which is reflected in some of my work.
POL S 215 - INTRO TO AMERICAN GOV
I was pleasantly surprised by my capacity to internalize everything I learned in this class. Professor Dirk Deam not only made an enriching impact on how I understand our system of government, but also how to reject the misinformed notions we hear about it today. Attached is my fall semester final, which reflects much of the rewarding cumulation of knowledge I gained from the course.
POL S 101 - INTRO TO POLITCAL SCIENCE
This class lead me to switch from a political science major to public relations. I'm grateful I was able to recognize that this was not for me, and I'm proud of the work I accomplished in this course. I was assigned a debate topic to collaborate with a group of students, and attached is my debate topic essay.
SOC 134 - INTRO TO SOCIOLOGY
Learning how to deconstruct social constructs was one of the most interesting elements of sociology I learned about. Tackling how our society learned its behaviors was really enlightening and eye-opening, and it has allowed me to view the world through a more critical lens. Attached is a book report I wrote over the social construction behind being anti-vaccination.
HIXSON SEMINAR
I won the Hixson Opportunity Award coming in as a freshman and part of the scholarship requirements was to meet with peer tutors in designated sections once a week. One of our biggest projects involved community engagement, and it was a really rewarding experience! The link will direct you to a presentation of our project.
*NOTE* In December of 2021, a family member passed away, putting me in a position unable to complete my fall semester finals until after break was over, resulting in an incomplete grade for each of those classes. These courses have been completed as of February 16th, 2022.