Millersville Students Experience Professional Development at Penn State
Sarah Tyler
Every year, ten schools across the nation host the Public Relations Student
Society of America's (PRSSA) Regional Conference. This year, Penn State University
hosted conference for those living in Pennsylvania and surrounding states. Ten
Millersville students had the opportunity to attend the two-day conference for preprofessional development and networking opportunities.
As students from Millersville University arrived at the conference, everyone
was excited and anxious to see what the conference would have in store. For some,
this was the first pre-professional development conference they attended. Casey
Chesky, senior at Millersville, was one of the few who attended the conference for
the first time. "Before I arrived I was a little nervous because I didn't know what to
expect. By the end of the first night I grew excited and eager to learn more and hear
from more speakers," she stated.
The two-day event was filled with lectures from professionals in different aspects of
the public relations field. Students started their day listening to keynote speaker
John Lorenzi of Google food, restaurant, and beverage analytics. After Lorenzi
concluded his lecture on the importance of statistics in every field, students had the
opportunity to venture to various workshops. Due to the large amount of speakers,
students were able to choose a speaker based on their interest in the public
relations field. Speaker's specialties ranged from non-profit, to corporate, to
international public relations. Speakers included Brittany Lorenz from Golin, Steve
Martin from General Motors, and Laruen Tilstra from Verizon Wireless.
Each speaker had his or her own unique perspective of public relations. Some
shared their success stories in their career, while others talked about their journey
to getting hired. Regardless of the topic, each speaker inspired everyone in
attendance. It provided encouragement for students to continue to work hard while
in college in order to have a successful career.
Millersville University senior Mary Godin stated, "Penn State's Regional Conference
was unique. I have been to other conferences in Syracuse, NY, and Washington D.C.
Penn State had a lot better turn out I think because of the location. Their PRSSA did
a great at making the conference engaging and interactive. It was a great
opportunity for me to network and figure out where I stand amongst my peers. The
conference also did a great job at defining PR industries such as healthcare or travel
PR, as opposed to other conference where they focused solely on agency public
relations."
Throughout the conference day, students had the opportunity to have a professional
headshot taken, have their resumes critiqued, and network with other professionals
and students. With the conference coming to an end, Chesky reflected on the past
two days, "the conference ran really smoothly and I loved how we were given the
choice to puck which speakers to listen to according to what we were interested in.
I was a great experience and if I was not graduating this spring, I would have
definitely attended another conference."