My First Aggie Experience

My first semester of my sophomore year I took my first public relations class because I was deciding if to declare a minor. I loved the class and the professor, so I decided to declare public relations as my minor and moved on to take two more classes the second semester of my sophomore year. Little did I know this would come to be one of the worst mistakes I’ve ever made. I don’t mean to say I hate public relations or the classes I took but when people told me not to take two Aggie classes at one time, I should have listened.

I also don’t mean to say I hate Alisa Agozzino as a professor because that’s not true. I really enjoyed my two classes with her and she taught me a lot that I know I will use moving forward in college and in my future careers. I always had so much fun in her classes and I made new friends too. The two classes I took with Aggie this semester were Public Relations Writing and Social Media Principles. Learning how to write in AP style for public relations rather than APA was the biggest challenge I faced this semester and the main reason I struggled with these classes. Writing assignments in a completely different style than I’ve been taught for eight years isn’t easy. I’ve been in my classes for 16 weeks and I just now feel I am getting the hang of AP style writing.

Another challenge I faced was writing three blogs each week in the social media class. I have never written a blog in my entire life and now I had to write three a week all about different topics. Listen, I don’t have that much to talk about or share with the world. My grades were scary for the first few weeks when it came to my blogs, but I’ve seen a huge improvement in them and for that I am very proud of myself.

If I could change anything about the classes I took with Aggie it would be the books that we are quizzed over in both classes. There is a lot of information in them and it’s hard to take notes or remember everything I am supposed to for a short quiz. I’m not saying I want longer quizzes that can destroy my grade, but I think narrowing down the most important information or highlighting what is most expected to be known would have been helpful. I think I would also want to learn more about how to correctly write in AP style before being thrown assignments and being expected to write in a format I’m not used to. I caught on as the assignments went by and could receive decent grades in my classes; however, I know my grades could have and most likely would have been better if I knew AP style writing from day one rather than four weeks in.

Now I want to talk about the biggest things taking Aggie classes have given me. I learned new skills I will use in my life in the future, I made some awesome friends and I got more involved in the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA). I must say that even though I got frustrated often, I learned a lot in my classes and I always enjoyed coming to them. I felt bad missing classes so I tried to not make a habit of it or even really do it at all. I went from being a member of PRSSA to an executive board member. I am now one of the co-chairs for the newsletter released each semester called PRestige. Most importantly, I met new friends, such as Erin Lane. Erin is one of the few people who gets my weird sense of humor. We talk and laugh every day, we complain to Aggie all the time and she has really been here for me this past semester. Of course, I’ve gotten closer to other people and can say I have more than one friend, but Erin is probably the person I am most thankful I met this semester. She has such a bright and bubbly personality that is contagious and makes me excited for classes just so we can hang out and laugh about something that’s probably stupid to everyone else. We even made a hashtag on twitter about our grades in attempt for extra credit; it didn’t work. I owe a lot to her, even if she doesn’t know it, for being such a good friend to me and supporting me in all I do.

I will be taking another Aggie class next semester, so wish me luck! I was smart enough to only take one this time, but I know it will still be one of my favorite classes (even when I want to rip my hair out). Don’t worry, Erin and I will be in that class together so we’re going to be just as annoying and just as fun! I know I talk about him a lot, but I also want to give a shout out to my awesome boyfriend, Aaron Hartke. He read my blogs all semester long, gave me ideas to write about, was excited to read them and made me feel like they were interesting to read. I am luck enough to have an Aaron and an Erin that I love so much and have supported me throughout the semester, along with an Aggie. 

Getting an A in Measurement

My past few blogs I have talked about concepts such as marketing, trust, engagement, etc. All these concepts are measurement tools for organizations to track their progress and excel in the market. There are five steps to make sure an organization is succeeding in measuring what matters and summarizes the best ways to about measurement.

Step one is to identify and prioritize an audience. It’s important to understand the characteristics of various audiences involved. Different demographics have different needs, wants, expectations and desires. An organization must first decide who their audience is and how to listen and talk to them as well as manage their relationship with them. Once an audience is selected, it’s important to understand the relationship an organization is trying to build and agree with leadership teams to get them to prioritize communications with the audience.

Step two is to define objectives and get everyone on the same page. It’s important for an organization to decide on different metrics to understand what they are trying to measure. An organization should also look through their list of benefits good relationships bring and try to make objectives out of those. When thinking about metrics, it’s important to remember that audiences do not only want to hear an organization’s messages. An organization needs to consider what audiences are seeing on media, what they’re exposed to online, what they’re hearing, what they’re taking away, etc.

Step three is establishing a benchmark. This step is self-explanatory and means that goals and objectives need to be made and strived for. Three benchmarks are ideal, anything more than five becomes unwieldy.

Step four is to pick a measurement tool and collect data. Depending on what an organization is measuring, they may need to analyze media coverage, survey an audience, or both. Organizations should measure what media is saying and social media in an academic environment. It is also important to measure what people think to understand how and audience feels about their relationship with an organization. Measuring behavior is the last aspect of step four and is a good way to judge a relationship between an audience and organization.

Last, but not least is step five, which is to analyze data, glean insight, makes changes and measure again. It’s important to gather data and look at trends overtime to best understand what changes should be made or what is working and shouldn’t be changed. When data comes in, organizations must learn from mistakes, make changes and then see results from those changes. It’s important to make sure data is available when needed and is fresh.

Race for the Ribbon 5k

The sorority I’m in, Zeta Tau Alpha (ZTA), has hosted an annual 5k for the past 11 years to help raise money for our philanthropy, Breast Cancer Education and Awareness. For the two years I’ve been in ZTA, I’ve always looked forward to the 5k because it always turns out to be an eventful weekend of meeting new people, having something to do and supporting an important cause. I like to be social, I like to stay busy and I love giving back whenever I can so this event is by far one of my favorite.

 In a sorority, you have a big sister and a little sister. Your big also has a big, and their big has a big, so on and so forth. Your big sister’s big is then referred to as you grand big or “g-big.” This creates a sorority family, but not many people know a lot of older women in their “fams” as we call them. I am fortunate enough to know my eight g-big, who is ten years older than me. I have met all except one of my older fam members as of now. I get the chance to meet more of them at events such as the 5k because ZTA alumni are encouraged to come back and help support our philanthropy. When my fam comes into town, it’s an all weekend thing. I get to meet new friends, bond with old ones and have a stress free weekend and a lot of fun. We typically go out to dinner and hang out all night until we all get too tired to keep talking. 

I also  got the chance at the past 5k to spend time with my boyfriend, Aaron, and his family. Aaron’s sister and friends came to the 5k to show their support, along with his golden retriever, Tj.

I didn’t choose to participate in the 5k this year, but rather work the food table. My job was to pick up food and give them to those who participated in the 5k. We usually get some food donated, then buy some as a thank you to those who took the time out of their day to support our event. Next year I am thinking about participating in the 5k so I can walk with my fam members or maybe with Aaron. It would be a great way to spend more time with the people I care about, especially if they’re only in town for a little while.

 I encourage you to consider signing up to participate in events like our Race for the Ribbon 5k in support of good causes, such as Breast Cancer Education and Awareness. Even if you don’t run, there is no harm in registering and showing your support for good causes. I think that goes for any event on a college campus put on by a fraternity or sorority. Most events put on by Greek life support some sort of cause and is worth the time to show up. Walk the 5k if you need to, eat some food or win some raffle baskets to show your support and do the same for other events on campus as well.