Two weeks ago, my roommates and I were getting ready for one of the biggest milestones of our lives: college graduation. We blasted music and talked about how the past four years had flown by faster than we could blink.
In the middle of it all, I realized I wanted to slow down and reflect on everything that led me to cross the stage with a degree in public relations from the University of Oregon and a PR internship at The Hoffman Agency.
I’ve always been a creative person. Growing up, I was constantly filling up the pages in my journal with everything from fantasy stories and life experiences to doodles and random ideas.
Once I got my first iPad, I started creating short videos on iMovie with my friends. I would then spend hours at a time carefully editing them to match my vision. Clearly, storytelling in all its various forms was, and still is, my passion.
When I got to the University of Oregon, I knew the School of Journalism and Communication was the right place for me. I threw myself into any opportunity to learn more about the communications industry.
I ended up falling in love with PR because of its versatility, collaborative nature, and combination of creativity and strategy. I loved how one day I could be creating Instagram posts on Canva for a local client and the next day conducting survey/market research for a class.
With PR, I never got bored.
However, I wasn’t sure exactly what industry I wanted to focus on. I toyed with entertainment, or maybe travel, but nothing truly stuck. Then, I took an elective class called “New Tech and AI for Communicators.”
Throughout the course, we learned how to effectively prompt AI, built an AI teaching assistant using Copilot and developed a comprehensive PR campaign for a real client, Save the Bee.
My team focused on virtual reality by designing the concept for an immersive video game that transported users inside a beehive to experience how bees pollinate and why they are essential to the Earth’s ecosystem. It was seriously amazing to witness firsthand how emerging technologies and the PR world intersect.
That was the moment I realized I wanted to build a career in tech PR, ultimately leading to my internship at Hoffman.
Moving from my college town to Portland and starting an internship two weeks after graduation has been a whirlwind.
While there have been plenty of adjustments, this new chapter has also been filled with excitement, growth, and the chance to step outside my comfort zone as I explore a new city and learn along the way.
I am so grateful to continue doing what I love while learning about PR in the tech space from accomplished professionals. As I begin this next chapter at Hoffman, I’m excited to keep growing as a storyteller and see where this experience leads.
