ѕᴛєνєρнιℓιρѕᴀɴᴄʜᴇᴢ

Communication studies major at the University of Northern Iowa. I'm a storyteller and activist looking to use my skills to enrich and empower my community.

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When I took my first public relations class at Palo Alto College in San Antonio, Texas, I was convinced that a career in PR wasn’t for me. Sure, I excelled at the work, made A’s on most of my assignments, and received praise and encouragement from my instructor, but the field didn’t seem to fit my personality. I never believed in first impressions or image management, but I did believe in my skills as a writer.

So when I transferred to the University of Northern Iowa, in Cedar Falls, Iowa, in fall 2011, I took on a journalism minor, hoping it would not only diversify my skill set, but prove to be a better fit than the apparently image-oriented field of PR. Then I got a job as a public relations assistant in UNI’s Office of University Relations. Through writing news releases, I was one of the first to be informed of interesting campus events and friends started looking to me to stay updated on campus activities. I also got the chance to meet amazing people and share their stories by writing features for the UNI homepage.

That’s when it hit me—I’m not just a good writer, I’m not even just a hopeful communications professional. First and foremost, I am a storyteller. I have a passion for sharing stories about all the great things people and organizations are doing. And even though I still want to gain more experience in journalism, I know it doesn’t really matter what field I go into, because all I’ll be doing is sharing stories. Whether that’s in the form of news releases, feature stories, videos, photos or any other form of communication, my goal remains the same.

I want to tell great stories.