By Grace Strayer

As a freshman in college it is important to become involved in activities that are both fun and beneficial to your learning. However, when 99% of campus activities are moved online because of a pandemic, interaction and involvement can become difficult. 

It is because of this that I am very happy I found Penn State’s Chapter of PRSSA through my freshman seminar and a club fair. Following COVID guidelines, PRSSA set up a table at Penn State’s College of Communication involvement fair. Here I was greeted by Jarod and Ellie, Penn State PRSSA’s president and vice president, respectfully. They answered all of my questions and offered a scan-able information sheet where I could sign up to join. Flash forward to today and I’m now nearing the end of semester one. I’m finishing up with my time in the Exploration Committee and excitedly awaiting the opportunity to join a new committee. 

So far my time with PRSSA has been very exciting, despite the online style. Jarod and Ellie have done a good job of adapting to an online format and continue to host office hours, conduct meetings, and present guest speakers. For example, I enjoyed listening to Bjorn Trowery, a Communications & Brand PR at Facebook. It was interesting to hear about his job and what sort of tasks someone in that position does. This combined with the fact that this is all for a company like Facebook made it an informative and engaging conversation. 

Looking ahead, I am excited to soon be able to graduate from the Exploration Committee and move on to *hopefully!* the Strategic Communications Committee. As of now, my intended major is Advertising and Public Relations, and I specifically am aiming to focus on the public relations portion. It is because of this that I think the Strategic Communications Committee would be the best fit for me. Here I hope to build a foundation for what I will one day use in an internship and job environment. To be able to have hands-on experience as a freshman is very exciting. 

Overall, I am thankful that I found PRSSA and I look forward to growing with it. I feel very lucky to have so many resources available to me on a student and professional level, and I can’t wait to see where my time with PRSSA takes me!