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Since I arrived to the UK I was never considered the most determined or motivated student, which I resent today because at that time I could not see my true potential.
I choose PR because I thought it was a type of fancy journalism. All I knew about myself was that I wanted to write. PR did not mean anything to me and until last year I could not figured out what it was exactly. My only consolation was the fact that I had to have a degree on my curriculum despite of what subject it was.
As an international student I was not familiar with the method of learning in the UK. I have learned that to do a proper assignment you need to make research to understand it better and being able to explain your understanding.
I came to believe that PR was more than theory and studying in the library. Starting from 1st year tutors always encouraged us to find a placement. It was really difficult for me because I did not have much experience. I realized that an undergraduate course as Public Relations it is more appropriate for national students. PR asks for a high level of writing skills and an open personality, for example, someone who is comfortable giving oral presentations. Even though my English was enough to attend university it is very complicated to write press releases or articles in a second language. I was never able to express hundred percent of my personality and when I did presentations I would immediately be seen as the weakest link of the group because my part were always the shortest.
I did not have passion for PR, my development as a student and my interaction with other classmates did not help at all. I had to overcome this and finally accept the fact that I was the one who created my own label as international student. We were all students fighting for a degree, some had different motivations than others, some stronger and others weaker.
I started watching a Tv Show called Scandal, about a young women communication practitioner who runs her own firm based on crisis management. Basically, she fixes social issues that affects important people (high class). She is in charge of handling certain situation by making the problem disappear and protect the person’s reputation.
Having an example of how to work in PR made me realize I was in the right path. This Tvshow illustrates perfectly my career intentions for the future.
Currently, I am doing a placement at my home country. PR is completely different from a TV series or lectures.
Finding a PR placement was complex because that department is in early development in Angola and they are not aware of when they are actually doing PR.
My placement is based on Marketing online. I am assigned to work as a commercial and find clients. My agency promotes other businesses by increasing their online visibility which reflects awareness for them in the real world.
My daily tasks are outside of the office, running after clients and attending meetings. And to be able to book those meetings I had to understand the world of connections and how to talk with others. My attitude and reputation is important to control because now it reflects on my company.
Overall, I have learned that work experience is necessary to completely understand the essence of the degree and acquire interest on it. Working six months in a marketing agency I was finally able to find PR, by building my profile/reputation; speaking fluently and formal; and making research about the clients to create a strong relationship with them.
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