Benefits of Becoming a Morning Person

Let’s be honest, sleeping in every morning sounds way more relaxing than getting up early and doing work. However, there are a lot more benefits to getting started with your day early on, especially as a college student. Here are three major benefits to becoming a morning person.

1. You have better mental health.

How many of us have slept in past noon and felt guilty later for missing half of the day? *girl raising hand emoji* According to research, 25% of morning people have increased feelings of happiness compared to night owls. Just the feeling of getting up early and checking off tasks on your to-do list provides a great sense of relief and peace that can result in better mental health. You’ll also be more focused early on in the day because of fewer distractions. While everyone is still rolling out of their beds, you could be halfway down your list of things to do for the day.

2. You sleep better at night.

Waking up early and going to bed at a decent time regulates your body more efficiently. Your body needs a certain amount of rest that it just can’t fulfill via a nap or a quick snooze during the day. Sleeping peacefully during night time heals your body from the days’ stress. By waking up early, your body will force you to go to bed and off your phone earlier than your current bedtime.

3. You’ll be more productive and procrastinate less.

As college students, we’ve all had late nights at the TECH and skipped our first class the next morning to sleep in. Could you imagine if you would’ve started your work earlier the day before and finished it before midnight? You could’ve turned in your paper on time and avoided that panic attack. Waking up early and getting on with your day results in more productivity and less procrastination.

Sure, all these benefits to becoming a morning person sound great, but how do you actually accomplish waking up early? This doesn’t have to be a gruesome process. Start off by waking up five minutes earlier than usual. Every morning set your alarm a little earlier than usual until you achieve your desired outcome. Going to bed earlier is a crucial factor. Your body needs enough sleep to heal. You might be surprised at how much you can get accomplished by waking up just a little bit earlier than usual.

(Btw, I wrote this blog very early in the morning.)

This blog post was written by Freya Christian, Treasurer.

Membership Spotlight: Kyra Beckish

The second membership spotlight of the spring semester is Kyra Beckish, a freshman majoring in public relations. This is Kyra’s first year as a member of PRSSA and she is an extremely committed member of our chapter. She was the recipient of several awards at our end-of-semester party last semester! Kyra can often be found attending PRSSA events and bonding with the executive board.

Here is a Q&A session with Kyra:

Q: Where are you from? What is your major/minor?

A: I’m from Scranton, Pennsylvania. My major is Public Relations and I have a minor in Digital Media Engagement.

Q: Why do you love PRSSA? What do you hope to get out of it?

A: I love PRSSA because it makes transitioning from a high school student to a college business major so much easier. Everyone in the organization is helpful and willing to give advice whenever you ask. It’s definitely intimidating at first, but everyone reminds you that they were in your shoes not too long ago and that you have time to grow. PRSSA has already helped me grow as a future PR professional, but in the future, I hope to continue making connections with my peers and learn how to succeed from them.

Q: What committee are you a part of? What have you done with this committee?

A: I’m part of the Community Service Committee. Earlier last semester we went to Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission, a local soup kitchen, which was an amazing experience. We have an upcoming event to support Cradles to Crayons, which I created a social media graphic for last semester.

Q: What PRSSA events have you participated in?

A: I went on the Bellevue Communications agency tour earlier last semester, attended a few mentorship events (with my favorite mentor), and greeted the Bloomsburg PRSSA members.

Q: What other TU organizations are you a part of?

A: I’m a member of PRowl Public Relations and I’m currently helping with public relations for a student film titled In Keaton’s Lemon Garden.

Q: What is the coolest place you’ve ever visited?

A: Zion National Park! I traveled there in 2017, it’s gorgeous and (in my opinion) better than the Grand Canyon.

Q: Favorite social media platform and why?

A: My favorite social media platform is definitely Instagram. It’s crazy how you can create your own brand by just posting pictures of events of your life and realizing how they all kind of mesh together. You can make anything you want of yourself and that’s a really special thing that other platforms don’t always have.

Q: Dream job?

A: My dream job is to work with the Epilepsy Foundation. It’s a nonprofit organization that promotes the knowledge of and research for seizures. I’ve dealt with epilepsy my entire life and I’m lucky that I’m able to get a degree because most epileptics cannot. My goal is to help people who can’t help themselves and this organization hits really close to home for me.

To learn more about Kyra follow her on social media!

Instagram: @kyra.beckish

LinkedIn/Facebook: Kyra Beckish

Snapchat: k.beckish

This blog post was written by Caitlin Gemmi, Digital Publications Editor & Kyra Beckish, General Body Member & Spotlight Recipient.

Alumni Spotlight: Jillian Curcio

Jillian Curcio (‘17), Assistant Account Executive at MSL Group, followed a road to success by setting goals and achieving them. Each new opportunity she landed, she set goals to remind herself to keep reaching and keep going. When she joined Temple’s chapter of PRSSA her sophomore year, she realized how attainable her goals could be.

On Tuesday, January 29, our chapter had the honor of having the recent alumna share her journey to where she is now and how PRSSA helped her along the way.

To start off her presentation, Curcio shared how she vividly remembers the Flyers marketing director, Sarah Schwab coming to a PRSSA meeting. After the visit, she set a goal to intern for the Flyers before she graduated. During her time at Temple, Curcio pushed herself and gained internships in many facets of PR, including the Temple Career Center, Flackable and Tierney until she finally attained her goal of working for the Philadelphia Flyers.

Now, a year post-graduation, Curcio works for MSL Group, an integrated communications agency, in New York City. Her work is a mix of creative PR and marketing specializing in consumer brands, specifically Proctor and Gamble’s Always and Tampax products. She works in both international and local markets, which taught her the importance of knowing your audience and paying attention to detail.

Curcio explained how, as a member of PRSSA and Secretary for PRowl Public Relations, she learned the importance of networking and internships. “Internships will prepare you for post-grad and networking is key,” Curcio said. “Most people will say, ‘It’s all about who you know’, BUT truly it is about putting yourself out there and letting people know YOU.”

A lesson Curcio had to learn was that a first job does not equal a forever job. She would tell her younger self: “Don’t stress about the job search – it WILL happen. Each accomplishment is a stepping stone to larger success.” Even after experiencing struggles, Curcio continued to set goals for herself and found her place in the city that never sleeps.

Going forward, Curcio shared her next goal is to work in-house at a hospital. She interned in the PR department atChildren’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) during her time at Temple and loved the experience of doing PR for such a large and important facility.

One of Curcio’s favorite events to attend as a PRSSA member was the annual conference. Now, she has come full circle and will be speaking in the Engaging Influencer Campaigns panel at Temple PRSSA’s Regional Conference, Being a Full Service PRo. Get your tickets now and hear Jill’s amazing advice first-hand!

This blog post was written by Caitlin Gemmi, Digital Publications Editor.