Membership Spotlight: Alison Hopkins

The fourth membership spotlight of the year is Alison Hopkins, a junior majoring in strategic communication in the public relations track with an advertising minor in content creation. This is Alison’s second year as a member of PRSSA and she is a committed member of our chapter. Alison can often be found participating in general body meetings and being an active member of the digital committee!

Here is a Q&A session with Alison:

Q: Where are you from?

A: I am from Northeast Philadelphia.

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

A: I love being a part of PRSSA because I have learned so much since I joined last year and it has really helped strengthen my understanding of what it means to be a part of the PR world. What I hope to get out of it is stronger connections with my fellow members and networking opportunities I wouldn’t have received otherwise!

Q: What have you done with the Digital committee?

A: In digital committee I have actively participated in the discussions we have had about content calendars, blog posts and website building as well as written for the PRSSA blog!

Q: What PRSSA events have you participated in?

A: I have participated in the mentor/mentee program! I made some great connections through my mentor and I’m glad to have been a part of it!

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

A: I am a member of various student and community bands on campus, including the Temple University Diamond Marching Band! I love playing music and being a part of the band really helped me hone my skills. Additionally, I am an account associate in PRowl Public Relations. I love working with my fellow AA’s on our account to make it as perfect as we can.

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

A: I have had the incredible privilege to have been able to travel to many places in my 20 years. I have been to 7 countries and twice as many cities! My favorite, however, was when I went to St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands with my family and we went deep sea snorkeling! I got to live out my childhood fantasy of being a mermaid.

Q: Favorite social media platform and why?

A: I am in LOVE with Twitter. I’m constantly checking updates from my friends about their lives our shared interests. Moreover, I get a lot of my news from Twitter so I use it to keep updated on what’s going on in the world.

Q: Dream job?

A: There is an Austin, TX based production company by the name of Rooster Teeth that I have been a fan of for many years. I would love to be a part of their social media team because their feeds are so fun and well organized, plus they are great at engaging with fans through social and I would love to be a part of that!

To learn more about Alison follow her on social media!

Instagram: @adotthop (two t’s!)

Twitter: @adothop

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

Mentor/Mentee Pumpkin Painting

On October 26, 2018, Temple PRSSA held its first mentorship event of the fall 2018 semester. In the spirit of Halloween, it was “Spooky Season” themed, with pumpkin painting, tons of candy and Halloween movies. Just days beforehand, mentor and mentee pairs went out, so this was the first time pairs were meeting in person. We had around 18 attendees-a great turnout for a Friday night! Thank you, everyone, who joined the program and was able to make it.

Check out some pictures from the event below!

Mentorship is one of the three pillars Temple’s PRSSA chapter stands for, along with leadership and networking. It can be an intimidating concept at first, especially if you are new to the program or major. For some people, it can seem like such a foreign concept. I remember when I heard of the mentorship program I had a couple of questions: What would you talk about? What do you do with each other? Are you even allowed to casually hang out? Is it a friendly relationship or professional? Is it even worth it, since we’re technically all still young adults?

If you ask any professional-PR related or otherwise-I guarantee almost all of them will suggest having a mentor is beneficial. It can be a formal thing, or not; it all depends on what you want. Like anything, you get out of it what you put in. For instance, you can have a mentor that you only get in contact with when you need advice on something, but that isn’t beneficial for either of you. Yes, they are there to help you, however, they’re not a fortune telling machine you can stick a quarter in and then walk away from when you’re done. If you’re going to get a mentor, you should be serious about it and build a relationship! Don’t think that there is ever a question you can’t ask your mentor either. I remember I used to ask mine everything from, “What classes do I take next semester?” to “What do I wear to this interview?”. She was only one year older than me, but she had a lot of knowledge to bring to the table. We got the opportunity to get to know each other throughout the rest of her collegiate career, sometimes complaining about life, stuffing our faces at Maxi’s or talking about post-graduation life. Now she’s graduated and completely killing it at her new job!

If anyone ever has any questions about the mentorship program, how to become a mentor or about anything Temple related in general, don’t hesitate to contact me! Even if you didn’t have a chance to sign up for the mentorship program, the executive board is still here as a resource to you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out!

This blog post was written by Lailumah Faisal, Director of Mentorship.

Second Semester Senior Scaries

Walking into Morgan Hall on move-in day August 2015, today felt lightyears away. Today I woke up at 7 a.m. for the very last time to register for classes at Temple University. 17 credits stand between me and the “REAL WORLD.”

I am going to graduate college in 6 short months and will need to put my degree to use as a working professional. I will have to say goodbye to my friends. I will have to move back in with my parents. I do not think that I am the only senior having that OMG moment where they realize their time in college is running out and that they feel the need to figure out the rest of their life. Are you seeing stars too?

I would compare my current state to one of panic as a million questions run through my head:

When should I start applying to jobs?

Where should I apply to jobs?

Do I have enough internships?

Will I pass my capstone course?

Do I take off a year to travel?

When will I start paying back my loans?

Given the fact that I am in my senior year getting ready to graduate, I have gotten a lot of advice on how to spend my last year of college instead of living in a constant state of fear of the unknown. A lot of it has helped me and I think it is very worth sharing.

1. Go out on a weekday with your friends.

I know I have had one of those nights when all my friends were going out on a Tuesday to celebrate my roommate’s birthday and I was forced to stay in because I had a quiz or a paper due the next day. Go. Have fun. You may have to wake up early the next day to do some work, but your paper will get done, you will pass the class and now you will have irreplaceable memories. You will not look back on your college career and remember the countless theories or equations you studied that night, but you will look back and remember your friend’s birthday.

2. No employer is going to care if you withdrew from a class.

If you withdrew from the class your most likely had a good reason. Sometimes you just took on a little more than you could handle. Sometimes you’re taking a lot of difficult classes at one time. Sometimes something going on in your personal life is more important. You’re human.

3. Self-care and mental health are more important than going out every weekend or attending every networking event.

No matter what your commitments may be, it is OK to take a break one night and pay attention to yourself. Mental health is important. It is so easy to get caught up in the hustle of senior year but take some time for you. Do something you love that feeds your soul. You can worry about the other things tomorrow.

This blog post was written by Brianna Greco, Conference Coordinator.