MY FIRST YEAR AS A PR & MEDIA STUDENT

In May this year I completed my first year of a Public Relations and Media course at Sheffield Hallam University. I’ve tried to avoid getting overly sentimental or gushy but I have had one the best years ever, studying something that interests me and that I want to do well in - and of course meeting some wonderful people.

My first year studying in Sheffield wasn’t my first ‘go’ at university. From September 2013 to February 2014 I was at a different university studying Events Management. Unfortunately was really unhappy there, eventually admitting this to myself and deciding to leave before finishing the academic year.

Of course I was nervous at the beginning of my first year in Sheffield in case I’d made a huge mistake but I quickly knew that I was much more suited to my new course. You’re meant to be excited about your university course, who knew?

In my first term, a module where we made our own media pushed me out of my comfort zone, as going out on to the street to interview the public became a weekly occurrence. Turns out, if you walk around with a camera and boom mic, people tend to avoid you like the plague. In other modules I learnt the basics of practical PR skills and areas of industry that I hope to work in one day. Probably my favourite thing about studying PR and Media is that it perfectly incorporates what I chose to study for my A-Levels. I write, study the media and current affairs, for a short time there was even a bit of history in there. For the first time in a while I’m feeling confident in what I’m doing.

Finally, here are a few random things that I’ve learned in my short time as a PR student:

1. A lot of people don’t know what PR is - but pretend to

For an industry that is a big as (if not bigger than) journalism you’d assume that it would be well known, apparently not. I once told someone what I studied and they asked me why I would want to study ‘personal resources’. Not quite, my friend, not quite.

2. Define it

In your first few weeks of university, meeting so many new people means that you’ll do A LOT of small talk. It often goes along the lines of “what’s your name?”, “where are you from?”, “what do you study?” and in my case “What is that?” Its at this point that i try to stammer through a dictionary definition of what PR is. Between throwing out the words ‘reputation’, ‘media’ and ‘public opinion’ I end up looking like I don’t even know what my own course is.

My advice? Learn a definition that fits what PR means to you, that way you’ll be equipped to answer the next time somewhere asks;“what does that course entail?”

3. Haters gonna hate (hate hate hate)

Most people use media several times a day, watch TV, read magazines, browse websites and social media etc etc. For all its influence on the day of your average human, it’s in the title of your degree? Yuck.

Can someone please tell me why there is an underlying snobbery about what degree you choose to do and why the word ‘media’ in front of ‘student’ starts a chorus of sniggers? Ok, so I may not be scratching my eyes out over calculators and equations but I work hard at the course that I enjoy.