Crippling Student Debt

Students now owe the federal government a record $13 billion in loans, not including loans owed to provincial governments or personal and credit-card debt ,says the Canadian Federation of Students.

I try not to speak about my very rapidly growing student debt after six years of post-secondary education because there is not much I can do about it until I start work full-time. Even still, it is going to take me years to repay.

Right now my current debt:

OSAP – $25,000 ( i think, it could be more)

TD Student Line – $18,000

My debt isn’t as bad as many other students with the same education because of the summers I spent working midnights on the General Motors Truck Line and working up-to three jobs at time. But as I tell many people, I am different that most people. I am very Rory Gilmore. I was going to school and I wanted to be successful ever since I was little. Many of my friends from home didn’t attend post-secondary because of the lack of funds or waited many years before going back.

I don’t know how or what governments and schools can do to combat this overwhelming debt students are dealing with, but all I can say from a student perspective is that money has been a stress that has taken my attention away from my education way too many times.

Also, some of my colleagues were on A-channel discussing student debt this Wednesday, check out the broadcast here. If only I stayed a little bit longer.

A foundation in communications

Being a university graduate who is now in her final year at college, I get asked a lot why I decided to go to college after university. It could have been a combination of many things; like not wanting to work full time, or wanting to explore my future goals in greater detail, but primarily I wanted to be practically skilled in public relations.

It was during my last year at Carleton, my classmates and I were trying to get our fellow students more involved. Our teacher, Josh Greenberg brought some speakers into our class to talk about public relations and going to college after university. The speakers included Capital PR blogger and Thornley Fallis professional, Keelan Green and Algonquin’s College former program PR coordinator Peter Larock. Keelan scared me, and made me realize I have a lot more to learn and it was very unlikely for an employer to teach me these skills.

So, I went to college.

Going to university was not a waste, as some people assume since I wasn’t prepare to enter a job after school. A lot of my classmates got jobs after school, some upgraded like me, and some went on to Masters Degrees.

Some of the most important skills I learned at Carleton’s Mass Comm program that have not been replicated in my college environment include:

Media Analysis: I can conduct both qualitative and quantitative media analyses, a skill that has yet to be taught at college. Saving and scoring media content is a common task for entry level practitioners and is used as a tool to investigate how a brand or company is being perceived in the media. Throughout my program at Carleton I produced more than three media reports and this is a skill I value very much from my university education.

Communication Theory: Understanding how and why people use the media can be an important skill for public relations practitioners. Before implementing any strategy or presenting a plan to a client or a vice-president, it can better sell your idea if you include research or theory to back up your plans.

All and all university provided me with a solid foundation to enter into college and I believe it was a beneficial experience for me to enter into the public relations field. College touches on these skills, but it cannot go into as much detail as university does. I would recommend the program at Carleton to anyone starting out as a foundation to public relations and communications.

Board of Directors blogging for Student Feedback.

The Algonquin College Student Association launched a blog this week as another medium to reach out to their students.

You can check out the blog, here.

Spring for Water success

After a long and very rough two weeks of papers, evaluation, and exams, the Algonquin PR students are finished for another year. This year’s 20th annual spring fundraiser donated $24,000.01 to the Ryan’s Well Foundation thanks to the tenancy of the first-year PR students.

I can’t believe we did it. 

As a student you have big dreams and wild expectations on what you would like to achieve, and to know that we accomplished above and beyond what we set out to do is really amazing. It has been very rewarding year and much more then I expected when I enrolled in the program last spring. To know that I have experienced this much in a year is wild and I wonder how I ever handled it all.

Now the summer is here I am back at it. I started two jobs this Monday, first at the Student’s Association on campus as a director and secondly, full-time as a marketing assistant. This is summer is going to be just as busy, but I can’t wait.

 

Measuring my personal ROI

Being a student a lot of my time is spent volunteering and attending social functions on top of my education. I feel this is important to demonstrate the skills I am learning from my studies and to meet many of the welcoming industry professionals.

Sometimes this can be overwhelming on top of school and sometimes extremely rewarding. This week has been extremely rewarding. Not only did I see actual results from my efforts over the last year, but I was extremely proud and happy.

Firstly, Bob LeDrew announced I had won his Join the Conversation initiative and I received a copy of Joe Jaffe’s book. Not only is this neat because I love cultural studies books (especially those about social media). But it was a small recognition from an important Ottawa professional that my passion for this industry is being noticed. I also received some amazing publicity on Bob’s blog here.

Secondly, I received a call from the Algonquin College Student Association that I was chosen for a student director position on their executive board. yay! This will help me finance my education for next year, get me further involved in my school, and put me in a place where I can further demonstrate my leadership skills.

The time I have spent for the last year has been worth it.

Clearly if you work hard to build a portfolio for yourself outside of school eventually you will see positive results.

My advice, keep at it.

Grow up!

Joseph Thornley, of Pro PR, further the discussed the necessary educational requirements for public relations practitioners here.

I have been struggling with this for a while, PR diploma or M.A. in Communications, or both? I want to work in PR, but I also have a personal goal of getting my masters. I keep wondering how necessary it will be for now.. or for later. But what really got me was Ryan Anderson’s comment to Joe’s post:

Education is important, but being over-educated is as bad as being undereducated in my mind. There’s a fine line between the quest for knowledge and delaying life.

I think Ryan is soooo right.

Delaying life…. Is that what I am really doing? I have wondered why I continue to research different types of programs and courses I could enroll in. I am so scared to start my career. Even working part-time as a marketing assistant scares me sometimes, I feel like I shouldn’t be trusted with responsibility, I am just a student. But there is no better way to learn then to do it.

Going to college was my way to perfect my writing skills and general pr practices. I justified more education by telling myself that working without understanding the practices first will look poorly on me. No one has the time to teach me everything, so go to school. I am definitely not regretting going to college for public relations at all! But it is not required, especially after a four-year communications degree.

But what I have learned is that, learning by actually working is the best form of education. I have been volunteering with CPRS since October and it has been very beneficial. I have been learning in a safe environment, where it is safe to learn and get better. I have grown relationships with some leading professionals in the Ottawa area who have trusted me to be a Volunteer Coordinator for our upcoming conference.

I think my goals for getting a masters in London, England will have to wait. I have lots of university debt that could get paid off by actually working.

I have no doubt in my mind I can do all these things. It is just that, getting a full-time job means I am an adult and play time is over.

Students of today

This is a pretty cool video

alumni, my friends.

Struggles of entering a PR program

This blog is my confessions of my journey to career in public relations. Thus, I think it is very important for me to journal my struggles. In the last few months I have been trying really hard to finish up by B.A., apply for college, move out, and be a bridesmaid. Overwhelmed, I got through it all, but everything didn’t turn out how I planned it.

I thought it would be very easy for me to get into a post-graduate program for public relations in Toronto, but it wasn’t. I have done very well in university and have actively pursued professors, networking, and volunteer opportunities. But for some reason, I did not get it. For now I truly believe that I did not get in because I was not supposed to live in Toronto. I do not believe that the small tests the colleges gave me could truly examine my potential as a public relations consultant. Not only has this roadblock strengthen my desire to work in this industry, but it has encouraged me to actively improve my skills.

Right now, I am taking a public relations writing course at Ryerson’s Chang School. I really enjoy the course a lot. I hope I can improve my writing skills with this course to get into a post graduate program in the Winter. I still have the opportunity to get accept to Algonquin’s Public Relations program and should be hearing from them shortly.

I am stuck at a roadblock. I still have many things I want to accomplish and I have a hard time waiting for things to happen. I just really really hope I can get into this program for September. At least then, I can feel as though I am working towards something and improving myself, rather then sitting at home saving money. I just think I have a hard time coming home, because I have spent the last four years learning and growing, and when I do come home it feels as though everything I have worked hard for is gone.

I just hope that things start to turn around soon because it has been kinda lame lately.

Entering the world of Blogging

I am slowing entering this world of networking and public relations. I heard about the mesh conference from Student PR to only find out it was sold out! I would have loved to score some student passes to hear lectures and network with industry professionals. I am trying to get deeper into this communications industry with my primary interests in marketing and public relations. I have a great interest in new media, social networking technologies and the Internet. I guess I will have to wait for the next conference or networking events.

In high school, I was still unsure what career path to take and in the same position as many other students my age. I knew I was destined to work in an office because I was obsessed with pens and post its, math and sciences were not my strongest, but I did exceptionally well in English. It was my grade eleven media class that allowed me to think outside of standard job occupations such as becoming a doctor, a teacher, or a engineer. I truly enjoyed studying media, pop culture, film and everything in between. It was this class that motivated me to apply for journalism, radio television arts and communication programs at Ontario universities.

I got accepted to U of T for Journalism, U of Ottawa for Journalism, York U for Communications, Ryerson for Arts and Carleton for Mass Communication. I did feel as though I wanted to be a journalist, but behind the communications industry, so i went to Carleton.

It was throughout my time at Carleton in their mass communications program that I learn more about the communication industry, possible jobs and future studies. Public Relations and Marketing stood out for me throughout my studies. It my hope that I get into a public relations program to improve my writing and mold myself into a public relations consultant. One day, I hope I can get my masters in communication because I enjoyed studying and it would be helpful in future jobs prospects.