Fin.

Public Relations. 


If you had of asked me the meaning of these two words six months ago, my answer would have been vague and something along the lines of 'communication.' This was all I knew about those two words, and I was excited for the challenge this course would bring. However, six months is a long time, and in that time I have learned that PR is much, much, more than I had ever expected it to be. 


Public Relations is more than just communication. It's a number of different things that come together to create this 'Umbrella' profession, as it is sometimes known to be. I never expect to learn about marketing strategies, advertising or stakeholder relations (just to name a few,) but I now understand how important they are to the PR profession. I have realised that it takes a lot of hard work, long hours and a real dedication to your profession to be successful in the Public Relations field. From this course, I have realised that I don't have the dedication and the passion to succeed in the PR field like others do.


When I enrolled into this course, I was eager to learn something new and exciting. I wanted a challenge to throw myself into and I can safely say, six months on, that the Public Relations course certainly proved to be a challenge. I knew coming into this course that it would be a lot of hard work, but I underestimated how much hard work and stress that would be involved. 


In the end, this course has taught me more than what was outlined in our learning plans. It has taught me about what can be achieved when you stop doubting yourself and put your mind towards something. This was probably one of my biggest weaknesses coming in to study this course. I doubted my abilities and my work suffered because of this. Even though it has been a struggle, I do think that this was a valuable lesson which I had to learn. I have learned the importance of self management, organization and hard work and know that these are things that I will have to continue working on.

The main thing that this course helped me to achieve was an idea of what direction I would like to steer my career towards; Event Management. When I first enrolled at Central, this was the course that I originally wanted to study. I chose to do PR instead because I thought it sounded interesting and would be more of a challenge, but I have now discovered that it's not where my passion lies. I look forward to studying this next semester, and the new challenges that it will bring. 


I do not regret studying the Public Relaions course. I have learned a lot about marketing, stakeholders, social networking and organized communication which I hope will someday benefit me in my chosen career path.