Trinity Goode
“Olivet had everything I would want in a school,” Trinity Goode said, a senior Public Relations and Strategic Communication major, along with a second major in corporate communication.
The Olivet Nazarene University Communication Department (COMM Dept.) encompasses many different majors and concentrations. One major held within the COMM Dept. is Public Relations and Strategic Communication (PR).
Within this major at Olivet, Olivet seeks to create “experts in the craft of modern-day public relations by mastering the strategy of communication plans… and execute those plans for all audiences.” According to Olivet’s website.
Trinity Goode said she had an incredible experience over her last four years. When considering choosing PR as a major, Goode had many standards for choosing a school and program. One of the expectations was that it had to be a Christian school within 4 hours of her hometown. Olivet was two hours away, with one of its missions being “Education with a Christian Purpose.” For more information about another program Olivet offers, refer to “So You Want to Make a TV Show?” to learn more.
Goode’s involvement in public relations has given her many skills, including those she’s learned in her major and across campus. Goode is part of the student life experience called Life at Olivet, where she serves as the Student Involvement Coordinator. Here, she had the opportunity to help with the logistics of student events.
An additional thing Goode is involved in is leading as Agency Director for Inspired Strategies Agency (ISA), a student-run PR firm. In this, students gain real-world experience and skills while learning in a faculty-supervised environment.
According to the 2016 article, The Best of Both Worlds: Student Perspectives on Student-Run Advertising and Public Relations Agencies in the Journal of Public Relations Education, studies show that “Student agency provides an experiential learning opportunity that gives students the chance to apply the knowledge gleaned from the classroom to client work, performed in a professional environment,” said Joyce Haley, from Abilene Christian University.
Jorie Gabriele
Jorie Gabriele, a current junior at Olivet, additionally has had great experiences with PR at Olivet. Gabriele is the president of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) at Olivet, an organization for young PR professionals desiring to further their career growth as students.
With PR, she desires to “take it anywhere, and work directly with people and their stories.” With PR, she desires to do something in the digital realm. Her dream job would be to run a social media page for an NFL team, where she can merge her passion with sports and PR. Below are some graphics created by Gabrielle.
“PR can help boost your online activities…and increase your brand awareness,” said Zohaib Patoli, a writer with Forbes. PR is critical to building an online presence, and Gabriele is learning those critical skills within her PR major at Olivet. Included in her education is a HubSpot certification that certifies Gabriele as being educated in social media marketing and other online skills.
Through the many opportunities Olivet offers its Public Relations and Strategic Communication students, they can enter the world confidently with the skills their university has equipped them with to be successful.
