Why am I in PR?

From the time I was a sophomore in high school, I knew that I would major in mass communication. Communication in our world is constantly growing and changing, and though I didn't know what exactly I wanted to do with the major, I knew that's what I wanted to do. I came into GCSU as a freshman pre-mass comm with no idea what concentration I wanted. I took the class Mass Media in Society and it was there that I decided what I wanted to be "when i grow up." The class was assigned two papers during the semester: one interviewing someone who has a job that we would like to do upon graduation, and the other about a "hero" in the mass comm field. The person I chose to interview was Lea Anne McBride, communications director for Vice President Dick Cheney. I loved hearing about her job and how no two days were ever the same and how she was constantly traveling around the world assisting with press conferences and attending meetings with world leaders. This made me think that PR may be the place for me. The second assignment of the class, the "hero" paper, sealed the deal so to speak. I researched a man by the name of Edward Bernays, a father of Public Relations. During his 103 years, he had a major impact on the world of mass communication in terms of journalism, advertising, and public relations. He is most well known for his campaigns for Ivory Soap and Lucky Strike cigarettes along with the three books he published throughout his career Crystallizing Public Opinion (1923), Public Relations (1952), and The Engineering of Consent (1955). Reading about how Mr. Bernays paved the way in the field of PR inspired me, and talking with Ms. McBride personally gave me a first hand insight to what, in my opinion, is one of the most exciting jobs available, a career in public relations.