1. Purdue University Student Chapter
Association for Women in Communications
Offering communication
students a welcoming place to
grow, connect and succeed.
http://www.web.ics.purdue.edu/~awc/
December 2010
Upcoming Events
Letter from the President
1/10 Second Semester
Begins Dear AWC members,
This will be my final AWC President’s letter. I regret to inform
you that I will be leaving Purdue next semester and be handing over
1/19 2nd Semester Call-Out 6 the Presidency to our Vice President, Valerie Petrey. I have been
p.m. offered an outstanding internship position in Chicago that I could
*Current Members Do not pass up and will be finishing up my classes at Purdue Calumet.
Not Need to Attend However, I will still graduate in May from Purdue and I plan on
coming back to visit.
1/25 First Meeting of Second Deciding to leave Purdue was one of the toughest decisions I have
Semester ever had to make in my life. The main reason being is that it is
tough for me to say goodbye to this organization. I have been an
6 p.m.
active AWC member since my freshmen year and have served on
the exec board for the past 3 years. I could not ask to be a part of a
better organization during my time at Purdue.
Continued on page 3
Mission Statement
The Association for Women in Communications is a professional organization that
champions the advancement of women across all communications disciplines by
recognizing excellence, promoting leadership and positioning its members at the
forefront of the evolving communications era.

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Hungry for Marketing Experience Interested in joining the AWC exec
By Meg Fingert, AWC Member board?
This semester I had the privilege of working with a start up website
AWC is looking for a new Secretary!
based in West Lafayette called Hungry Boiler. Hungry Boiler is a web
start up that allows students and townies alike to view all local To qualify:
restaurant menus and to conveniently order from many of them
from their website at a great discount. You must be at least a sophomore, have open
availability every Tuesday next semester, and
Hired as a marketing intern, I took on both the role of an on have prior experience in sending mass emails,
campus representative and of social media consultant. I found that organizing and updating Excel lists, taking notes
working for a small start up can be extremely helpful in gaining
at meetings, multi-tasking, cold calling and
experience. Instead of getting lost in a corporate hierarchy, I
updating Twitter and Facebook accounts.
always was working alongside my boss and because of this, was
better able to execute the company’s marketing goals. Please contact us by December 20th if interested
 If you don’t have EVERY qualification, it’s okay-
While it may be easy to feel drawn to a large corporation or non-
as long as you’re willing to learn!
profit, sometimes the best gifts really do come in small packages.
Small businesses hold a wealth of opportunity, experience-seeking
undergraduates.
Styling and Writing: A Fashion Internship
10 Things Every COM Student should do right NOW for Com Majors
By Valerie Petrey, AWC Vice President By Irene Wang, AWC Secretary
1. Look for a summer internship in your chosen field and apply I am very fortunate to have an internship with
by March! CollegeFashionista.com. As the Style Guru, I take pictures of
2. Apply for a leadership position within a student organization. Fashionista/os around campus and interview alumni and designers
3. Create a LinkedIn, VisualCV and/or Flavors page that has in fashion industry.
links to your online portfolio and/or blog.
4. Start a blog. Check out Tumblr, WordPress or Blogger. I This opportunity is precious for me, as this is what I always want
suggest getting a blog to showcase your writing talent and to do. To those students who are interested in fashion/editorial
increase your web visibility. industry, this kind of virtual internship is a great way to get your
5. Create an online portfolio! Upload writing and design feet into the door. It is also a great fun to take notice on the
samples of your work! Put your resume and social media clothing trends on campus because you can always expect
accounts on there, and anything else you see fit. Try these: something unexpected.
Weebly and Webs.
6. Teach yourself things you aren’t learning in the classroom. This internship developed my writing skills and photography skills
Learn Adobe Creative Suite with a 30-day free trial! mostly. What I learned in the past few months is that one has to
7. Update your resume with anything you did this past devote great passion to this position. Not only is the writing style
semester. is different from the papers we usually write for class; one also
8. Ask your professors, past and current employers, and student needs to follow the latest fashion trends.
leaders in organizations you’re actively involved in for
Letters of Recommendation. Fashion is a very competitive industry. I didn’t realize there are
9. Look into Study Abroad if you haven’t already. There are tons of fashion blogs before I started my internship with CF.
two-week programs to two-semester programs. Our advisor Everyone has unique perspectives towards fashion. So if one day
Dr. Stacey Connaughton leads a Maymester program to you want to be somebody, one has always to be on the top.
Shanghai China, and Dr. Josh Boyd leads the summer Because today you are in, it doesn’t mean you wouldn’t be out
internship program to London, England. tomorrow.
10. Have fun! I believe COM students have to work twice as
hard to prove themselves and be competitive within our Anyone who is interested in doing this internship with CF can
industry, but it’s important to have a social life too. Don’t contact me and I’ll try to answer any questions you have. Read all
overwhelm yourself! of Irene’s fashion posts from the semester.
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Putting Yourself Out There
Do you have an
By Valerie Petrey, AWC Vice President
online
The best advice I can give anyone it to take a chance. While it is easiest to find an internship with a
contact, it is possible to land an internship or job without one! Every internship or job I have had, I
applied via their website, followed up with the employer to show interest and randomly made
portfolio,
connections by using social media. I never personally knew anyone. With that being said, if you have
contacts, use them. If you don’t, then get creative by researching who currently holds the position you website or
want to at your dream company and contacting them, as well as reaching out to prospective employers
on Twitter and LinkedIn. blog that you
I know it’s hard to put yourself out there but it will be worth it in the end. When I had my first internship
with WISH-TV in Indianapolis I didn’t know what interning was really all about. It was a fantastic first
would like us to
learning process and showed me that I didn’t really want to work in broadcast journalism. After that
summer I knew I wanted to get into advertising and public relations, so I interned for Purdue Athletics showcase on
and continued to sharpen my writing skills by working for my local newspaper. This past summer I was
drawn to working in the government and was able to land a communications internship with the Indiana our website?
Secretary of State, which showed me that PR was definitely my calling. Now I am with Liberal Arts
Career Development and have utilized my past experiences to sharpen my project management skills Let us know by
and take the lead on many different projects! I also have met a lot of great people in my industry.
Now I am not saying you have to intern every semester, not that it would hurt, but I am saying think emailing us at
about your future, get involved and take initiative. Interning isn’t the only way to gain experience.
Volunteer work and student organizations are another fabulous way to build your resume and enhance purdue.awc@
your skills. There is always something you can do to help put you a step above everyone else!
*Parts of this were originally published at IndianaINTERN Nation. gmail.com
Letter from the President continued…
AWC Member of the Month….
I owe a lot of my success and accomplishments to this organization. I
hope AWC will do the same for each and every one of you like it has
for me. Meg Fingert
I was explaining to my fellow exec members the other day how much I Major: Public Relations and Rhetorical Advocacy
have seen this organization grow over the last four years, and I could
not be happier with the results. I am very grateful to be leaving this
organization on such a positive note and leaving it to a group of very Year: Junior
talented executive members that can take AWC to new heights.
The best piece of advice I can offer to all of you is to take advantage of Hometown:
every opportunity that comes your way. This is your time to figure out Camarillo, CA
what you want to do with your future, take risks, and to gain as much
experience in your desired job field. The competition is fierce in this
industry, but with hardwork , confidence, and taking advantage of your Plans for the future:
surroundings wil make things work out in the long run.
Ultimate goal to
I plan on being an active member of this organization even after I
graduate. My goal is to return as a guest speaker in the near future and become the Director
hopefully talk about all my successes and offer my advice/wisdom to
of Public Relations for
members.
Disney Parks
It has been an honor serving as your President. Please do not see this as
a goodbye. Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have, I
would be more than happy to offer my advice or help to any of you. Fun fact: I spent two
Best of luck to all of you in the future! summers studying
Creative Writing at
Sincerely,
Cambridge University in England
Sarah Wartman
AWC President
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4. President Special Events Coordinator
Sarah Wartman Myriah DeBoer
@PRSarahAnn @myriahdeboer
Vice President Multi-Media Director
Valerie Petrey Taylor Adams
@valeriepetrey @taybaby_x0
Treasurer Newsletter Editor
Nicole Kowalczyk Lauren Hausermann
@NicoleKowal @Lelyse14
Marketing Director Secretary
Julie Smith Irene Wang
@Julie_Smith55 @sweetieirene
Purdue AWC, Beering, COM Office 2114
100 N. University Street
West Lafayette, IN 47907
Join us: Association for Women in
Communications-Purdue
University
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Interested in writing or taking photos for the newsletter? Email
Lauren Hausermann at lhauserm@purdue.edu