class reflection

1. Allison Manning
MEJO 332.004
Reflection Essay
I appreciated that this class continuously exposed me to the same basic public relations
principles. The banners remained similar throughout the course, as well as basic news writing
principles and AP style. Every time I completed an assignment, I was happy to add knowledge of
another tool to my repertoire. It was also very helpful to me that we returned to certain tools for
this portfolio. I was able to check my knowledge and gain more experience with these
communication pieces. If a future employer asked me to produce any of the tools we learned in
this class, I would feel completely prepared and would consult the formatting and notes from this
course.
This class showed me that I am skilled at developing broadcast writing and speeches, and
that I also quite enjoyed writing them. I feel that this will be very valuable in my career, as
broadcast writing is a very niche and necessary skill. I also appreciated the lesson about writing
feature pitches, as I used to struggle with writing emails, especially persuasive emails. While I
believe all skills are valuable, I feel that knowing how to write a letter to the editor may have
fewer practical uses in public relations than some of the other tools we learned.
The most challenging aspect of service learning was communicating my
recommendations to my client. Having just learned of their organization and still being a student,
I felt unqualified to make recommendations to Monica Lee and Matthew McSwain about their
communications plan. Thankfully, our communication was very candid, and they were very open
to our recommendations. My group members and I worked extremely well together to set clear
expectations.
I really enjoyed the opportunity to get to know my client over this course. The Robert and
Janice McNair Educational Foundation is in an ideal position because it is a self-funded
nonprofit organization. Because the organization does not have to fundraise, the communications
plan can focus solely on the benefits McNair Educational Foundation provides to Rutherford
County. I would recommend that the organization continues to lean into this moving forward and
continues to highlight scholarship opportunities more than anything. I feel that beginning with
the prospect of scholarships would motivate students to engage more with the nonprofit, as many
of the organization’s scholarships require students to complete other McNair Educational
Foundation programs to be considered.
I was incredibly lucky to be paired with the Robert and Janice McNair Educational
Foundation, and I would recommend that the Carolina Center for Public Service keep them as a
community partner for as long as possible. Monica and Matthew were so responsive, so
cooperative and so kind. They were very forthcoming about internal information and open to my
group’s suggestions. They provided us with all the resources we needed to produce amazing
deliverables.
I am very glad I took this class before I graduated. I had learned about the theory and
concepts of public relations prior to this class, but I never felt completely prepared for a career in
the field until now.