What PRSSA Means To Me: 

By: Raynor Manley 

PRSSA is a great opportunity to make friends that are taking the same classes as you. This is a photograph of Taylor Tuscai, Director of Member Relations, and I posing with Hairy Dawg at Dawgs With The Dean a couple weeks ago.

Navigating the beginning of college can be challenging. Personally, I was really unsure of who I was, what I wanted to do with my life and what I wanted to get involved in during college. As I grew as a person and became accustomed to life at UGA, I became more sure of myself and my aspirations. While at home during the pandemic, I had a lot of time to reflect on which major was right for me. This time led me to choose Grady College and public relations as my first choice major.

Months later, I was anxiously awaiting my acceptance email to see if I got into Grady and was selected for my first choice major. When I opened that email, I was ecstatic and finally felt like I was on the right track to achieving success. I knew I wanted to get more involved in my new home of Grady College and wanted to meet other people in my same major. Joining PRSSA felt like the right step and a super easy way to immediately get involved. I began going to the meetings over zoom and loved it right away.

Each meeting made me feel motivated and even more passionate about the field I had just chosen to enter. I learned something new each meeting that would help me in my future career as well as advice for the rest of my time in college. Because of PRSSA, I have an amazing resume that they helped me build and learned what to include. I have amazing friends who share a love for PR, and I’ve gained valuable leadership skills. 

I knew I wanted to get more involved in PRSSA because of how much I loved each meeting I attended. I thought it was a long shot, but I decided to apply for the executive board. I was nervous because I knew other people had more experience than me and had been members of PRSSA for a longer time. But I recalled some of the interviewing skills and tips that various PRSSA meetings taught me and put my most confident self forward. It paid off because I was selected to serve as the 2021-2022 Director of Content for PRSSA.

I would recommend joining PRSSA to anyone interested, even if you don’t want to be more involved in a leadership role. I learned more in my one year as a general member than I ever could have imagined. So many perks, including 

  • Bi-weekly meetings with industry professionals
  • Opportunity to join committees and gain experience
  • Exclusive access to UGA PRSSA and PRSA National listserv emails and information
  • Opportunity to join our Peer Mentorship program
  • Access to PRSSA GroupMe
  • And more!

come with being a member of PRSSA. 

I know a lot of my future success and job opportunities will come from my involvement with PRSSA. PRSSA has helped me grow in so many ways and it’s one of the organizations that makes me feel the most at home. I wouldn’t change this experience for the world! 

Membership closes TODAY!!! Be sure to fill out the membership form and pay your dues by tonight at 11:59 to become a member and be able to attend the next meetings! If you want to get more involved, you can apply to be on a committee, apply here! Applications close tomorrow to be on a committee. Feel free to contact me at ram62452@uga.edu with any questions about PRSSA or why I love it!