What I Want to Be When I Grow Up

Oh the question. That question. The one that everyone asks you since the day you learn how to form complete sentences. Unfortunately for me, due to my private school education, I was able to form sentences quicker than most. What do you want to be when you grow up?

My answers were similar to all little girl answers. They mainly revolved around a professional dancer, ballerina, dance instructor, actress, and vet. If I was lucky, I could combine all of these into one super-career.

Well as you get older, the question gets more serious. People demand answers beyond professional ballerina. I knew my Junior year of high school that I wanted to major in Communication. I was on the newspaper staff. I was an anchor for the school news show. I was in drama. I knew this was a field in which I could express myself, yet make a few good bucks at the same time (as I am not a fan of the starving-artist type).

So I got my undergraduate degree, and everything was smooth sailing. That is the thing about degrees in Communication. The field is so vast, that there are many different courses you can take without actually having to decide what you want to do with your life.

Then graduate school. I could not simply get a Masters in Communication. I had to actually figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I had to pick a goal and go for it. I had to create an entire program of study revolving around what I want to do for the rest of my life. Well, after a semester of sleepless nights, thinking I was going nowhere with my life, due to the fact that I could not for the life of me make a freaking decision that affects the rest of my life, I finally did it. This month is the first official month that I can officially say I know what I want to be when I grow up.

When I realized that I could not easily combine all of my passions - art, dance, theatre, animals, food, music, community work, money - into one career, I knew I had to choose. Now which path do I choose? Well recently I had it narrowed down to record label PR, arts related PR, and community based work. Hey, I can still do all of the other stuff in my free time right?

Well then it hit me. I am always the type of person who does not care what others are doing. I do not follow paths just because people tell me to. I break new ground. I am going to bring community-based public relations into the corporate world. (aka I am going to save the world, just like every other young, naive, college student out there.)

Throughout my studies and observations I have seen a consistency in the public relations departments in corporate organizations. They throw messages at people. They categorize people, tell them how to act, and expect them to do it. There is no real relationship with the PR people and the community they serve. PR departments have a history of throwing messages at people and expecting them to absorb it and respond.

For instance, take the movement to revitalize Overton Square. The people in charge of the project are telling the midtowners what they need. "You do not need this place to be rebuilt" or "What you need are x kinds of stores". But really, who is taking the local residents seriously? Who is listening to them? Should it not be their decision as to what happens in that area, as long as it does not negatively affect anyone else?

I want to bring fresh new ideas into the field of PR. I want to help organizations establish true relationships with their clients. I want them to work with the clients instead of at them. I want to do community based projects through corporate organizations. After all, they have lots of money right? and I want the corporations to establish relationships with the community they are serving in these projects. So instead of a top-down approach to public relations, I want to create a horizontal approach.

One organization. By the people. For the people.

So congratulations to me for discovering what I finally want to do with my life. Not only is it a big sigh of relief, but it gives me something to look forward to. I cannot wait to get my degree so I can start on all of this stuff I have planned. I have big goals, and I am exited about achieving them.