Heather Franz- 2013 Fall PPR Strategies Intern
By Heather Franz
I was excited to find out that I was given the opportunity to be an intern here at PPR Strategies this semester; looking forward to gaining more knowledge about the industry through hands on experience. That being said, I didn’t know just what to expect on my first day; but so far, everything has gone smoothly, and although I’ve only been here a few weeks, I have already learned many new things.
Who am I exactly?
Well, here is a little background information.
My name is Heather Franz: a 21-year-old senior at Shepherd University, where I will be graduating with BS in Mass Communications and minor in Journalism this spring.
Originally from Long Island NY, I grew up in a German/Italian house full of siblings in a town by the water, where we spent our time taking out the boat on weekends, or going down to the Nautical Mile for an Italian ice from Ralph’s.
After my dad accepted a job in Washington D.C, my family made the move to wild and wonderful West Virginia, when I was just 16 (talk about a culture shock!); however, after residing in Charles Town for the past 5 years I have learned to appreciate the country roads that once made me cringe.
From an early age, I always had an interest in the news and media; however, when it came time for me to venture off to college, I did not have a direct idea on what my choice of study would be. It took a year and a half of taking various education, psychology, and nutrition classes for me to come to the realization that I did not want to pursue a career in any of those fields.
During my sophomore year at Shepherd I enrolled in two classes that became the first stepping-stones that sparked my educational journey; and, ironically, they were the two classes that I was the most apprehensive about: Public Speaking and Into to Print Journalism.
Public speaking is an inevitable course that everyone must endure at some point in their college career, so I was shocked, to say the least, when it became my favorite class of the semester. Throughout the duration of the course, I learned that, not only did I enjoy getting up and speaking in front of people, but I was, also, good at it! It was because of that class that I was able to declare my major, entering the wonderful, world of Mass Communications.
My Journalism class was a little bit different. I entered the class, specifically, because I knew I was a good writer, and writing was something that I enjoyed doing from early on; however, the class opened my eyes to just how broad the journalism field was. I was first introduced to the world of Public Relations during this course, and the more I learned about the field, the more I realized it was exactly what I wanted to do.
So here I am, four years later, about to graduate and venture into the “real world”, (Where has the time gone?!) and while I count down the days until I receive my diploma, I am happy to be a part of PPR Strategies. During my time here, I look forward to putting my learned skills to use, and continuing to build new abilities that will lead me to a successful, post graduation, career.
