Day in the Life as a Public Relations Major (with Communication Design and Music Industry Minors)
By: Kathryn Aurelio ‘25
Four ignored alarms later, I finally roll off my foam-topped mattress, brush my teeth, and apply skincare and make-up all by 8 am I throw my homework, laptop, charger, sketchbook, pens, keys, water bottle, AirPods, and a Clif Bar into my tote bag. Three days a week I’m hustling to a seat in an Annenberg or Roski classroom at 9 am, and Wednesdays and Fridays I have more wiggle room to watch a few TikToks before my job and internship starts at 11.
The past two semesters, I’ve had the unique experience of taking classes in four of USC’s schools–dabbling in Annenberg, Roski, Thornton, and the School of Cinematic Arts. It’s extremely fulfilling being a “Renaissance Woman” of sorts–educating myself in different fields of study and striving to enhance creativity through several outlets.
Mondays: The Renaissance Woman and Her Quill
The Public Relations major at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism was particularly appealing to me as a high school senior as it offered the flexibility to explore an expansive variety of industries while bringing together my interests in writing, creativity, strategy, and art. Working in PR will keep you on your toes with new personalities and atmospheres to face every morning.
PR 209: Effective Writing for Public Relations
My very first class of the week instills the skills of a composed and vigilant PR writer who knows AP-style by heart—a significant diversion from my previous journalism and creative writing style taught since grade school. The fast paced in-class writing assignments help emulate working at a real-world agency covering breaking news stories. As our final, each student will have a full media press kit composed of a press release, fact sheet, professional biography, FAQ’s, and more for a hypothetical newsworthy topic that will definitely have future employers excited.
PR 340: Introduction to Advertising
After PR 209 and my work-study job at Thornton, I head to my final class of the day, or more precisely, night, from 6-9:40 pm This upper-division elective delves into the paid media and visual storytelling of commercials and the structure of effective ad campaigns. As with 209, what’s great about this class and major is that our final projects are a culmination of portfolio-worthy work we’ve done throughout the semester. By the end of semester, I’ll have a full creative, integrated campaign promoting a company or product of the professor’s choosing to pitch to an actual client at a real PR company. This year we created a plan for Skylar Clean Beauty and will be presenting at Deutsch LA.
Tuesdays and Thursdays: The Renaissance Woman and Her Creative Paintbrush
These two days are an extra push for me to wake up early as my 9 am is across campus at the Roski School of Art and Design. With my “roski rush” Spotify playlist and water bottle against the world, I fast-walk through campus to Harris Hall.
DES 102: Design Fundamentals
Here, I’m sketching and precisely X-Acto cutting designs from my gouache-painted paper. I expected a fully Adobe software-run class but I was pleasantly surprised that this class really stripped down to the basics of fundamental design elements that are produced hands-on. DES 102 was my introduction to Roski’s Communication Design minor, which is an interdisciplinary minor between design and business (with the option of classes in Roski, Annenberg and Marshall).
CTPR 460: Film Business Procedures and Distribution (on Tuesdays only)
As USC is located in the acclaimed “City of Stars,” taking a class in the renowned Cinematic Arts School was a must. After my three-hour design class, I head on over to the Coffee Bean for a boost of caffeine for my film business lecture. Thoroughly enjoying examining visual and written metaphors of monsters and fear in my freshman year GESM, I wanted to explore a career in the film business. This class really gets into the nitty gritty elements of producing a film and examining production company faults and successes. Unfortunately, I’ve learned the business side of film specifically isn’t for me–but learning what you don’t want to do in college is equally important as discovering your professional passions.
Wednesdays and Fridays: The Renaissance Woman and Her Music
After taking MUIN 272x last semester, which provided me with the general basis of the entire music industry taught by Professor Mike Garcia who easily and enthusiastically explains terminology, I wanted to explore a path in Music PR. Moreover, I want to explore the strategy behind fandoms dominating the Spotify charts (*cough cough* my quarantine obsession with One Direction) and marketing with artist management.
After declaring my minor, I searched for an internship at the intersection of my interests. I found that with Drill Down Media, a music PR company where I’m on call 2 days a week..
Wednesdays and Fridays: The Renaissance Woman and Her Other Projects
Moreover, aside from classes, a Public Relations major with creative minors entails involvement in many other extracurricular activities and internships to get your foot in the door. Some of my weekly events include a directing design for SCene Magazine, attending speaker panels at the Marshall Entertainment Association, virtually interning at Drill Down Media, designing for the school newspaper, and finding family at Troy Philippines.
I’m ecstatic to further indulge in all the interdisciplinary course opportunities USC provides in my next five semesters.
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