Weber Shandwick Seattle is proud to bring back its intern blog post series that aims to help young professionals land and make the most of their PR agency internships. In our first series, interns provided the inside scoop on What They Didn’t Tell You about careers in PR. This time around, our rock star interns take a look at how PR professionals can come from a variety of backgrounds. Below is the sixth post in the series – how studying in Scotland influenced my Weber Shandwick internship.
The rain was soaking through my rain coat and scarf, and I could feel the cold, wet moisture beginning to seep through my sweater. Through the fog, Stirling Castle loomed above me from its volcanic, rocky ledge. Finally, the bus (coach) arrived (on the “wrong” side of the road), and I fumbled through my foreign coins to find the correct fare. As the coach pulled back onto the road, I listened to the boys behind me speak what I presumed to be English—their Scottish accent disguising every other word. Fifteen minutes later we arrived at the university, and already feeling like I had survived a day’s hurdles, I walked onto campus for my morning lecture.
While studying abroad in Scotland, I learned skills and developed knowledge both inside and outside of the classroom that I believe will be useful to my career in PR. Most importantly, I discovered the importance of cultural awareness and learned how to thrive in completely foreign situations.
Widen Your Perspectives
My studies in Scotland have directly impacted my public relations knowledge base by widening my perspective of the media and audiences. I had always considered the UK and the US to be pretty similar—kind of like long-lost cousins. Relatively speaking I found this this to be true, but I also discovered that even similar people can have completely different reactions to the same topic. This concept really came to light during my “Terrorism in the Media” course at the University of Stirling. I took the class hoping to learn how Scottish or British media portrayed events such as 9/11 or the London tube incident. What I didn’t realize was that for the British, terrorism is not confined to these past events. With the recent history with Ireland and Northern Ireland, terrorism is a much more present issue. Because of this, the British media are extremely careful with the term “terrorism”. They do not use the word as an attention ploy, nor as a means to sensationalize a story. This caution was so important to our professor that a third of the term was devoted to honing in on the contextual meaning of the word. This was a huge learning experience for me as I had assumed our cultures were so similar that we would be approaching terrorism from relatively similar places.
Learn to Take Risks, and Be Open
Along with the extended global viewpoint, I also learned significant life lessons that have already helped me in PR world. For the first time in my life, I had no foundation. Everything was foreign. I didn’t have friends to talk to (my own friends back home were hardly ever awake when I was), I was trying to navigate a completely different university system, and due to dialect, even speaking to new people proved to be a daunting task.
As I walked along the cobblestone streets one afternoon, I realized that no strategy was going to be better than just diving in head first. You have to open yourself up to experiences, soak up everything you can and make new connections. My first weeks at Weber Shandwick were centered on the same principle. Learn everything you can and give back to the people around you. If we already knew everything there was to know, there would be no reason to get out of bed in the morning. That, to me, is the beauty of this internship with Weber Shandwick. It’s OK not to be sure; it’s OK to ask questions. This is supposed to be a learning experience, and so far, I have loved every minute of it.
Lang May Yer Lum Reek
The Scottish phrase “lang may yer lum reek” translates to “may you never be without fuel for your fire.” This phrase has been very appropriate to me both while navigating Scotland and pursuing a career in public relations, inspiring me to never stop learning and improving. While studying in a foreign place, much like starting a new job, there are many times when it would be easier to fade into the background, and not push the limits. I believe that in both situations, you will have a much more fruitful experience if you not only let go of your fear of the unknown, but actually embrace the uncertainty.
Author—Kirsten Howell graduated from Washington State University and is currently an intern at Weber Shandwick Seattle. You can find out more about Kirsten at her LinkedIn profile or by following her on Twitter.
Title image courtesy of Shadowgate.
