University of Nebraska at Omaha
UNO AAF Ad Club Leader
AAF Omaha Student Ambassador
The best hobbies are the ones that you carry with you from your early years into adulthood. I’ll never forget the feeling of accomplishment from mastering my first real puzzle. And I still love the feeling today. Luckily, I found an adult playground that allows me to master puzzles all the time – the creative communications industry. It is the embodiment of that structure: so many individual pieces have to figure out how to fit together in order to create something beautiful.
Now, as a student at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, I have many opportunities to learn about the pieces of the industry. The School of Communication at UNO is so inviting, intriguing and inspiring that it keeps me wanting to come back – a feeling that I hadn’t felt in my earlier years of college. As most new hobbies go, my vested interest caught on like wildfire, and I knew I couldn’t stop at the classroom. I got involved in the Ad Club and AAF Omaha, which led to my upcoming role as a vice president for the Ad Club for the 2017-18 school year. I will be a liaison between this organization and the AAF and other professional development opportunities. I hope to bridge the gap between the textbooks and the real world, so more people can gain a sense of why they became students, just as I did.
In January of 2017 I began an internship at Junkstock. An Omaha-exclusive antique festival, born of one woman’s dreams, Junkstock was every bit the fun and interesting challenge I had hoped for. Being on a small team allowed me to wear many hats to bring Sara’s vision to life, ranging from digital design and social media work to PR and event coordination. I got to touch every piece of the puzzle as it got locked into place.
Junkstock only made me grow hungrier. Thanks to the AAF Omaha and a wonderful mentor in Teri Hamburger, an opportunity to take the next step came my way. When Laura Spaulding asked me to work on a project that combined two of my favorite pastimes – baseball and event planning – I could not refuse. Becoming a “Bozeller”, which for me means an account executive intern for the College World Series, has been nothing but positive, as they clearly value the way they welcome learners. As their need for helping hands grew, I was also afforded the chance to become a campaign manager for a 10-week mobile marketing tour for Sue Bee Honey. I’m so looking forward to spending my summer learning on the go, traveling through the West Coast, on behalf of a company I have come to adore.
Looking forward, there are still so many pieces of me to discover. And yet, no matter what kind of picture I create, I will eventually become my best masterpiece. This is what makes me know that I am home in this community, and I can’t wait to keep learning.
