Wherever You Go, Go With All Your Heart
In 2005, my little brother, Josh, and I were placed in foster care. My mother relinquished her parental rights shortly thereafter and now lives in Texas. She has struggled with alcoholism for many years and even though I no longer speak to her, I do still love her.
Josh was adopted in 2010 and he now lives in a small town in New York. Since I was older, I was never adopted and I moved to Georgia in 2009 to attend college.
Click the “Placement Timeline” link above for a detailed assessment of where we have lived.
Contact me: rebeka.geer@gmail.com
I tell my story to inform, to inspire, and to show other foster children that they’re not alone.
Students studying public relations got some encouraging news this week.
Public relations specialist was one of only three creative services occupations that made U.S. News & World Report’s Best Jobs 2012 ranking.
“Clearly, thinking with the right side of your brain could pay off in the long run,” the report said.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 22.5 percent employment growth for PR specialists between 2010 and 2020.
It’s important for new PR specialists to be skilled in the use of social media.
“With the onset of social infrastructure such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Pinterest, combined with the versatility of web tools, the jobs of public relations specialists are growing at a fast clip,” said Gerald Corbett, chair and CEO of the Public Relations Society of America.
First off, I’m honored to have even made it to the final 10 – that’s an accomplishment all on its own!
All 10 of us have our interview on Wednesday and we then drop down to 5. Those 5 then head to the Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta and interview with the executive board and from there, only 2 are selected for the internship…It’s definitely quite a process…
I looked up the other 9 finalists resumes on LinkedIn and competition is definitely stiff – we are all super qualified, go-getters. I know that I’m qualified for the position and I know that I’m more than capable of putting in the long work hours so it’s just a matter of making sure that the person interviewing me sees that.
Any interview advice that ya’ll can sprinkle on me?
I have to be out of the house, and on my way to Atlanta by 6am tomorrow….
Tuesday: Class 8-5, speech presentation about Athens, Greece in 403 B.C.
Wednesday: Journalism test, AP style quiz, PRSSA meeting with Scott Williamson, PR rep for Coca-Cola (and hopefully, my summer internship! Keep your fingers crossed!!)
Thursday: Class 8-5, Interpersonal Communication test, ANOTHER speech presentation about Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture (I’m actually really looking forward to this presentation)
Friday: PR Real World event in Atlanta – must be out of the house by 6am
Saturday: Work at 3
Sunday: Work at 4:30
Monday: Class till 10, pickup dry cleaning and run last minute errands before trip
Tuesday – Saturday: Trip to Washington, DC for PR agency tours!
For the past three years, 16 PRSSA students at UGA have been selected to go on a Public Relations agency tour in Washington, DC - and I was selected!!
I’ve been so professional lately:
Tacked on a minor in Speech Communication
Bought a suit
Developed a solid resume
Began working on my online portfolio
Decided to run for PRSSA president in the spring
Business Rebeka is out in full force people, you better watch out! :)
I bought my first suit this weekend. I have a massive career fair on November 8th (over 40 public relations agencies will be there!), so I decided to invest in a new outfit for the occasion.
I went to see the on-call academic advisor this afternoon to see if I could get course credit for my internship, and unfortunately, I can’t. While he was loading my information, we made small talk and I mentioned that I was anxiously waiting to hear back from the Grady School of Journalism to see if I was accepted into the public relations program. Instead of making me wait till Friday, he was kind enough to look me up to see if I was accepted…
AND I WAS!! I’m officially a public relations major! AHHHH!!!! :)
We were assigned over 300 pages of reading and the exam only had 38 questions.
38. questions.
After I finished beating myself up for getting a 79, I noticed those lucky few who managed to get a score below 5.
note to all: taking a test in college is like being punched in the face repeatedly for 52 minutes - and if you think you did poorly on an exam, check out the test statistics and think “hey, at least my score is in the double digits.”
No pressure, right?….
For my PR class this semester, we each had to create a mock press kit for a fictional product or service. I did my project on the Horatio Alger Association (the Association I received my national scholarship from), and I had them introduce a study abroad scholarship for $15,000.
I spent 5 hours working on the aesthetics of my kit yesterday. With over 300 people in our class, I knew mine had to be flawless in order to get an A. I used one of the University MAC computers (because Macs have such amazing design programs), but when I opened the attachment on my Dell, the format was an absolute mess:
(I’ll spare you by not posting all 15 pages):
There’s dotted lines around a majority of my text boxes, images are stretched and skewed, the font sporadically changes, and there’s random text box written in Latin everywhere.
Little things would make my life so much easier…I love/hate you technology, and I love/hate you perfectionist Rebeka.
Like most everyone in college, I’m still in the process of figuring out what kind of person I am, and what I want to do for the rest of my life. In between my lessons of self-discovery, I have to squeeze in class, homework, work and sleep (on occasion). No matter how hectic my day may be, I make a conscious effort to always go about my work with a smile because you never know who’s watching.
A few weeks ago, I was working a typical Wednesday shift at Outback. It was a rather slow night, but a lot of my regulars had stopped in to see me, so all in all, my shift was going well. Shortly after my arrival, I was seated with a table of two, both of whom were gentleman. I greeted the table with a warm smile, went through the features for the evening, and took their food and drink orders. After I returned with their drinks, one of the gentlemen asked me if I was a student at UGA, and I went ahead and gave him the run through of my college career. I explained how I moved from New York, how I was majoring in Public Relations, and we chatted about the differences in the North and South.
When I went over to drop off their check, one of the gentlemen handed me his card, told me he was a vice president for a company in Atlanta, and asked if I was interested in a possible internship. Taken aback, I expressed my interest in the opportunity, and I told him I would be in touch.
This was three weeks ago.
Since then, I’ve gone through a four hour interview with the company, corresponded via email numerous times, and I’ve landed my first marketing/public relations internship set to begin in mid-April.
So many things could have affected the outcome of this situation: I could’ve been running late for work and missed the opportunity to serve this table, I could have been off my game that evening and not provided the best dining experience, or I could’ve projected the image of an exhausted, overworked college student instead of a confident, poised young woman who radiates warmth and hospitality.
Life is a giant social-network. It’s all about who you know, how you know them, and what they think of you…so be ready
