At the end of 2012
(check out my 2012 favorites!) I graduated from the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications
(a few grad pics). I loved attending the University of Florida and returning to my birthplace of Gainesville, Florida for 4.5 years. Gainesville is truly my second home. Upon returning to Lakeland after graduation I began searching for my first job.
I joined the local young professionals group,
EMERGE Lakeland, where I participated in their spring
peer-to-peer mentor program. As a member of EMERGE Lakeland, I have met a great group of young professionals and learned more and more about the community where I grew up.
In addition to blogging for YLakeland, I began interning for the first Florida Ice Cream Festival. As their PR/Marketing Intern, I wrote press releases, managed social media and even gave my first radio interview. Doing PR for the event gave me great experiences and taught me a lot about how different agency life is compared to event marketing. I really enjoyed working with the first Florida Ice Cream Festival and even got to meet a few championship eaters who came to our World Ice Cream Eating Championship.
After spending a few months with the LEDC and the Florida Ice Cream Festival, I began interning with a local marketing firm. This firm gave me many opportunities as a new grad to learn and test out the waters of the marketing industry in Central Florida. I was able to really get my feet wet and add many skills to my resume. I continued to search for full-time jobs, go to interviews and explore all the opportunities available in advertising and PR.
After 9 months as a marketing intern, I began my first full-time post-grad job in November. I work for a full-service marketing firm that works with companies all over the country. So far I am loving full-time agency life. Although the first two months have been a bit hectic (giving me less time for blogging), I am so happy I ended up where I am and cannot wait to share more details in the future.
Happy New Year!
xoxo