Ambassador Carissa's Journey to Becoming a PR Major

Coming in as a spring admit, I had more time than most to ponder on what my USC journey could look like. But before we talk about how this journey started, we can circle back to what brought me to USC.  

A fun fact about me is that I’ve been posting pictures of the foods I ate/cooked since 2016. When I learned how to make a website from scratch, I was excited to finally launch a food blog where I could write about the eateries, foods, and places that meant so much to me. I felt a glowing enthusiasm every time I wrote. When applying for college, I was sure that the one thing I wanted to do was foster connection between people through stories, but I was never quite sure if Journalism was the exact fit for me. Annenberg’s Communication program sounded like a great fit for me, because I would be able to explore the news + media side of Journalism, while developing a background in subjects like economics and technology through more specialized classes. I was also drawn to this program because there were so many interesting electives that ranged from communication in industries to K-pop to food and health. 

Once the summer hit, I began to think more critically about what I wanted to do in the future. I had such a huge passion for food and for writing, but I was scared of pursuing Journalism. As a food blogger, it was so much easier for me to just write in any format I wanted, without fear of it being judged. I wasn’t sure if I would like Journalism, because I had always been used to writing just for myself.

I began to look at the Public Relations major, which is the one out of three Annenberg majors I never seriously considered. While I was excited to be a Communication major, its content centers around Communication theory and examines the digital landscape very thoroughly. If I were still a Communication major, I would be an absolute expert on all things pop culture, social media, and the internet. The Communication major equips you with sharp analytic, research, and writing skills when examining overall Communication methods across the world. However, with my food blog, one of the things I loved most was sharing my favorite restaurants with my friends and introducing these eateries to people who didn’t know about that before. Little did I know that one of the functions of me bringing these stories of these restaurants to life was public relations (PR). PR is all about advocating on behalf of a person, brand, or organization and getting their stories out to their necessary audiences, or publics. How this differs from fields like advertising and marketing is that it focuses on earned media, where people do not pay for airtime or space on a newspaper. Instead, companies have to have a story that is considered newsworthy enough to “earn” that spot. An aspect of PR that really appealed to me was media relations, because my dream is to connect restaurants in ethnic enclaves to the media, so these small businesses can gain more visibility. I realized I had found my perfect fit in the Public Relations program, a program that would allow me to practice PR tools like writing news releases, media pitches, advisories, and creating full media kits for reporters to use. For me, it blended both disciplines of Communication and Journalism, because I would still get to identify newsworthy stories out there and write about them, without the fears I had about Journalism.

Now in my third semester as a PR major, I can confidently say that I love the Public Relations program with all my heart. My professors make me feel so capable and truly have empowered me with all the resources I need to succeed. I’ve gotten to create an entire information kit on my own and ideate a campaign from start to finish. This is all to say that there’s an Annenberg major that’s right for absolutely anyone. For me, my interests and future dreams aligned best with what I could do as a PR student. However, you can develop very transferable skills across all three Annenberg majors, and if it takes you a little bit more time to see which one is the best fit for you, don’t fret! You can take your time. Annenberg is an incredibly special community – whichever major, minor, or degree objective one chooses, I’m confident there’s a home here for them.