I remember registering for classes last year and being so excited to take the Arcadia offered practicum for Public Relations. It was recommended to me by my advisor, and teacher of the practicum, seeing as I am a Media and Communications major with a concentration in Public Relations. I had started to second guess my ability to be a PR professional and being given the chance to start the very first student run PR firm at Arcadia was exactly what I needed. I was ecstatic to be able to experience what its like to work professionally in the Public Relations realm, before I started my internship. The weeks we spent still at school working hard on the Donate Life campaign was some of the most enjoyable and rewarding times I have ever had in class at Arcadia. Right before we left for spring vacation we began to plan and work on our projects to promote Donate Life. Even with the COVID-19 crisis looming over our heads, we split up times and responsibilities for the exciting events we had planned. I was ready and excited to help run the events and activities we had planned for the campaign but unfortunately I never got to.
Once we started our spring break, the pandemic began to spread rapidly. Only halfway through the week of our spring break did we receive an email telling us the rest of the semester would be online only. While it was good to know how much our university cared about our health and safety, I was devastated to realize that meant the end to our Donate Life campaign. The few weeks I was able to spend with my 1853 Communications classmates were amazing and I am so sad that those few weeks were the only ones we would get. I enjoyed my short amount of time in this practicum so much that I registered for it again for this fall semester. I take pride in being one of the founding members of 1853 Communications and having the opportunity to create our name, website and goals. I am excited to spend next fall doing what we prepared to do this semester and I hope nothing gets in our way this time.