At university, I got
the opportunity to take in the hypothesis of what PR is. I have figured out how
PR can be valuable, however I did not get a chance to get the
hands-on-experience that is required to be a genuine professional, until my
internship at Caritas.
Theory matters, yet it
is something else to put those hypotheses into practice. Transferrable
aptitudes like communication, collaboration and work ethic can be cultivated
through real experience. While my internship gives me a hands-on opportunity to
apply the theory and knowledge I have gained from university, it likewise helps
me brace my expert capabilities.
In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is - Yogi Berra
As a PR intern, I was
given the incredible chance to plunge my toe in the water, picking up knowledge
into the everyday operations. One of the best and most important learning
encounters was that I figured out how to create advanced writing skills over a
scope of techniques and practices and by that profoundly enhance my skills.
At Caritas, I found how
much I took pleasure in writing, be it press releases and articles. I have
learned that to write a good press release not only necessitates that I need to
know the public of particular outlet, but that I need to precisely know the
customers of the NGO.
Writing press release |
While writing the official
announcement for the launching of a new documentary by Caritas to promote its
Functional Literacy Programme on the International Literacy Day, I set myself
an objective, that to arouse the interest of the media. To achieve my goal; to
make a compelling news, I have put into practice what I have been taught in my
PR unit. A press release must consist of the inverted pyramid:
- Headline
- Always start with 5 W's + H
- Following with the less important information
- Ending with the least important information
- Quote
- Contact information
Well, things were not as rosy as it seems. I was asked to write the article in FRENCH! Things I never did before. Be as it may, as a PR intern, I took it like a challenge. I wrote the press release following the same format I've been taught in PR classes and fortunately I have been able to do it. My supervisor proofread my work, I'd made some changes and send it to the media. YAY!
At the end of the day,
there is one thing that I need to say - while classroom learning and internship
learning have their disparities, they are likewise intertwined and relatable.
Quite a bit of what is learned at university can be applied to internships. As
an intern, being able to connect theory from courses to practice at Caritas... I
can say that I am being effective in both zones.
I am making the most out of my experience during my internship. The more question I ask, the more I am benefiting from it.
I am making the most out of my experience during my internship. The more question I ask, the more I am benefiting from it.
Anne-Sophie Laval
Charles Telfair Institute, Mauritius
2 comments:
Hi Anne-Sophie,
Thank you for this really interesting post. In fact I could relate a lot to this one. Mostly the inverted pyramid part. It works for every article I wrote in my placement too. At the beginning, I thought that theory and practice were two different dimensions and that practice was the most important part. Today I understood that it is not true. As you said, theory and practice are closely related and having the opportunity to demonstrate what we have learned in our PR modules is great. I wanted to ask you a question, do you find it easy to write articles and press releases in French instead of English in your placement?
Hope to hear from you soon and thank you for your lovely post.
Hi Emilie,
Thank you for your reading time.
Well, I knew that I'd be asked to write press releases and articles for the event, but I didn't expect to write it in French. When my supervisor mentioned the word 'FRENCH,' seriously I was like 'Okay, how I'm gonna do that.' But as a PR student, I have been taught how to deal with that kind of situation, and I took it as a challenge. So, I wrote the articles in French following PR guidelines, and at the end of the day the articles were up and sent to the media.
Hard work and dedication is everything!
Thanks again and good luck for your last internship week.
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