Making Progress

It is hard to believe, but today marks the first day of the last full week of classes in the fall 2009 semester at Temple University. Although I have learned a lot this semester, I am looking forward to winter break and to starting with a fresh set of classes in the spring!

At the very beginning of this semester, I blogged about the goals I had set for myself going into the 2009-2010 school year. I thought that, with the first half of the school year coming to a close, it would only be appropriate to evaluate myself on the progress I have made so far. After all, it you do not monitor your progress, it becomes all too easy to lose sight of the goals you have set.

Here are some goals I have made progress towards achieving so far this year:

• Staying on top of the news and current events: I have made a concentrated effort so far this year to stay abreast of what is going on in the world. The Wall Street Journal was a required text for one of my classes this semester, which meant that the news was delivered to my doorstep each day. I enjoy feeling plugged in to the news industry and the world around me.
• Learning more about the research and planning side of PR: Thanks in large part to my Media Information Gathering & Evaluation class, I have learned a great deal about the research end of PR. I have learned a lot about the various methods most commonly employed in the industry, like conducting focus groups, in-depth interviews and surveys, and how to conduct them. I was also given an introduction to the statistical programs that are often used to attain tangible measurements of PR goals and progress. Going forward, I hope to focus more on the planning aspect of PR, as this is an area where I must admit I need more experience.
• Choosing an area in which to specialize: As a result of several of the classes I took this semester and insight gained from others in the field, I have decided that the employee relations function of PR might be a great fit for my interests and skills. I look forward to learning more about that branch of PR in the coming weeks.
• Updating my resume
• Continuing to learn about social media
• Looking into internships for the spring semester

Moving along, I still need to work on my goals of bringing more personality to my writing and becoming increasingly creative in my PR tactics. I also have created a new goal for myself: to get published!

I look forward to continuing toward these goals as the year moves along. What are some of your goals? Have you been keeping track of your progress as you move toward them?