From an Intern to a Professional
One word to describe my practicum at PACE: enriching. I have never learned so much about myself in such a limited amount of time.
Politics is my passion and my obsession. My placement at PACE, especially during the 2012 presidential election, could not have been any more perfect. The purpose of PACE is to engage students in civic and public discourse at all levels. The goal is to motivate Salisbury students to become more aware of their surroundings politically. As a practicum student, I helped plan and facilitate all the events. A main reason why I have learned so much about myself is because of my supervisor Leah. Not only was she available to me as a professional leader, but was also somebody I have become to confide in and feel comfortable to go to with any questions. Salisbury University and PACE had selected me to be the first student to attend the Republican National Convention. Once I returned from the convention, I was asked to do a presentation about my experience. The presentation was to be presented in front of Provost Dr. Allen, Fulton School Dean Pereboom, and anyone else who wished to attend. My first month at PACE was very much dedicated to perfecting my presentation. Without Leah, I honestly do not think that my presentation would have been the success that it was. At the beginning I am not going to lie, it was a bit overwhelming. My first draft of my PowerPoint was rather pathetic. Luckily, Leah agreed. She sat me down and explained to me her expectations and reminded me that all I am doing is telling my story. I was back at square one with my PowerPoint and re-did the entire thing. A week before my presentation, I showed Leah what I had completed. Thank God she was pleased with it. From there, the tedious process of editing and rehearsing began. I must say, Leah is a master editor and as an eye for PowerPoint aesthetics. We have all seen those terrible PowerPoints from fellow student presentations or professors even. They are the slides that have all words and no pictures. “Treat you audience like they are young children,” said Leah. And she was right! If my 20 minute PowerPoint had only words on the slides and no images, people would start yawning in front in my face. That is something that nobody wants. I also did not want to see people get up and walk out of the room. How embarrassing. Leah was a huge presence in helping me with my visually stimulating PowerPoint presentation. It was obvious to see that Leah wanted me to be able to present myself in the greatest and most professional way possible. |
I will never forget the Thursday before my presentation, when I had met with Leah to verbally go over my presentation. What a mess I was!
I had previously taken pride in how well I can manage stress; it just had never seemed to affect me. Until the moment I had to rehearse my presentation to Leah, that is. Blank. My mind was completely blank and couldn’t think of what to say. Leah and I looked at each other puzzled as to what was wrong with me. I am never at a loss of words. Panic set in. My heart was racing, eyes were tearing up and I didn’t know how to stop it. “Jessica, what is wrong with you?” giggled Leah. And I didn’t know. I wasn’t nervous about talking. The material was something that I am confident in talking about. The main concern was letting Leah, Dr. Hoffman, Dr. Allen and Dean Pereboom down. They had all believed so much in me to send me to the convention, which I wanted to make sure my PowerPoint reflected how grateful I was and much I had learned from the experience. After my breakdown, Leah instilled confidence in me. This presentation was about my experience, only I know what happened. I was not going to be talking about something that I did not already know. So Leah wrote me a Post-It to put in my pocket for the remainder of the day saying, “Remember to breathe.” I carried it in my pocket all day. Went home that weekend and rehearsed and practiced. I must say I was rather proud of my presentation and what I had accomplished. This story was just an example of what a privilege it was to perform my practicum with PACE. Throughout the semester, I was able to promote political awareness while learning about what I want to do professionally. My confidence has been taken to a whole new level because of all the advice and opportunities Leah had given me. My time at PACE has strengthened my desire to pursue my career in media. The power of being able to communicate to people what is happening around them is something I find fascinating and cannot wait to be a part of it. |