Choosing Advertising – Part 2

By Danielle Talbot

At the young age of eighteen, I thought I had a major part of my life figured out. I am a planner, always have been, so having my future career planned out before I even graduated high school felt like a major accomplishment.

While all my friends stressed over picking a major, I sat sure of my decision. I was going to go into accounting. I had taken the intro class when I dual enrolled and I did well.

Upon graduating high school, I enrolled in my local community college and signed up for Accounting 101, the next step up from the basics class. This class didn’t go as easy for me. Fast forward to graduation where I left with an Associate’s in Business and an unsure plan for my future.

When I applied for Grand Valley I had already concluded that the general business world didn’t hold enough creativity for me.

So, I reevaluated my skillsets and listed off what I consider myself good at:

• Public speaking
• Leading a team
• Communicating
• Thinking outside of the box
• Problem solving
• Coming up with catchy phrases
• Creative writing
• And more

Now, those are all great, but how could I possibly make use of those skills in a career? Especially, a career I would enjoy? After lots of prayers and googling, I found myself in the School of Communication at Grand Valley, majoring in Advertising and Public Relations with an emphasis in advertising.

Once I attended my first core class, I instantly felt a sense of relief. I finally felt secure in my decision. For the first time in a long time, I was excited to attend class every day and learn all about my future career. I chose advertising because it just made sense to me.

It takes my creativity, communication skills, and unusual appreciation for catchy jingles/ brand slogans, and puts it all into one job.

Advertisements are a huge part of our society. Whether you are aware of them or not, you are surrounded by them. They are on billboards as you make your trip home from college, in the magazines you read, and as you are scrolling through Facebook or looking up cat videos on the internet. Advertisements are everywhere.

I love the idea of targeting customer interests to help influence them to buy certain products or services. I also love the psychology behind every advertisement.

At one point, I thought about becoming a therapist because I feel like I have this ability to understand how people think, which I was thrilled to find out is a major part of advertising!

My favorite part of this program is that it fits my style of thinking. I am what some call a diagonal-thinker, which means that I can think both creatively and logically. Advertising lets me use both parts of my brain in that way. Part of the work day you could be using analytics to look at trends, and the other part could be spent coming up with creative solutions for clients.

Plus, you can never get bored because, besides some time set aside for emails, each day can potentially be different.

Want to know when I truly felt at home, though? It was in Advertising club when I was surrounded by like-minded people who share the same passion that I do. I had never felt more sure of my career choice until I attended my first meeting.

I am excited to continue to learn and grow within the world of Advertising and Public Relations!

About me

 

Danielle is a transfer student attending her first year at Grand Valley as a Junior. She is an active member of both Ad Club and PRSSA. You can find her working at the Laker Store in the style department, where she is often refolding clothes or chatting with customers. In her free time, she will either be volunteering at her church as a Youth leader, spending time with family and friends, reading, or watching Hallmark movies.