To be continued...

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It's the finals week blitz for all of us at OU. We are all stressing our lives away this week as we prepare to say goodbye with a bang. Fortunately, this week is not so stressful for me. At least not in PR Pubs. 

Our only assignment this week was our Summary of a Learning project. I decided to do a brochure about the creative process since, in my opinion, is where I grew the most. As I detailed in my Summary of Learning post from last week, the technical things we learned were very important, but what purpose do they serve if we cannot successfully navigate the creative journey? That was the focus of my piece. I made a sort of "treasure map" that takes you from the nebulous first stage of creating something to the final stage where you feel satisfied with your creation. I meant it to fit any sort of creative endeavor. 

I am very satisfied with my growth as a creator. I feel that I re-oriented myself in my thinking about being creative. Before, I thought of it in terms of my end product. Now, I see it in terms of the journey. I've learned to be more open to epiphanies, outside criticism and my own eye, which can now easily determine if something is my best work. I feel that this experience is irreplaceable and will serve as a vital asset in my professional future. 

Creative Journey Pamphlet

Journaling about my experience in PR Pubs helped me to keep track of my growth. I got to see the transition I made in my thinking as well as the improvement of my technical skills across all platforms with which we worked, from InDesign to PremierePro. It also allowed me to remember how I created certain pieces so I wouldn't have to recreate the wheel if ever wanted to design something similar or use the same techniques in developing a new piece. Journaling gave me an opportunity to express myself through writing, which is also very therapeutic. Granted this blog is nowhere near a tell-all diary for me, but stepping back and looking at my processes took my mind off other stressful things happening around me. 

It is my plan to continue the upkeep of my blog or possible migrate to a different platform. I'm glad I have an online presence apart from my personal website to showcase my work. I cannot wait to update my site with my new work from this course. I might not blog as much as I did for PR Pubs, but I will keep writing. It will strengthen my portfolio and show potential employers that I am capable of maintaining an online presence.  

The format of this course was innovative. It helped to keep stress off me and limit my outside-of-class work on pieces. The grading policy was probably the fairest of any course I have taken thus far in my college career because my instructor knows that creativity is subjective. It would be unfair to assign a letter grade to work we put much into. Knowing that as long as I gave it my best and submitted work on time reduced stress. It also allowed me greater time bravely to explore the creative journey. 

This particular PR Pubs course will be an asset in my future public relations career. The techniques and processes I learned will set me apart from competitors in the job market and give me the chance to bring innovation to any future employer. 

My story is just beginning. For now, it's to be continued...

Happy summer, everyone. 

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