Balancing Volunteering and School

My name is Nora Curtis and I’m a freshman PRAD major here at DePaul! This year I had the pleasure of serving on the hospitality committee for “Beyond the Skyline” - the PRSSA 2025 Midwest district conference. Joining PRSSA has been one of the best decisions I could’ve made for myself since starting college last year.

It can be so intimidating at first to show up to clubs/events all alone, but it (as dramatic as it sounds) can be life changing. PRSSA has given me a sense of belonging here at DePaul, but beyond that it’s provided me with lifelong connections and skills (already!) The best part about PRSSA is that it’s an organization any major can (and in my opinion should) join, and all you have to do to join is show up to one of the many events hosted throughout the school year. To the student afraid to get involved (just as I was), this one's for you.

This was my first time on a committee for a PRSSA conference, and going into it I was a little nervous about how much homework the conference would add to my workload, spoiler: it was way more manageable then I thought. Yes, I had extra work that I had to complete, but the work was about things that I was curious and passionate about, so it really didn’t even feel like work at all. I think what it really all boils down to is how you communicate with your fellow committee members and your committee lead. I didn’t say “yes” to any task assignment that I thought would really overwhelm me, and if I took on something I couldn’t handle, I knew that I was always welcome (and highly encouraged) to communicate openly with my team about it. In all honesty I never felt too overwhelmed at any one point. All of the tasks that I was given were all manageable to complete by the deadline that was assigned. I think what pushed me to complete all my work and kept my motivation up was just the thought of everything coming together in the end. Knowing that I would have played even a small part in this large conference was something that I was really proud of.

Our last in person meeting with all of the committees was held two days before the conference began. Since I was on the hospitality committee I had the pleasure of helping put together the swag bags. Other committees were writing thank you cards for our site visits, putting together signs for the panels and registration, and so so much more was happening. Everything was starting to feel very real, and I was anxiously anticipating day one of Beyond the Skyline.

And oh my, the two days of conference were the best days ever. I felt so proud of myself, my committee, and all of the committees. Seeing everything come to life the way it did was such an awesome thing. It’s for sure a once in a lifetime experience – getting to watch a PRSSA conference unfold and take shape the way DePaul’s did. At the conference I got to meet other DePaul students on different committee’s, I had the chance to go on three site visits (Cision, FINN Partners, and Edelmen), and I got to network with such kind and willing professionals. I got my resume reviewed, headshots taken, had lunch with a PR professional that works at Marathon Strategies, and I got to attend some great panels. If someone asked me to pick a favorite thing I genuinely don’t think I could. Everything was absolutely amazing.

After the conference I felt so happy and fulfilled, but I did have a good amount of work to catch up on. Luckily since the conference took place on a Thursday and Friday, I had the rest of my weekend to catch up on homework and sleep. My first PRSSA conference will always hold a very special place in my heart, I cannot wait to see what the future holds for me in PRSSA!