When I joined the class and found out that other students joined this course for the second time because of the great experience they had previously, I knew this class was different and I benefit greatly. I have worked in challenging work environments where I was limited in opportunities to discover my skills, talents, and my voice, and I was looking forward to new discoveries in a positive work environment.
This class allowed me to work with a team for real clients, just as it would be at an agency. I was a bit intimidated at first; having real work meetings and client reviews allowed me to understand how to manage and navigate proposals, receive feedback, and respond to requests. Each client was different and had different ways of communicating, which helped me understand how to accomplish our goals. Our ability to deliver depended on the way we responded to such challenges.
Balancing expectations and staying realistic were my biggest lessons. I enjoyed practicing leadership by providing client service and good listening for the clients and my teammates. In an environment where everyone is seeking to thrive and give their best, sometimes it is challenging to manage personalities. For this experience, I am also grateful because a great part of our success was allowing all members to participate, help, contribute, and listen to one another.
The digital world is leading industries and companies into social media, and there is so much that can be done under that umbrella. It was refreshing to experience my dream job during this experience. I knew I had challenging ideas, but I did not shy away from presenting them. I walk away from this course knowing how important it is to speak up, even if the ideas sound too little or too big because the client might love them, as they did with my mine. Being able to find my space within the agency, where my talents flourished was the best reward from this course.
I appreciate the guidance and support we received in this course from Professor Green. In the moments of challenge, where no one knew what to do, Professor Green was able to lead us into a successful outcome, explaining to us all scenarios and presenting reasonable expectations and ways to take action. The strategy behind this is only attained through years of experience, and I felt so blessed from getting a shortcut to that treasure box by getting his advice.
Working in a healthy team is very important, as I feel that I cannot perform my duties or grow professionally unless I’m surrounded by positive and supportive co-workers. Because this isn’t the scenario all the time, another accomplishment in this course was to overcome peer pressure with compassion and forgiveness. Professionally, I am grateful that I was able to propose an evergreen campaign for the School of Communications and Media, which got approved and produced, which can be exercised any time they wish to put it into practice. I am also very excited to know that I was able to leave my other client with content that they can use for a long time that best represents their brand and organization- a promotional video that moved their hearts and spoke to them on their efforts, passion, and love for their non-profit’s mission.
I am proud to say that the biggest highlight of this course is seeing the results from a Biblical principal that I apply to in my life; how washing people’s feet, in other words, humbly providing honest and sincere service is the best way to lead people, to inspire them and to draw the best out of them.