Third Career Tour Takes Students to Houston
Photo by Stephen Green.
On Friday, March 27, students and faculty traveled to Houston, Texas for the Department of Journalism, Public Relations and New Media's third Career Tour. This semester's Career Tour was hosted at NRG Stadium, home of the Houston Texans.
Board of Advocates member and Fox 26 anchor Melissa Wilson started the event by interviewing Patti Smith, the Director of Fan Festival FIFA World Cup 26 Houston™. The pair discussed their career paths and advice they had for young professionals. During their discussion Mike Tomon, President of the Houston Texans, stopped by to welcome students and share industry insights of his own.
"Hearing from Patti Smith was very moving. She is very real and hearing her prior experiences was very engaging," senior public relations major Jaslyn Heald said.
The Houston Career Tour also featured a networking lunch with Baylor Journalism alumna, Charly Edsitty, and John Schwartz, Lead Communications Advisor at Chevron.
"I really loved when we had lunch and got to spend intentional time with alumni. That was a great experience and it felt like the most personal thing on the trip," junior broadcast major Joshua Kreuger said.
Afternoon visitors included Zach Harvey, Baylor S3 alum and Senior Manager of the Houston Texans and Lindsey Fox, Senior Strategic Communications Manager at Houston Texans. Each shared insights about their day-to-day roles with the Texans and took time to answer students questions about corporate partnerships, crisis management and working for the NFL.
Students also received a tour of the Houston Texans business office led by Megan Sullivan, Executive Assistant of Partnerships and Luxe for the Houston Texans.
"My favorite part of the day was the workplace tour," graduate student Anni Qiang said. "It was really helpful to see the actual work environment and get a better sense of the day-to-day atmosphere."
The day concluded with a panel discussion featuring Wilson, Mike Lade (Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Star of Hope), Lisa Schwartz (Jostens Senior Sales Representative) and John Schwartz (no relation to Lisa Schwartz).
"The panel discussions were especially helpful because they gave me a clearer understanding of different career paths and what working in the industry is actually like," Qiang said.
This career tour was made possible through the support of our department’s Board of Advocates and alumni. Not only did the Board support this trip financially, but member Amber Tierce planned and coordinated the trip itinerary. Board members Melissa Wilson and Lisa Schwartz supported planning efforts and participated by speaking with students day-of. Board member Jill Petri joined for the day, networking and chaperoning throughout the day. Also attending the career tour were coordinator Lauren Spears, Career Center representative Jalyn Monken and faculty members Stephen Green, Kim Patterson, Alec Tefertiller and Tamara Welter.
The Department of Journalism, Public Relations & New Media plans to continue providing experiential learning opportunities through career tours each semester. If you would like to support our efforts to do so, we invite you to donate to our department’s Excellence Fund. These funds give the department the ability offer career tours and networking opportunities at no cost to our students.
