PR to LAW

The future is unknown, and to be honest, it scares the hell out of me. Some people know what they want to do when they are children. I was the kid who wanted to be a different profession every time I was asked (to be honest, it was usually an astronaut, a spy, or Troy Aikman). Regardless, I had no idea what I wanted to do when I started here at OU. I started out in business and moved to public relations. The reason is that I decided to go to law school. So why would I choose public relations?

I feel I must be honest with this class so I will tell you that I chose this major because I thought it was going to be easy. After participating in the public relations research class, I found at that this is not an easy major. There are, however, many skills a public relations major is taught that could be beneficial in the legal profession.

One of the most important skills I used in my PR major were my writing skills. This class, along with almost every other PR class, calls for a ton of papers. I cannot count how many press releases, reports, and fact sheets I have created in my time in good old Gaylord. So basically, I wrote a lot. Law school, as I have heard from those who attend, is mostly reading and writing. The entire grade of a semester at law school is usually taken from one test that requires you to write for two hours. So, the countless hours I spent in college writing papers has molded me into a better law school student before I even step in the doors.

Another attribute of this major that is beneficial to my legal future is research. Research is a word that we here in every class. It never leaves our side during campaigns and it is necessary to accomplish campaign goals and grades. It seems like libraries.ou.edu and myself are so familiar with each other that we could be best friends. Every PR class I have ever taken has emphasized research as one of the most important tasks for a PR practitioner. This skill is incredibly important for a lawyer and law students. Researching past cases, in the legal profession, is how lawyers win cases. Every lawyer I have talked to has told me to get ready for research in law school. Thanks to the PR major, I will be ready for more research.

While research and writing are invaluable to my future, the skill that I am proudest of that I learned here was public speaking. This major requires you to be an adequate public speaker. Although I started slow, I now feel confident in my public speaking skills.

So I will make the journey from one college to the next and then to the courtroom. Law school is going to tough. I’m glad I can take these skills with me.