SIU PRSSA Southern Illinois University Public Relations Student Society of America
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Making a difference isn’t just a dream, but a reality for Mary D’Haeze. Within Southern Illinois University of Carbondale’s PRSSA chapter, Mary has faithfully served on the e-board within the secretary position. Her duties as secretary include taking attendance in meetings, recording detailed and organized notes during discussions, and helping manage the monthly newsletter. Outside of her secretary role, D’Haeze is an account head for the Decades Project Campaign this fall 2023 semester.
The Decades Project is a campaign created by our PRSSA president, Kendra Gregory, and has the goal of connecting SIU PRSSA Alumni with current SIU PRSSA members. Through this campaign Mary is hoping to achieve “a collaboration between our students and our SIU community as well as our Alumni.” To Mary, the Decades Project is “Making connections and working together to build ourselves up to achieve great things!”
Mary is majoring in both Communication Studies – Public Relations and Language, Culture, and International Studies – Spanish. She plans to use her education to make herself more adaptable in a variety of workplace locations. As the field of PR is a broad avenue of opportunities, Mary has narrowed her interests down to International Public Relations which she plans on pursuing after graduating from Southern Illinois University of Carbondale.
When asked about her PR aspirations, Mary said, “I want to be an accomplished communications or PR director for a company, possibly a nonprofit, to give back and make a positive difference with my work!” Mary chose the field of PR because she wanted to do something worthwhile that she would enjoy. She thrives on the diverse skill set she has gained through her studies and hands-on experience.
As Mary recalls, her favorite experience in working within the field of PR was attending the International Conference for PRSSA this year in Nashville, TN. “I greatly enjoyed this experience because I gained a lot of valuable insight from professionals in the field and gained some incredible connections that expanded her network.”
For anyone who is considering the idea of working in the field of PR, Mary wants to bring encouragement by saying, “PR is such a versatile field . . .The skill set you will gain by studying PR helps tremendously in all aspects of life. I use my toolset daily, both in and out of the classroom. If you are considering studying PR, know that it is an amazing field with lots of opportunities, especially to give back to your community.”
