Turning Doubt Into Assurance: The Power of Embracing Risk

While it may seem cliche to some, I am a firm believer in following your intuition. Things tend to unfold in the way they're meant to, even when it's not immediately clear. When faced with a big decision, I can easily evaluate the situation and make a choice I am confident in. This year has been a series of pivotal moments that have led me to where I am today. Despite facing some tough decisions, I trusted my instincts, and everything has fallen into place.

I have dreamed of moving to a big city for my entire life. Back in 2024, I visited Chicago for the first time with my school's PRSSA chapter and it instantly became my dream post-grad city. Later that year, I decided to cut my college career a bit short and graduate in three years. During the first week of classes, I dropped a class and replaced it with one taught by NMGZ Advisor Dr. Betsy Emmons. Through this course and PRSSA, I built a connection with her, and she then appointed me to represent the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as a member of the NMGZ Community. This gave me the chance to be a part of the Chicago trip. While I went into this trip nervous and unsure of what to expect, I ended up forming the connections that are essential to making my dreams a reality.

On this trip, we attended The Plank Center Milestones in Mentoring event, a celebration honoring highly accomplished PR professionals who give back to early-career professionals. At this event, I was lucky enough to introduce myself to professionals already working in the Chicago area. Having a face-to-face conversation with communications leaders at large companies like Conagra Brands and legendary agencies like Edelman allowed me to establish a personal connection with these individuals. These interactions have led to introductory phone calls and meetings with people at companies that I thought were beyond my reach. This trip was the final push I needed to confidently confirm that I was going to move to Chicago after graduation. This experience helped me to find the gap between what I am doing now and what I still need to accomplish to get where I want to go.

Through embracing uncertainty and following my intuition, my experience with the NMGZ community has helped me gain the confidence to make bold moves while discovering a clearer vision of the future I am determined to create for myself.