We recently asked one of our international students to tell us more about her studies and time here. Marina Bobyleva is a junior in the SMC and is focusing on public relations. She is planning to graduate in the spring of 2018. Marina is originally from Russia and has been living in the United States for 4 years.
Q: What drew you to the SMC?
A: Growing up in a family of journalists, Mass Media has always interested me. I was an editor of a school newspaper in high school. I was also always wondering what is behind advertising. I found it intriguing to observe the process of people coming up with ideas, focusing on one target audience and putting it together in one final project.
Q: What’s been your most challenging course so far?
A: Mass Media Research has been pretty challenging this semester. We have to write a research proposal at the end of the semester and I am in the idea-developing stage of the process at the moment.
Q: What are your career plans at this point?
A: I want to be a public relations specialist for a company in the United States. I would like to combine that with film industry if possible, because that’s what I am passionate about.
Q: Where do you go first for breaking news? (Television, Twitter, Facebook, etc).
A: I don’t use social media to check for news. I go to several news outlets on the web. I normally read a few, and collect a full picture of what happened from several of them. I use social media to connect with my friends and family overseas. I don’t really post many things either. Just pictures from where I have been in the United States.
Q: If you could invite anyone in the world to dinner, who would it be and why?
A: I would invite Christopher Graves. He is a very important and successful person in the PR field. He started out as a journalist and worked at the Wall Street Journal for 18 years. I would love to hear what he has to say about the PR industry now, and how to be successful in the field.
Q: Do you have any advice for current or future SMC students?
A: Be active in your department. Our department has many resources for career and personal development. Use the tools that you get in the classroom to get better in your field of study. (Marina recently helped organize a film group in the SMC known as Trojan Horse Productions. Its goal is to provide students opportunities to produce their own multimedia projects, independently or collaboratively. Find out more at Facebook.com/Trojanhorseproductions.)
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