Relay for Life Kickoff a Success!

I am so proud of my PR admin class, we put on a very successful Baldwin County Relay for Life Kickoff! Like I said in my earlier posts, I was in charge of decorations, so my committee and I worked all day Monday and Tuesday before the event to put up all of the themed "birthday" decorations.
This was one of my first big events and I was partially in charge of it so I wanted it to be perfect...and it was! Lyric and Kara were also in charge and you guys did awesome! Everyone worked so hard-Thank you for the awesome banner Courtney! Thank you for printing off all of those amazing black and white photos as well as being the ultimate cupcake maker Marianna! And of course thank you for the amazing and heart-felt slide show, Keri and Andrea! I could go on and on about all of the good work everyone did...
I hope next year's Relay for Life Kickoff is as successful as this year! So "Celebrate a Memory" and help out with this year's 25th anniversary Relay for Life.

A visit to William-Mills Agency in Atlanta

For Dr. Land's class, Advertising Admin., we had an assignment to visit an advertising agency. So Monday night I drove home just to wake up at 7 a.m. to face Atlanta traffic traveling to William-Mills Agency. In the back of my head I just kept wondering if I would be doing this in a year, traveling into Atlanta for work.
I was really nervous to meet with Kelly Williams, Senior VP of William-Mills, who had agreed to meet with me Tuesday at 10 a.m. He was a very nice guy and "showed me the ropes" of his PR firm. He gave me advice and kept repeating that "internships were key to getting a job". I also got a tour of his three-story office building. All in all it was a very informative, eye-opening experience and I feel really lucky I got this opportunity!

Not So Much Fun in the Sun

Does summertime mean tanning time for you? For 23-year-old Kenneth Burnsteen, or “KB” as he is known to his friends, every summer that goes by reminds him of his struggle with skin cancer.
KB was a very active 15-year-old boy. He played soccer for his high school team while keeping an “A” average in most of his classes. Though, none of his achievements and successes would prepare him for the struggles he would soon encounter.
When KB was 15 years old he was diagnosed with melanoma, or more commonly known as skin cancer. As a young, high school boy he went through two surgeries to remove the cancer as well as having six months of mild chemotherapy. For the first few months KB got IV treatments and then for the last five months he gave himself a shot every other day. This was a big responsibility, especially for a 15-year-old boy. KB continued to go to school throughout the treatment and he even kept playing competitive soccer.
“Soccer helped me keep my mind off of things. I was so young at the time that I didn’t fully understand the extreme situation I was in,” recalls KB.
For KB’s family, this was not the first time someone in the family had been diagnosed with cancer. KB’s mother was diagnosed with skin cancer earlier on in her life too.
“My family has learned that protecting your skin is very important. I put on sunscreen everywhere I go now,” says KB. “The scars on my neck from cancer are a daily reminder that I am lucky to be alive and that I must take care of my skin.”