Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained
My journey through PR Pubs can be summed up by this: "An irrational fear met with a pleasant surprise."
When I enrolled for this class and began to understand what exactly it would demand from me, I began to panic. I was truly afraid that I would not be able to rise to the design standard of Gaylord college nor would I be able to navigate the mammoth software we would be using.
But I tucked away my fear when I walked into class on the first day and resolved to try to remain afloat and stay positive.
January and February proved to be perilous, as they should be. In what I can only describe as "The Unknown" I stumbled around Adobe Creative Suite clicking buttons and surviving at the hands of the undo button.
I restarted more often than we had class days, I browsed Pinterest incessantly for creative ideas, I was perpetually panicked... but I was learning.
As March and April rolled around, I began to discover similarities in programs, the stressful tension in my shoulders
released,
navigating the programs became significantly easier... oh and I discovered the love of my creative life: Canva.
For the first time, the issues I was having weren't Adobe-related, they were simply technological and/or personal: i.e not saving my direct mailer in the right place and not comprehending how to get a microphone to record sound.
All in all, by the time we made it to May a mere five days ago, I was beginning to feel like I had gotten the hang of this design thing, even if only to a small degree. I had conquered several small victories and created a precious portfolio birthed from sweat, tears and lots of keyboard slamming.
I enjoyed Pr Pubs more than I can put into words. I enjoyed the puzzles that came with figuring out how to work with these programs, I enjoyed pushing my boundaries and growing as a PR professional and a creative individual. My fear was unwittingly met by a pleasant surprise.
I am now confident enough in the basics of each program to tackle learning them in greater detail if future jobs require me to do so. I use Canva on a weekly basis and truly love the program. I'm so thankful this course covered the professional tools as well as the practical and accessible ones.
More than anything, I learned the value of embracing the messiness of learning and diving in, head first, into the insanity to try and make sense of it all. Nine times out of ten, you will find yourself better for the risk you took in wading through the mess than you would if you had avoided the puzzled looks and cold sweats and frustrated tears entirely. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
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