“I believe that good things come to those who wait, but I also believe that good things come to those who go after what they want.”
If you have seen this girl running around campus it wouldn’t surprise me. She does a lot for the community and for Rowan University. Busy and always on a mission, this is Corinthea Harris, and she is what being a college student is all about.
Corinthea started her college career at Atlantic Cape Community College where she studied Communications with a Journalism Track. In 2011, she won the Communication Major of the Year Award for Atlantic Cape’s 4th Annual Communication Awards.
With a strong interest in Public Relations, she began to attend Rowan’s PRSSA meetings well before she had even transferred to Rowan or graduated from Atlantic Cape. She was dedicated to the field and nothing was going to stop her.
Once an official student here at Rowan, Corinthea was put on a bid community to host the PRSSA National Conference in San Francisco, unfortunately they did not win, losing to Drexel University. Upon returning home from San Francisco, Corinthea was awarded PRSSA Member of the Month in October 2012 for her hard work and dedication. A month later, she took over as the Vice President of Finances for PRSSA when the original VP had to step down due to personal reasons.
Her interests lied in the position of Special Events, and with that goal in mind, she began to shadow last semester’s VP, and then decided to apply herself for the position, and come spring semester she interviewed for the position of Vice President of Special Events, and was given the position due to her active involvement and skills. Being Vice President entails of booking the meetings, the room, the guest speakers and the award meetings. She is in charge of planning events that will be fun and memorable for members so they may to continue to participate in the chapter.
Now in her senior year at Rowan University she has also become a Resident Assistant for Townhouses on top of her work for PRSSA. The job of an RA is not an easy one of course, while others may think it is all about the free housing and that fancy yellow sweatshirt, there is actually a lot of pressure that goes into having such a time-consuming and devoting job.
“You are always in the spotlight 24 hours day,” said Corinthea when asked of the responsibility of being an RA, “You are being looked at from all different angles. Your residents, students, supervisors and professors. Everyone knows you are an RA, and they are always watching you.”
It’s needless to say that your character is being watched as an RA, and while Corinthea does state that being on your best behavior is key, she also believes that you should always let your true personality shine through regardless of that pressure of being watched. Balancing executive board meetings weekly, chapter meetings biweekly, and six to eight RA duty shifts monthly Corinthea is looking at a full course load just in her extracurricular activities.
Somehow, someway she stays on top of her game. With a dual major in Public Relations and Advertising as well as a minor in Journalism, she is now taking her capstone, senior courses. Six classes this semester, and possibly another six her final semester, Corinthea is a model student. But does that cut in time for a social life?
“It’s really all just a balancing act from being Vice President of Special Events to being an RA, to taking six courses and trying to stay ahead of all them to balancing a social life with family and friends.”
Through this balancing act Corinthea hopes to get an internship this spring with either a large agency or a corporate company and transferring into an entry level job once her internship is complete. Her goal is to be doing account management for the Public Relations or Advertising field, Social Strategy, or Demand Side Platform.
I was able to get a chance to chat with former PRSSA member and Rowan Alumni, Elisa Laurelli, who was the former Vice President of Special Events and had worked closely with Corinthea.
“Corinthea starts each day with a goal in mind whether it’s finishing all her homework or going to the gym, and she will work incessantly toward that goal until it is completed. That goes for long term goals, too. I’ve never met anyone so dedicated. She sets her mind to a task and that’s it,” said Elisa on Corinthea’s work ethic.
There is no doubt that Corinthea will be successful in her future endeavors. A lover of chocolate chip muffins and the Philadelphia Phillies, this one girl you cannot afford to miss out on getting to know!