Year: Sophomore
Major: Strategic Communication
Minor: Sports Management and Marketing
Certificate: Social Media
The incredibly involved sophomore, Allison Zullo, has big dreams and is not afraid to chase them. Her quick wit and can-do attitude are only two of the many reasons that she is this week’s campus celebrity.
Her Campus Ohio U: You used to take the news and information track, what made you switch to strategic communications?
Allison Zullo: I always wanted to write about people’s triumphs and struggles and now I know that’s a lot more of strategic communications. Looking back, news and information just wasn’t for me. I always wanted to publish people’s stories. Sometimes that can get editorialized on the journalism side.
HCOU: Can you tell me a little about the clubs and organizations you are in?
AZ: I’m in Impressions, PRSSA Scripps chapter (we’re one of the largest chapters in the country) and Student Alumni Board (SAB). I work on the Copperheads account for PRSSA; they are a Southern Ohio Collegiate baseball team, we do all their social media, and a little bit of fundraising for them as well. There’s a lot of networking in SAB, it’s one of my favorite organizations on campus and a lot of my college memories come from there.
HCOU: Tell me a little bit about your work from this past summer. Did you have an internship?
AZ: I interned for PR Newswire in the Cleveland office. I learned a lot about how the business worked because they’re a press release distribution company, so it was cool to learn about all the aspects of a business, and sort of the backend of the PR industry. How to optimize the distribution, and who can see it and other things similar to that. The other really cool thing is that half of the office are bobcat alumni, and all the interns were bobcats as well. All the interns worked together and had our offices in the same location, so it was really cool to work together and gain four new bobcat friends out of it.
HCOU: Did they do that intentionally?
AZ: Oh yeah. They always hire interns from OU. They also look to OU for entry levels job positions.
HCOU: What do you want to be when you grow up?
AZ: That’s a tough question. There are so many aspects of PR in general, but I don’t know which one I want to dive into specifically. All I really know is that I really love writing, social media, sports and social media, so ideally, a job that combines those four things.
HCOU: What is your favorite aspect about sports?
AZ: Definitely its ability to bring people together.
HCOU: What is one piece of advice you have for rising freshman interested in PR?
AZ: Get involved early! I tell that to all college students. I was really homesick at the beginning of college and getting involved really helped me make friends and stay busy. My advice for strategic communication majors specifically? Join PRSSA and Impressions; I can’t say I know everything about PR but everything I do know, I learned from them.
Allison Zullo (right), with other SAB members Megan Newton (center) and Amanda Moline (left) dancing at Bobcathon 2015. All procedds went to the Ronald McDonald House.