This summer has been busy for me, but for the next few weeks, I am going to be getting a once-in-a-lifetime experience as an educator. For the next few weeks, I will be in Detroit as part of a Plank Center Fellowship with General Motors.
I would like to thank everyone at the Plank Center for selecting me to be part of this great fellowship program!
I had a direct flight from Louisville to Detroit, and for all of the traveling I do, that’s a rare occasion to just have one flight. It was a nice change of pace and I was able to get to my hotel in Detroit. The last time I was in downtown was for my doctoral seminar at Wayne State University back in 2010.
Since my fellowship starts tomorrow morning and I came in early in the afternoon, this allowed me to check into my hotel, get settled, and explore around. I was able to see a beautiful Corvette in the Renaissance building (lovely!) and the weather was clear and sunny. Taking a walk around allowed me to soak in the atmosphere and observe my surroundings. I did get a chance to explore in the Renaissance part of the building and it reminded me so much of the Hotel Bonaventure in LA (which was a block away from where I lived while attending USC).
I also was amazed with how BIG the GM building is as well. I could see the GM building as I was coming into downtown Detroit and I immediately thought to myself: Wow! This will be my home for the next few weeks! Very exciting.
Even though the fellowship has not officially started, I have been working on preparing myself for the next few weeks. I’ve already learned a lot about myself from just the pre-fellowship activities I have done in preparation for my time in Detroit, and here are some of my thoughts:
- Truly having the opportunity to walking the walk: What I am realizing as part of this fellowship opportunity is the activities, tools, strategies, and tactics we cover in our classes as professors and share with our students, I will actually be working on some of these and essentially “talk the talk and walk the walk.” This to me is one of the great things I think is great about what the Plank Center is doing with this fellowship.
- Coming full circle on the evidence based practice spectrum: As educators, we seem to focus a lot on case studies, best practices, and research. However, I have tried to always think about the practice and practitioners who are working in the field and dealing with some of these trends, changes, and opportunities. Now, I am going to be actually seeing this first hand at one of the biggest global brands – which is very exciting. Educators have to balance all three perspectives of EBP (research, practice, and best practices) when teaching.
- Packing has become an art form: Really, this is something I didn’t really expect from this experience. 🙂 I am flying from Louisville to Detroit and I realized even though my fellowship is only for two weeks, you would think I have packed to spend four months away from home (like I did when I was in South Africa for my internship eight years ago). Can’t have too many shoes, right? 🙂
- Prep time and preparation is key: While I can’t talk about the projects I will be working on specifically for GM, what I can tell you I’ve been reading and doing some prep work for my fellowship these past few weeks. For me, this has been really rewarding to really immerse myself into research about a brand. Lots of time has been spent reading, reviewing, and collecting articles to provide me with an overview and a list of ideas to bring to the table for my fellowship.
As an educator, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to learn from some of the best in the business and contribute on a few projects. So, if you are a public relations professor who is thinking about participating in this fellowship – I highly recommend it. The process has been very supportive and encouraging – and I am forever grateful to Dave Remund (University of Oregon) who first suggested this program to me in the first place.
Special thanks to Plank Center for allowing me to be part of this program and to GM for all of their support in making my trip and time in Detroit wonderful and life changing.
Hope you all are having a great day!
Best Wishes,
