A graduate of the Mohawk College Public Relations program, Lauren Ward encourages PR students to be life-long learners. Lauren suggests continuing learning after graduation by taking courses and workshops to keep up with the latest industry trends and tools.
“When you’re done school, you’re not done learning,” Lauren
said. “This will also help to keep your ideas fresh, and new information might
just spark your creative juices!”
Lauren is a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University, where
she earned her BA in Journalism. Her program at Laurier incorporated the
one-year Public Relations Post-Graduate Certificate at Mohawk College, allowing
her to graduate in four years with a degree and a post-graduate certificate.
Lauren originally was interested in studying broadcasting
but decided to focus on public relations as it offered a variety of skills to
learn from writing to video to public speaking to design.
She has had a varied career path, beginning after graduation
with a role at the Tim Horton’s Children’s Foundation where she served as
Communications and Development Assistant, assisting with fundraising campaigns.
From there, Lauren joined the Alzheimer’s Society as a Rural Development
Officer, managing social media channels among other tasks.
Lauren was then hired at University of Waterloo in the
Scheduling and Examinations department, which allowed her to eventually move
into a communications role at Waterloo. She joined the Waterloo Centre for
Automotive Research, handling events and conferences. From there, she worked as
the Recruitment and Marketing Coordinator for the Centre for Ocular Research
and Education at University of Waterloo, where she used her skills to recruit
study participants and developed brochures, posters, social media posts and
videos. Following that role, Lauren worked in the corporate engagement office
at University of Waterloo, planning online events and developing their newsletter.
University of Waterloo
Victor Vucicevich, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
After a decade at University of Waterloo, an unexpected bump
in the road with her role being eliminated, Lauren took the opportunity to
explore other options. She landed a role at Wilfrid Laurier University as the
Communication Specialist for Enrolment Services.
Lauren is thankful for her many experiences which have prepared
her for her newest role and enjoys flexing her creative side from creating
videos to animations to eye-catching visuals. “Creating captivating visuals, in
my opinion, is probably the most inclusive form of communication,” Lauren
explained. “If you can communicate information visually, you’re allowing a
larger audience (especially those who are neurodiverse) to understanding what
you’re trying to communicate.”
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