Written by: Jasneet Singh
COVID-19 has vastly changed how we live, function and work in events. The 2020 recipient of the CPRS Toronto Student of the Year award, Amy Theriault, found herself dealing with the greatest crisis communications event a student could ask for.
As the President of the Student Steering Committee, she was in charge of the Passport to PR event for students, her group was to tour RBC, MLSE and Milestones Public Relations. On March 11, the COVID-19 pandemic was declared and the next day, she was to lead the Passport to PR event. Amy recalls that the night of March 11 was filled with calls from agencies and corporations dropping out of the event, which led to damage control, she says it was seamless but as someone who was contacted by her, I can say she handled it like a professional and ensured students were satisfied and well informed. As a student herself, this was extremely important to her.
Amy is currently working as a communications analyst at RBC within Technology & Operations, and under Strategy, Transformation and Enterprise Operations (STEO) she works in communications, enablement and events. Though she has these two great positions under her belt, she has faced her share of struggles within the industry. When asked about the challenges she faced, unpaid internships were the main one for Amy. She believes that they allow privileged students who don’t necessarily need the money to get ahead of those who need to be paid to afford basic needs. She voices that this is an extremely common thing in the public relations industry.
During the current social climate and the looming pandemic, the idea of unpaid internships to CPRS Toronto’s Student of the Year is frustrating. As an individual who is a first-generation student from a lower-income family and the first person in her family to attend and graduate a post-secondary education, she understands how much hard work was needed and would never take her education for granted.
Receiving this award validates all of the hard work she has put into her career and education, she does it for herself and her family and receiving this award has given her a whole new motivation to continue working harder.
Amy shares some advice to all students who may be reading this advice, “Shoot your shot.” It sounds simple enough, but she said it took her time to be comfortable enough to reach out to people and start networking, but once she started she realized the worst thing that can happen is they say no. What surprised her the most was how receptive most people were.
She landed an internship in her first year by cold emailing an agency and letting them know that they should hire her as an intern. During COVID-19, a Zoom coffee chat, or simple conversation on LinkedIn can open many doors. Opportunities are out there if you look.
Learn more about the annual ACE Awards program and submission requirements.