Cousin Letter

1400 Old Main Hill

Logan, UT 84322

Amanda Jones
123 River Street
Ely, NV 45321

Dear Amanda,

It’s back to school time once again. I am definitely still in summer mode and not ready for all the homework and stress that comes with college. Thank goodness this is my last year, but then it’s to the real world I go and that is pretty scary too. I am not sure if grandma told you or not, but I changed my major to Agriculture Communication and Journalism with an emphasis in Public Relations (PR). It’s a pretty cool deal because when it’s all said and done I will basically be graduating with two degrees. I am sure you, like most people who ask, are wondering what on earth I am going to do with my degree.

According to public relations experts Doug Newsom and Jim Haynes, public relations practice is the art and science of analyzing trends, predicting their consequences, counseling their organizational leaders, and implementing planned programs for action which will serve both the organizations and the public’s interest. Basically I will be responsible for understanding the diversities in the different publics, applying communication to them, and be responsible for reacting to emerging issues in those publics that are likely to affect organizations and/or clients.

Along with being able to deal with the public and maintain great relationships with them, public relations professionals have to be able to write. Most of the writings that PR professionals are responsible for are called press releases. These are a flyer/memo/statement that goes out to many of the mass media outlets to inform the public of upcoming events.
Public Relations writers have to be very careful when communicating with the public so they don’t damage any relationships with organizations/clients. They also have to be very careful of attacks on the credibility of the organization/client and they must always check and verify the information they receive before they distribute it to any of the publics. It is very important for PR professionals to understand every aspect of the client/organization they are representing and do their best to maintain good relationships with the public.

My overall goal is to use my degree to go back to Nevada and work with the Farm Bureau to be an Ag-in-the classroom coordinator. I want to help teachers incorporate agriculture into their everyday classroom standards and continue to promote the importance of agriculture. I actually received a call from a member of the Nevada Farm Bureau wondering if I am interested in a communication position they are putting together. I was so excited to hear from him and am definitely interested. I would be responsible for putting together a magazine for the Farm Bureau and sending out a quarterly newsletter to supporters of Nevada agriculture. We will see what happens. I miss you Manda!! Take care and good luck at school!

Sarah Nutting