Public Relations student from Marquette, MI
Meet Anabel Ollila, a Public Relations student from Marquette, MI.
Why did you decide to come to NMU?
I have always loved Marquette. I lived here for the majority of my life and to me, leaving was never on my mind. Marquette has such a vast variety of outdoor recreation opportunities, great local food, and a community that revolves around being outside. NMU is not only close to home, but it is my home and I have come to appreciate that more and more as the years have gone by. Living on campus at Northern has also shifted my views on Marquette. I see a whole different side of this town that was never highlighted when I lived at home so I have come to gain more respect for the opportunity to live here.
How did you decide your major/minor?
My original major was going to be graphic design but I wanted to incorporate more people into my area of work. Being able to work with people while also working with graphics is something that I am really looking forward to doing in the future. That is why I chose public relations. It is the perfect mix of communication, graphics, business, and marketing and I am super excited pursue a career in this field.
What's an example of a cool, interesting or helpful thing that you have done as a part of your major?
One very cool experience that I have done as part of public relations is getting a job at the marketing office for NMU. I am on the social media team, primarily working on TikTok and Instagram graphics. I am very new to the team but everyone is very accommodating to all of my questions and super nice. I know I am going to gain so much real world experience working in this office and it is incredibly helpful to see the behind the scenes of making social media content of a university so I have more knowledge about social media in the future.
What are you involved in on and off-campus and what has been the most rewarding experience?
I am currently involved in club soccer and the social media team for Northern. Both of these activities have been rewarding for very different reasons. Soccer has shown me how to be a part of team coached by my peers. I never knew how beneficial this would be for my game play. Being able to play soccer without the stress of impressing a coach has improved my playing abilities greatly. While I have loved all of my coaches in the past and had a positive experience with all of them, being able to just play soccer to play soccer has been such a fun experience. Working on the social media team has also been so rewarding. Being able to post content and get paid for it shows I am going in the right direction for my field. I made social media content in high school for free because I really enjoyed it but now I get rewarded for making my content. I also get to be a part of a team in the social media realm which is a new but very beneficial for my content creation. I get to bounce ideas off of my teammates which helps me make design choices and helps be improve my skills.
What does being a Wildcat mean to you?
Being a Wildcat means that I am very proud to live in Marquette and be a part of the incredible Northern family. I have so much pride going to this amazing university, primarily because we are so focused on living an outdoor lifestyle. Being known as the school that is on Lake Superior, having amazing leadership opportunities, and being a public college with small class sizes makes me very proud to go to school here.