Communications major Kaley Lackey ’19 (right) gets a front row seat at A Closer Look, a radio show at Atlanta NPR station 90.1 FM WABE.

Until about two years ago, I never thought about my future or what I wanted to major in when I got to college. Right before my sophomore year in high school I found an internship with a public relations company and I began to think that the communications industry is where I am supposed to be. When I got to Oglethorpe, that was all confirmed.

Kaley was interviewed by WABE’s Jim Burress for national radio show Marketplace before she started her freshman year!

I was an anxious senior when I was accepted to Oglethorpe back in December 2014, but right off the bat I knew it was where I was supposed to go. Then in April, I received an email from Renee Vary Keele, director of university communications at Oglethorpe, inviting me to be interviewed about freshman experiences in college bookstores for the national radio show Marketplace on NPR. While doing the interview, I had the opportunity to see a small portion of the industry I was interested in. I got to see what it is like to represent a brand and what it is like to think on the spot. I also got to see things from an interviewer’s point of view, the equipment he used and how he had a conversation while still conducting an interview. All of it really intrigued me.

Then, at the beginning of my first semester at Oglethorpe, I was hired by Oglethorpe’s student communications agency, Pegasus Creative. At Pegasus, I’ve focused specifically on the arts at Oglethorpe. I’ve worked closely with promoting anything related to the Oglethorpe University Museum of Art, OU Theatre, and everything in between. This was an amazing experience for me, as I have always had an interest in the arts, and specifically, theatre. Working for Pegasus has given me an early start to gathering experience on a small scale for the industry I want to go into when I graduate.

Kaley Lackey at WABE

While working for Pegasus I’ve had several additional opportunities to broaden my experiences. Recently, I was able to go to Atlanta’s 90.1 FM WABE, Atlanta’s NPR radio station, and watch a live in-studio radio interview of John Tilford, curator of collections at the OU Museum of Art. Back on campus that same week, I also attended a professional presentation about social media, and how to maximize it for advertising to your audience.

It’s only my first semester of my freshman year, and already my experiences at Oglethorpe—both inside and outside classrooms—will help me be successful during my time here and in my future career.