My name is Sylvia Woods and I recently joined the Association for Women in Communications. I graduated in December 2015 as a double communications major, cum laude from Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri, with a bachelors in mass communications and a masters in communication and media management.
As a late bloomer; mother, wife and full time employee while in college full time, I was a bit out of the loop with securing internship opportunities and joining professional organizations. I thought if I work hard, take no breaks, never quit, try my very best and just obtain my degrees, everything else would fall perfectly in place. Well turns out I still had a lot to learn!
Ironically, my decision to join AWC actually began with a rejection for a job I’d recently applied for as a communications specialist with a nearby school district. The director of communications called me personally and said she wanted to give me feedback about writing samples I’d submitted, interview feedback and some personal guidance. She said, “Sylvia, you’re a great writer. We were very impressed with your writing samples, test results and your entrepreneur endeavors. However, you don’t belong to any professional organizations as a communicator. Employers frown on applicants who aren’t a part of any professional networks. If you want to be taken seriously, professional development in this area is imperative.”
I began to research the best organizations for communications specialists. AWC was one of the top on the list! Before joining, I visited AWC’s Facebook page and website, asked questions through the Facebook messenger contact, viewed photographs from previous events, read posts that included tips about growing professionally as a woman and researched my local chapter for events and more information. It was really refreshing to see genuine camaraderie among women who share a common goal; to listen to others, successfully relay their own ideas, articulate their opinions and streamline their processes and techniques in communications.
A couple of months later I joined AWC and three additional communications organizations. I know now that it’s not enough to just get the degree. As a communicator, it is important that I am completely surrounded by other women in the communications field, that I stay abreast of communicative creative strategies that I can apply in real life, that I know the obstacles and hurdles other women in communications endured.
I want to center myself around diverse groups of women who have a love for and understand the wonderful world of communications; how it is ever evolving with women at the very core. I want to learn how to improve in verbal communication, nonverbal cues, public speaking and visual communication.
I needed the Association of Women in Communications at the start of my college career. That need has since manifested to finding my place, a home away from home, as a communicator– with a scorching desire to elevate with an organization that promotes growth, professional development and sisterhood, the most important component.
One of my favorite quotes, “If women continue to keep their heads down working away, instead of speaking up, they won’t get noticed.” Madeleine Albright, U.S. Secretary of State (1997-2001)
About the Author
Sylvia Woods is an Entrepreneur and a member of the Association for Women in Communications Springfield, Missouri professional chapter. Sylvia graduated from Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri in December 2015 with two Bachelors degrees in communications, cum laude, and a Masters in communication and media management.
