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Members of Colorado State University’s Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) mix their hard work with creativity.

“It’s a lot more research and strategic planning, but there’s still a lot of room to be creative, which is fun,” said Lauren Pittman, PRSSA’s vice president and senior journalism major.

PRSSA is the student society of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). It is a national organization geared toward PR students who want to work in PR as a career. Their main goal is to be good communicators and to build a better network. There are more than 100 chapters in PRSA, and CSU’s chapter is the only one Colorado.

“It’s always nice to be involved with people interested in the same thing as you,” said Emily Short, a sophomore journalism major.

Short heard about the club through her classes, and is interested in pursuing a PR career.

Maya Lane is the president of the CSU chapter and a senior journalism major. She became involved her junior year after she realized she was interested in PR.

PRSSA utilizes the local resources of Fort Collins. They get the opportunities to tour local businesses and learn about PR in a smaller context compared to the larger corporations.

“We have the chance to tap into the really local popping business,” Lane said. “It’s fun to see the PR side of it.”

Pittman said she is interested in the event planning and marketing side of PR, and has learned the most from planning events within PRSSA.

“Event planning and leadership is something you can’t get in the classroom,” Pittman said.

This spring, PRSSA is planning a panel for professionals in the PR industry to come and speak to communications students from universities around Colorado and surrounding states. According to Lane, this will be an opportunity for students to get a feel of what a public relations career feels like.

PRSSA meets in Clark C 251 every other Wednesday at 7 p.m. Check their Twitter page for updates.

“It’s what you are willing to put into it,” Lane said. “But in the end, it has been pretty beneficial for us.”

Collegian Reporter Zara DeGroot can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @Zar_degroot.