Cassie Boorn

I used to have the idea planted in my head that I would good in emotional situations. I remember flirting with the idea of being a therapist and saving the world. Consoling people in their hardest of times and healing hearts with my words.

One day I woke up and I realized I SUCK in emotional situations. I am not sure if this was simply because I know myself better now. I don’t know if I changed and I used to handle them well but no long do. I have no idea how I got from there to here.

I get really uncomfortable when people are upset around me. Mind you, I am a VERY emotional girl. I cry about everything. However, if someone breaks down in front of me it tends to play out like this:

…awkward…look around…

silence.

“It will be ok.”

Awkardly pats on the back…

Silence.

It is not that I don’t care. It is not that I don’t feel bad for the people that are hurting.

Here is the deal: I know that if you are upset there is nothing I can say to change your feelings. There is nothing I can physically do to make you feel better. The fact that I can’t change someone situations to make them better paralyzes me.  So I awkwardly attempt to make the situation better…

Here is a question for you: What do you do in these situations?

Stick with me here…it is a long one but I would love your input.

A year and a half ago I joined the online world. Sure, I had a facebook and a myspace but lets face it…that is like having a phone number these days. I launched a blog and soon after joined Twitter. It wasn’t long until I had explored numerous outlets, created profiles, and dug in to the details.

Looking back I cannot imagine living without these things. I cannot imagine the people I wouldn’t know about, the ideas I wouldn’t have been exposed to, the experiences I would have missed. I would not be where I am today without the internet.

However, how many college students are not even taking use of digital media? A lot. I have spent the last semester giving ideas, suggestions, and research on how to integrate digital media into the current communications curriculum.

I will be bold and say that this school is already ahead of many universities. How many college students leave college with no idea what Twitter is? No idea that digital media is a phenomenon. No clue how to use this space.

This is particularly annoying to me knowing how essential these tools are within the world of Public Relations. No professor could imagine handing over a communications degree to a student who had never taken a media course. However, every year they are handing over degrees to students that have never taken a digital media course.

I am aware that most professors know nothing of the digital realm. I have read the textbook and I am aware that each year the “new edition” is yet again another year behind. Digital Media changes faster than text books  can be updated. In order to teach digital media you must embrace digital media.

So how do we fix this problem?

Stop trying to solve a new problem with old solutions. Open your mind. Find innovative ways. Give the training you have promised your students.