Hi! I’m Emily Lile. I’m originally from a tiny town called Vinita, Oklahoma. I am a second semester graduated student and my focus is strategic communication. I graduated last May from OU with an advertising degree and decided to come back for more. I wasn’t planning on graduate school, but during the summer between my junior and senior years at OU I interned at a small advertising agency and noticed that several of the people who worked there were back in school working to get their master’s degree. I began to consider continuing my education and many professionals I know advised me to do so. So here I am.

I also work full time as a media analyst at Direct Effect Media. Direct Effect is a media buying advertising agency. What that means is that we place ads into newspapers, television, radio, etc… We don’t do creative, account coordinating, or public relations; we have a parent company in Kansas City, Plattform Advertising, that handles all of that. I have been working at Direct Effect for about six months and I really like it.

I am doing the project option. Though I am still undecided on the topic I would like to study, I want my project to be something that I can use to gain experience in the professional world. I am interested in consulting with businesses in order to create or mold their business/brand into a cohesive image taking into consideration every aspect. I studied advertising as an undergrad, but I feel that I was too single minded and that is why graduate school is so important to me. I want to study more public relations while continuing to learn about new media advertising. I am also interested in working with non-profit organizations, therefore learning more about PR is essential.