My name is Adreanne McKinney. I am 21 years old. I'm a junior at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. I’m majoring in Public Relations and minoring in French. I'm a South Carolina native, raised in Hawaii. I've lived in many other wonderful places, such as the United Kingdom and Japan. I have six brothers and sisters. They all drive me insane, but I love them anyway. I'm a very outgoing person, playing in sports helped me with that. I was a cheerleader for 4 years, I ran track for 2 years and played soccer for 3 years. My hobbies include hanging out with my friends and listening to music. Shopping is a really big thing for me. I love catching up on my favorite shows: How to Get Away With Murder, Gilmore Girls, American Horror Story, New Girl, The Originals and Mistresses, to name a few. I love being outdoors. When I lived in Hawaii I hiked pretty much everyday!
In August, I applied for an internship with the company Serengetee. After about two weeks I got an email saying that I got the internship! Serengetee is a clothing company that sells everything from pocket tees to headphones. Each item this company sells has a particular fabric that helps a certain organization. For example, Posey's Paradise 2.0, a fabric with turtles on it, helps the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Posey's Paradise was created by Tyler Posey, star of MTV's Teen Wolf. For every sell this fabric makes, 15% goes towards the LLS. Every sell from every fabric goes towards the organization associated with it. I learned so much from this experience. This company has opened my eyes to all the organizations that I have never even heard of. Serengetee is a great company and I encourage you to check it out!
This Fall I also joined the organization PRSSA, or Public Relations Student Society of America. This group has helped me understand the meaning of becoming a PR professional. PRSSA teaches us the ethics of a PR professional and the different aspects that are involved in PR. Every other meeting we have a panel of professionals that come and talk to us. For example, the event coordinator for the St. Louis Cardinals came and shared with us her daily work. We're also involved with other organizations and help with fundraisers. We help groups like The Alzheimer's Association and the Angel Tree Foundation. We are allowed the opportunity to sign up for a mentor from our parent organization, PRSA. They assist us with any questions we might have or if we have a piece that we want their feedback on. Altogether this group as benefited me exponentially and very glad to be a part of it.